Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

what's best - hand/thumb sucking or a dummy?

33 replies

AmandaWJ · 04/03/2012 18:27

DD is 8 weeks and has started to suck her hands rather a lot, which i am quite happy about as i don't want to give her a dummy, however a few people have now said that hand/thumb sucking is not good but they didn't really say why other than its harder to stop a child thumb sucking than it is to stop a dummy. does anyone have any opinions? i know dummies can interfere with tooth development and i really don't want to give DD a dummy if i can help it. one HV actually encouraged hand sucking while another discouraged it. i personally don't see a problem with it and i thought all babies sucked on their hands! can anyone shed any more light on this? thanks in advance :)

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

redglow · 04/03/2012 18:37

Well most people would advise a dummy because you can get rid of it, a thumb you can't . However I much prefer to see a cute thumb in the mouth than a big ugly dummy that falls out in the night and you have to keep putting back in.

KnittingNovice · 04/03/2012 18:49

With ds he had a dummy, but once he found his thumb at about 12weeks he rejected the dummy. He is now 3yrs8months and sucks it when he is tired or angry. Dd would not take a dummy and sucks 2 of her fingers.
I have had quite a lot of people tell me I should stop her as it causes problems later and two elderly ladies told me it was unhygienic! My opinion is that they are happy and healthy and won't go to uni sucking their thumbs

Stuntnun · 04/03/2012 18:57

I sucked my thumb until I was 11 and it seems to have done some damage to the skin as I now have liver spots on it which I don't have anywhere else on my hands. DS2 sucked his fingers until he was 3 and his front teeth are pushed in. DS1 had a dummy and we eventually weaned him off it when he was a toddler by restricting the times he could have it until he didn't want it any more. So I definitely recommend the dummy as you can take it away from her whereas you can't stop her sucking her thumb.

CharlotteBronteSaurus · 04/03/2012 19:02

dummy
you can chuck it away at a point of your choosing
i tried and tried to get dd2 to take one, but she never would. she sucks her fingers instead.

CecilyP · 04/03/2012 19:45

A dummy is generally recommended over thumbsucking because children can use their thumb to push their teeth forward at the same time. I would recommend a dummy because the girl in front of me used to suck her thumb during silent reading in what is now Y6 and it used to come out all crinkly and disgusting - yuck!

JiltedJohnsJulie · 04/03/2012 19:46

Dummy for the same reasons that the others have said.

RandomMess · 04/03/2012 19:46

I've had 2 x dummy suckers (one was a finger sucker but we converted her)
2 x thumb suckers

Dummies everytime!

Iamweasel · 04/03/2012 19:50

I thought thumb ducking only damaged teeth if it was done once adult teeth came through?

CappyHunt · 04/03/2012 19:50

I am hoping that my (just) three year old dummy sucker will react favourably to surgery shortly to remove the damn thing...

Two of my other three sucked thumbs. DS stopped at around 5. DD1 is 18 and still sucks the bloody thing

CappyHunt · 04/03/2012 19:50

is pleased the strike out makes it look like ten and not eighteen

workshy · 04/03/2012 19:53

dummy!

ex is 47 and still sucks his thumb
his teeth are worn down on the bottom row and pushed up and forward on the top

frind of DD is already under the authodontist at 8 due to finger sucking

please don't let them fimger suck

CecilyP · 04/03/2012 19:55

Funny you should say that, CappyHunt, because I had a friend who was upset her DD was still a thumbsucker at the age of about 8, but I did once catch my friend sucking her own thumb.

breatheslowly · 04/03/2012 20:15

DD is a thumb sucker. It has the advantage of them being able to find it at night instead of waking up and screaming for you to put the dummy back. It (IMO) is also nicer to look at. But dummies can be taken away and for that reason I would definitely go for a dummy.

toucancancan · 04/03/2012 20:22

How do you stop them sucking fingers and thumbs though!? I'm in my 30s and still suck my thumb as an occasional treat. As a child no amount of 'stop and grow' painted on it made me stop, as I just sucked through it.

breatheslowly · 04/03/2012 20:28

No idea how you can stop them. My dentist told me that DD needs to stop by 3 and we should start minimising it (at the time 15 months). I felt like suggesting he come round to our house and show me how to stop her when she is tired and prone to having a strop at the smallest things when tired.

