The great thumb sucking debate

I know this is not a debate forum per se, but I'd like to hear what you ladies think. Here's the deal:

Mark is a thumb sucker. He foudn his thumb somewhere around 6 weeks old. At the time, it was a life saver because he was going through a terrible crying phase, and it calmed him. I'm not a fan of pacifiers and because I had trouble with latches, I would not give them a pacifier for the first 6 weeks. (DH tried on numerous occasions to give a pacifier, and they both refused, which honestly made me happy because I decided I didn't want them to have it.)

Well, that was then, and Mark sucks his thumb all the time now. He does it when he goes to sleep, he used to do it when he ate (that was he**), and he also does it when he's uncomfortable in any way. Recently, he's added gum rubbing to his repertoire. He shoves his whole fist in his mouth and rubs his gums, which sometimes gags him (and has made him throw up in the past).

So that's where we are. I know a lot of people don't like thumb sucking, and I've always hoped he'd just stop. I'm worried that it's affecting his language development; Eli is way ahead, and he doesn't suck his thumb. Mark doesn't talk sometimes because he's too busy sucking his daggone thumb.

I just don't know what to do. Should I try to break him of it? Should I wait? I may tell the pedi I'm worried about his language at the 15 month appointment unless things change. Would a speech therapist recommend putting the nix on the thumbing sucking?

I really don't know; what's your opinion?

 

That's a tough one! I've never had a thumb sucker, so I'm not sure what I would *really* do. But I think I might introduce a pacifier to him and see if he will take that. If he happens to attach himself to the pacifier and forget about the thumb (not sure how likely that is....)then you could worry about the pacifier habit later on.

I'd guess it can definitely impact his language development if he always has his thumb in his mouth. Some kids I've noticed "talk around" their pacifiers or thumbs. Does he attempt to talk around his thumb?

I'd mention it to your pedi if you're concerned.

 

Ellie, 3, is my thumb sucker. She took a pacifier until she found her thumb and that was that. She sucks her thumb when she's bored, snuggling, sitting in her car seat, and falling asleep. It did not hider her talking in any way.

My dentist says she needs to stop and better now before her permanent teeth begin to come in. But how? It's easier said than done, and while I'm glad I never had to deal with a pacifier for an extended period of time, I'm sure it's easier to wean from that than a thumb.

So no advice...you're not alone!

 

Both my boys sucked their thumbs, and both stopped on their own somewhere around their 5th birthday, well before they ever lost a tooth. I would try to limit it to sleep time, or find something for him to do that requires the use of both hands. Also, he cold be teething, which is why he shoves his hand in his mouth.

 

Not at all In fact, he acts really dumb when he sucks his thumb, like he can't concentrate on anything else.

Thanks Jen. My DH is worried about the teeth, but I'll remind him, it's only the permanent teeth that are a problem.

Good idea Sharon. I'll try to keep him busy. He's definitely teething, which is why I've laid off him for a while. I know he was hurting last week.

 

My son was a huge thumb sucker. So much so that he would suck blisters on his thumb, and then suck the blisters off and create huge sores on his thumb. It was a nightmare for us to get him to quit. It was so bad for us, that I pushed the paci's on my girls hoping that they wouldn't find their thumbs..which, thank goodness they did not. This is what worked for us, however, we didn't attempt to stop him until he was starting school. We limited his thumb sucking to his bedroom. He could suck his thumb, but he had to go to his bedroom to do it. He hated that because he wanted to be with us. Probably the best thing that we got was an all natural creme called Control-It. It has a very bitter taste and can't be sucked off, it really worked wonders for us. He couldn't suck his thumb when that stuff was on because it was just nasty. Good luck with whatever you decide to do, it is tough :hug:

 

Tess sucked her thumb, she was the only one of my kids who was a thumb sucker. I have ultrasound pictures of her with her thumb in her mouth! When I took her to the dentist for the first time at age 3 he said we really needed to work on getting her to quit. I know there's debate about this & some people will say it isn't true, but I'm just telling you what my dentist said & that is that it can cause problems, not just with their teeth eventually but with their upper palate as well with the constant pressure of their thumb. I don't know how true it is but that's what I was told. Anyway, he told her she needed to stop, which helped some coming from someone else instead of just me. Then we, too, bought some of the bitter tasting stuff to put on it, mainly as a reminder to her & it wasn't long before she had stopped completely. Anyway, I think he's a bit young & you have awhile before you have to worry about it too much!

 

I have a two month old who has found her thumb already and her older twin sister sucks her thumb. I found she did it more if she was over tired or if she was teething. I found if I had her sleep more, or gave her tylenol it decreased most of it. Now it is only when she is in strange environments and even with that not as much. She is 18 months old now.

