Will he suck his thumb again? (Hope so!)

[nlteach]

When he was about 3/4 months, DS started to suck his thumb. This was great as he was able to self soothe and immediately bedtimes and naps were easier. However,he's now 8 months and since his top teeth have started to come through, he doesn't suck his thumb anymore. We're back to it taking half an hour to get him to go to sleep and he's getting quite distressed. It's almost like he still wants to do it but it feels weird.

I know some people would be glad that he doesn't suck his thumb anymore (crooked teeth, hard habit to break etc.) but it really did comfort him. He's due to start nursery soon and I think it would really help him settle if he started sucking his thumb again.

Sooooo, after a long ramble, my question is has anyone else experienced this and did your DC start sucking their thumb again once the teeth had properly come through?

Can you help him find something else to comfort him? My DD never sucked a thumb or dummy and rarely cuddled her teddies, but she adopted a brushed cotton cot sheet as her comforter around the time she started to talk (she pointed at it and said 'wossat?' I said 'sheet', she said 'seet', pulled it off the mattress and didn't put it down again for some years).

It might be a bit hit and miss, but if you could find him something which replaced the thumb without the potential dental grief, that would presumably be a result.

The great thing about a thumb though (I speak as a veteran) is that it's hard to lose.

Thanks for your suggestion, we have tried other things but nothing seems to be as good as a thumb or a boob! Maybe I just need to persevere! Thanks again!