CappyHunt · 04/03/2012 20:29

Luck and genetics on the teeth front have meant that DD1 still has perfect teeth. I stopped sucking my fingers when I was about 13 or 14. I rather wish DD1 didn't still suck her thumb, but I can comfort myself with the fact that it is unlikely that DD3 will not be sucking a dummy at the same age. I loathe her dummy with a passion, but at least I can monitor/ration her use of it mostly

DressDownFriday · 04/03/2012 20:33

Dd1 still a thumb sucker at 14. Drives us crackers and we spend a lot of time shouting "thumb" at her to take it out. She has a dried looking thumb with teeth marks on. It's visibly different to her other thumb.

Otoh she has lovely teeth.

Yorkpud · 04/03/2012 20:40

Dummy!!!

We didn't give DS1 a dummy so he wanted constantly feeding as a baby, mainly I think because he liked the sucking!!! He then started sucking his thumb. He is now 7 and won't go to sleep without his thumb in no matter how many times we tell him to stop, that he will need a brace etc. His adult teeth are now coming through sticking forward.

DS2 - I gave him a dummy despite my husband objecting. It soothed him as a baby and helped me as I had a toddler to content with! It was a bit of pain as we kept losing them and he wanted it all the time! However, we took it away at 2.5 years and he didn't start sucking his thumb.

I so wish I had given DS1 a dummy.

Original poster

AmandaWJ · 06/03/2012 11:38

wow didn't think everyone would be so much more in favour of dummies! i read that dummies can interfere with tooth development as well but i suppose if you wean them off it early enough then maybe it'd be ok...? and i can see how it'd be harder to stop dd from sucking her hands as you cant take them away! maybe i'll rethink the dummy situation, i just really didn't want to give her one as i read this article - www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/dailycare/dummy&teethexpert/

OP posts:

shouldbedoingsomethinguseful · 06/03/2012 17:07

My DS sucked his thumb up to about the age of 4. (I personally hate dummies!) We never commented on it at all until he turned 4, then we just casually mentionned that now he was a big boy he should try not to suck it. Every time we saw him sucking it we made a joke of it and said "pop" and pulled it out, it became a game, and we kept it really light hearted. After a couple of weeks we noticed he would go to suck his thumb and then stop himself without us commenting and after another couple of weeks he seemed to have broken the habit and stopped altogether in the day. Do occasionally hear him sucking in the night tho still. Worked for us!
I believe it can only cause a problem with teeth if they continue to suck after the permanent teeth are in.

medjool · 06/03/2012 18:15

DD1: dummy till age 4 as it was a nightmare getting her to give it up before then. She has lovely straight teeth but the dummy looked uglier than a thumb.
DD2: sucks her thumb - she was never interested in a dummy although we tried with the intention of removing it sooner. Currently 2 years old and as attached to it as ever. It was great that she could self soothe as a baby and could find her thumb again if it fell out. Although not ideal in photos, she looks cute when she sucks her thumb. The downside is that she has one crooked front tooth.

Yogiandyak · 09/03/2012 15:08

I will only admit this as u don't know me in real life but..... I'm 31 and still suck my thumb a lot (although not in the pub or at work! ) i had a dummy until 5 and the minute it went in the bin i started sucking my thumb! Personally i don't see the harm in thumb sucking as it's obviously a natural thing for babies to do, nobody teaches them how to do it! And i would like to add that i have very straight teeth and people often assume that i must have worn a brace to get them that straight! I have a 9 wk old baby who has a dummy (due to wanting to suck all the time) but she is beginning to reject it in favour of her thumb!!

Indith · 09/03/2012 15:14

for teeth and ease of getting them to stop a dummy. from practical can't be lost in the middle of the night/dropped on the bus point of view then a thumb .

chocolatemarzipan · 09/03/2012 15:48

My DS sucks his thumb. It started when he was about six months old and I tried to swop it for a dummy but he wouldn't have the dummy anywhere near him despite my best efforts. He spat it out and it went flying across the room. So you might get nowhere if you do decide to try it and your DD has other ideas. My DD won't take a dummy either. I'm going to persevere but suspect I'll get nowhere again. She's sucking her fingers and I think she's trying to get the thumb in.

notanotter · 10/03/2012 10:53

Thumb posh
Dummy not

Flip

1 2