 

Becca is a thumb sucker, generally only when she is tired, it ebbs and flows... it's impacting her teeth, but her verbal seems ok, maybe a little rough on the articulation.

eta: i second the recommendation of checking with the pedi since it sounds like it may be hindering him...

i have to admit, i think it's cute, but i never was a thumb sucker, i think those who were are more traumatized by it if it was hard to break the habit.

 

one of my daughters, Aku, is thumb sucker. but from the beginning i knew this will be tough to get rid of this habit. at early days i tried to stop her but then understood that this will harm her... so i just watched the habit and limited it to tiredness and sleep. so she sucks only when she is about to sleep.other time i try to keep her busy and not becoming bored.
now as both understand what i m saying not to do, Achu takes her thumb out of her mouth and tells her not to do it in her own words.
and i don't think thumb sucking can affect the language development. Aku is quite well in this. and i know one boy of same age, he sucks thumb all day, he knows so many words and speaks them clearly.

 

We had this exact same scenario at Leah's last dentist appointment. The funny thing is, she stopped on her own because the Dentist told her so :lol:

 

My two some do not suck their thumbs (yet) but I was a thumbsucker and stopped around my 5th birthday. I don't think she did anything to make me stop, I just did that one my own. It might seem more attractive to him now because he is teething. I would mention your concerns to your pedi but chances are this is something he'll grow out of. Good luck!

 

My two don't suck their thumbs but I did... and I say the earlier you can stop it the better. I sucked my thumb so hard and so long (stopped in early elem school) that the thumb I sucked is visibly thinner and smaller than the other AND my palate and teeth were affected so much that I had to have jaw surgery when I was older to correct my bite (that wouldnt' have been necessary if I'd gotten braces when I was younger, but my family couldn't afford that).

Anyway, I'm probably an extreme case, but I do wish my parents had tried harder to get me (and my sisters--we were a family of thumb-suckers) to quit!

 

Ana sucks her thumb. What we did to limit her was to make it a rule that she had to have her lovey (old bandanas) to suck her thumb. Those stay in her bed and she can only have them at bed and nap time and during diaper changes. In the beginning if we saw her with her thumb in her mouth while playing we gently told her to take it out, but never made it a big power struggle or big deal. Our pedi dentist said not to worry about it yet. I sucked my thumb as a baby/kid and stopped on my own around 6.

 

Both of mine are thumb suckers. I took there pacifiers away at around 6 months old and they found there thumbs. <_< I haven't really made a big deal about it. My MIL told me that my SIL was a thumbsucker and she stopped on her own at around age 5. I do try and limit the thumbsucking...they usually only do it when they get tired and when they have their lovies. Maybe my thinking is wrong on this point BUT....I assume sucking on a sippy cup does the same kind of "damage" to your teeth as thumbsucking. So, until we drop the sippy cup, I don't think I will make much of an issue of it. At that time, I might consider doing the bitter creams on their fingers if need be.

 

Mine are not thumb suckers so I can't help much but I feel your pain. I never wanted mine to have pacifiers but finally gave in when I became a 24-hour pacifier when they were a few weeks old. :lol: Jackson is obsessed with his paci but that habit has been far easier to control than thumb sucking, I am sure! :hug:

 

This was one of my fears, why, I don't know. . .so I allowed them to get attached to their binkies. I figure that it's easier to get rid of the pacifier addiction when you can physically remove them from the child than to try to remove their thumbs!

Do they make something like Yuk gel for kids? (Yuk gel is a gross, not bitter, just really messes with your taste buds, gel that you put on animals with wounds to keep them from licking at the wound) some topical, non-toxic, lotion that tastes gross enough to keep them from sucking thumbs/fingers/fists?

 

I had two thumb suckers. Both started as soon as they could find the thumb reliably and they were breastfed and flat-out refused pacifiers. One boy quit when his first tooth came in at 8 months (I guess he didn't like the new feel) and the other quit at 2. He showed me the callous on his finger one day and asked me to take it off for him. I told him the callous was from sucking his thumb and that I couldn't make it go away but that it would go away if he stopped sucking. I could see him start to put his thumb in and then look at the callous and pull it away. As his 2-year molars started to break, he stopped sucking to fall asleep and that was it, he was done.

Truly, many kids stop without a fight but it's the ones who do fight that you hear about so I think people get the impression that that's the norm. It isn't. I really had to push my DH to leave them alone about it because he sucked his thumb into his teen years and was convinced that would be their fate if we didn't stop them ASAP.

 

My DD is a thumb sucker and her language is ahead of DS, who has used nothing -- no pacifier, fingers or thumb. My older DD (3 yrs old) just stopped sucking her fingers a couple months ago and she is an extremely verbal kid. I wouldn't worry -- just my two cents.