binkie vs thumb

The age old dilemma...
My boys are 3.5yrs and one of them still uses a binkie (the other has always sucked his thumb).
Personally, I don't know if I care that they self soothe via thumb or binkie, but we've been feeling a lot of outside pressure to have R give up his binkie. On a side note, no one suggests we try to get C to give up his thumb, because there is 'nothing we can do about it', they tell us.
Well, we told R he was on his last binkie and once It's gone that's it. (He only used it for bed I should add). So the binkie is now coming apart and we had the chat again about no binkie, and he seemed real cool with it. I couldn't believe it, so much easier than I thought...
THEN....we found out what he was doing. He is sticking his finger through the now broken binkie and sucking on that...

Sooo do we get him another binkie or let him form the habit of sucking his finger??????

I'm torn, any suggestions would be helpful. Thank you...

 

I'm personally really against thumb sucking. It's worse for their teeth than paci's. And it's a harder habit to break because you can't take it away. My oldest son was 2 when we took the paci, my oldest daughter was 3 and the twins were just before 3.

I would probably take the paci away but, as you said, it may start the finger/thumb habit. So, really, I'm not sure what I would do! :unsure: That's kinda a sucky situation! :lol:

 

Since he's only sucking his finger through the paci, I would get rid of the paci. If he continues to suck just his fingers, I would mention it at their next dentist visit.

My one DS stopped using paci's around the age of one. My other DS is a MAJOR thumb sucker and it has really affected his teeth. He actually does not suck his thumb, but pushes it up and out on the upper roof of this mouth

My other DS's bite is .75 (with 1 being ideal). My thumb sucker......20! :woah: Braces will be in his future for sure. If he's still sucking his thumb at the age of 6, the dentist can put a retainer on the upper roof of his mouth that will make it impossible for him to suck his thumb.

They are 4 1/2 and I've tried many things to make him stop but I honestly think at times he does not even realize he's doing it.

 

I have two hard core thumb suckers with a third well on his way. At their last dentist appointment, our dentist told us the following:
- thumb sucking does pull the top teeth forward but that this isn't really concerning. They will, more often then not, shift back into place once the thumb sucking stops (usually, but not always, once the kid starts school).
- the real concern is if the thumb sucking starts to affect the bone structure of the jaw (she saw no evidence of that at the visit).
- the reason so many people think that thumb sucking leads to braces is that once the thumb sucking stops & the teeth return to position, any underlying position issues with the teeth are then revealed.
- she said to encourage the girls to limit their thumb sucking & to talk up stopping all together, but to not worry about going to extraordinary measures to get them to stop. It usually doesn't work & only causes unnecessary stress all around.

I know this is very different than the party line about thumb sucking & I'll confess I haven't done much in the way of my own research, but thought I'd share her perspective.