Infant Thumbsucking

Hi G.!
I know that vinegar works good! Put a little on and they will not like it! Hopefully that helps. Do you mind me asking what you do from home? I homeshool my 2 girls and need to find something to do at home to contribute to the bills.
Thanks! :.)
D.

I agree with Leslie 100%!!!. My daughter sucked her thumb in the womb! I have the ultra-sound to prove it. It did take her years to stop, but, when she went to school, she didn't do it in front of her friends. She finally stopped on her own, and has no ill effects from thumb sucking!!

Hi G.,

I know what your are going through my oldest sucked her arm in the womb but didn't when she came out. On occasion she would take the pacifier but mainly to play with it. One day she started throwing the pacifier so I hid it (I hated it) then she started sucking her thumb!! I tried giving her the pacifier and she didn't wanted. Now at 7 years old she still sucks her thumb, even after breaking her arm and having it in a cast for a month. She seems to suck it more often now than ever even her teacher has noticed it. Nothing in our home life has changed nor in her school life for that matter. It may be hereditary my sister and two of my cousins did it too. I wish you luck and I would say try to stop it now.

G., my cousin had a problem with her kid and thumb sucking, they found a device that goes over the thumb and attaches around the wrist, most children can't get it off without help. It is called Thumb guard. http://www.thumbguard.com/Thumbguard.html You'll have to check it out and tell me what you think? My cousin swore by it and it worked like a charm. Good Luck

Well, I think infancy is a little young to try to stop thumb sucking. My oldest daughter sucked her thumb until she was three, and the dentist recomended we stop her. At that age, she was able to understand why we were breaking the habit and was able to find ways to help stop. She did get braces for her front teeth protruding. My youngest daughter sucked her thumb, and sometimes fingers, but eventually stopped herself before age 2.

My advice is: don't.
Allow your baby to suck away to his or her heart's content!!
The sucking urge is a natural, developmentally appropriate one for an infant and is best indulged. If you cannot handle the thumb thing, I'd suggest you either allow the infant to nurse on demand, or give her/him a pacifier. Better yet, just allow the child to continue thumb-sucking; which will satisfy the urge AND help build up the immune system. Consequences of interfering with the natural urge to suckle at this age can be unpleasant both now and later in life. Think of the sucking as your baby's way to remain close to you, the mother, the breast, the source of life and all that is good and warm. Later (say, 18 months or so) you can take advantage of the developmental urge toward independence to help your child leave the sucking.

There is nothing wrong in thumb sucking.
it can be like a security blanket for the child, in time the child will let go.... its best not to interfear with the childs impulses.

You don't say how old your child is, but you really can't stop them until they want to themselves. Unlike a pacifier, you can't take his/her thumb away. Both of my kids didn't like pacifiers and liked their thumbs instead. My son stopped on his own when he was 4 and my daughter is almost three and still sucks hers; however, both of them only sucked their thumbs as night. The dentist wasn't concerned as he said as long as it's only at night, it shouldn't do much damage to their teeth. I wouldn't worry about it though. It's something that comforts them and doesn't hurt anything. Good luck.

My son started sucking his thumb at age 2 months and it completely stopped by 5 months when he cut his first tooth. Sometimes these things just go away on their own. I'm glad my husband and I didn't intervene. R. (Married midwife mom at home with 2)

Hi G. C,

Good Luck! Our 20-1/2 year old daughter got married last week, and she is still sucking her thumb. When she was little, I used to joke "oh well, she won't walk down the wedding aisle sucking her thumb"....I guess I jinxed myself.
Her habit is comforting to her...and she only does it when she is cuddling her "B"...her baby blanket. When she was
little we tried everything to make her stop, we threw away her "B", which she later took out of the garbage...she even requested that we paint her thumb with the nasty tasting stuff to stop people from biting their nails...it worked for a few days...luckily, her teeth are perfect (we tried to convince her that she would get bad teeth from sucking).
Nothing worked for use....obviously....she's more than 20 years old now...and still find comfort in holding her "B"
and sucking her thumb....go figure!

Good Luck with you dilemma, I imagine stopping the habit at a young age would be easier, but I also know that our beautiful daughter didn't suffer any physical or emotional issues from her sucking.

I agree with the others in saying the infant needs to comfort themselves in some way, and I wouldn't take that away from them. My daughter turned 5 in December and just stopped on her own. No damage done.

If the baby is still an infant, he is probably self-soothing. I believe sucking fingers is a normal thing to do. Have you tried a pacifier? I know of some parents opting for the paci because it's easier to take away than the finger when they are older.

Best of luck, S.

I had one thumb sucker and he was my easiest baby! I loved that he could soothe himself when sad or angry...but it did become a problem for us. His teeth began to come in strange and the dentist said he had a misshapen pallate from sucking...so I understand why you would want to stop this early.

In the end we had to put ACE bandages around our sons elbows for about a week (day and night). He couldn't bend his arms so he couldn't suck. I know it sounds cruel (he was 4 at the time) but we did all have some laughs during the process and after about a week he never sucked again.

Perhaps restricting the babys arms in a similar fashion would work...don't everyone yell at me at once now...

Thumbsucking is a natural way for an infant to self-soothe. Many babies begin in the womb. There is no reason (unless the child is starting school and being teased) that he/she should need to be stopped.

Hi G.,

This probably won't help, as it's pretty specific, but I was a thumb-sucker and when I was two, I got a blister on my thumb from sucking it. I also loved band-aids and hated to have them taken off, so Mum put a band-aid on my thumb and told me that if I sucked it, it would come off. I never sucked my thumb again.

If your child is not yet one, it's probably not worth stopping him or her, since self-soothing is such a blessing for parent and child, and it won't be doing any harm.

Is there a reason you think you should stop him/her from doing it? It's a security and soothing tool that's always there, without you having to find it lost in the crib at night, never have to pick it up off the floor, etc. I wouldn't sweat it, especially at this age.

I was a thumb sucker and despite all the agonizing (including Tabasco sauce - very cruel, because it would even be put on while I slept and I sometimes got it in my eyes) things my dad did, I REALLY needed some kind of security and did it until I was 6 - but not in public. My teeth all grew in fine and straight, and the tooth issue has been proven a fallacy, unless the kid does it pretty much 24/7. I wouldn't worry about it for now. Enjoy the peace and quiet it provides.

How old is your infant? Let her/him suck his thumb. My baby sucked and I worried that I'd have a bad habit to break... well he turned a year old and I realized that he wasn't anymore.... no problems there! Preventing him/her from self-soothing may cause (indirect and worse) problems tho.

Infants need to learn to self soothe. In, my experiance, they usually out grow it before they are a year.