Thumb sucking... Anyone not got buck teeth from this??

[Nini100]

Hi
Im being torn over thumb sucking with my second child. She is 4.5mths old and uses her thumb to go to sleep on her tummy in her cot.
She doesn't do it any other time not in car seat or buggy. She just uses motion to go go off on these occasions.

Due to hearing horror stories of thumb sucking and bad teeth and adult thumb sucking I'm trying to get her to stop.

So I'm trying to push dummy which occasionally works but at times it just stresses her out and she just plays with it and pulls it out etc.

If she continues with it I would like some ideas on how to wean off when older or any positive stories of thumb sucking as it suits at the moment but don't really want to ruin her teeth.

Many thanks

I sucked my thumb until my teens. My teeth went back naturally when I stopped.

I sucked my thumb till I was about 9 yrs. Baby and adult teeth all fine.

I sucked my thumb until I was 10, wore braces to correct the damage that it caused. Dd1 never had a dummy or sucked her thumb, wearing braces to correct crossed front teeth. Many kids have braces here anyway (80% in dds class in the USA) so in the USA no-one really worries about it!

My DBro was a thumb sucker. He has beautiful teeth as an adult.

My DBro was a thumb sucker. He has beautiful teeth as an adult.

Sorry, I don't think tales of people who manage to suck thumbs without damaging their teeth removes the risk. Google for images, you will see people with very clear thumb-shaped holes in their tooth line. That's the worst cases obviously. But it's nonsense to say that just arises naturally or there's no correlation. It could be for example there are ways of sucking that put less pressure on the teeth, or some people do it less of the time.

I would certainly believe unless shown convincing evidence otherwise that thumb sucking increases risk. DS was a particularly bad thumb sucker, his upper baby teeth were very sticky out and his lower baby teeth were very sticky in. Straight when they first emerged, clearly pushed wonky by constant thumb in mouth. If it works in the opposite direction with braces constantly pushing, it's only logical that it works in the wonky direction with too much thumb sucking.

As I say, he was a particularly bad case. He'd have it in all night and much of the day. If you took it out, it'd be in again the next time you went to check. And not just in mouth but actively sucking. Even though he stopped, you can still hear him slurp-slurp-slurping in the night as if he was sucking.

Dentist warned DS at 7 that he was risking needing jaw surgery to sort him out, and he finally managed to stop. The bottom adult teeth which had already emerged are still affected but I think straightening a little as they continue growing, the top are not as bad as they were only just coming at that point.

One suggestion OP: try to smuggle her thumb out after she is asleep. That's potentially 12 hours less sucking, and if she's not used to having it in all night it may well be easier to break the habit later.

True catkind - I just think it's also not as simple as saying that thumb sucking always causes problems or that problems are only caused by thumb sucking. I just think it's likely to be a lot more complex than this and it annoys me when people back up the myth, especially when dentists do it, considering they are experts and should be advising from a place of evidence, not their own gut feeling.

Thumb sucker until 13, although I did it in private as I got older in primary school. If I was upset I sucked thumb for comfort (usually in the loo at school), but still sucked thumb to go to sleep.

Still have my own nice straight front teeth and no, I didn't need braces.

I’m 41. Ive sucked my thumb all my life. I have an excellent job which I love and have excellent teeth. I certainly don’t dispute thumb sucking may cause developmental dental issues and concede that the angle of my sucking can’t have been detrimental dentally. I would like to share however that despite the bad press and secrecy surrounding adult thumb sucking, that Im extremely grateful to be a thumb sucker. It gives me insurmountable comfort and confidence, providing me with space to think independently of others, to meditate and clarify my feelings. Life can be very painful, and spontaneously so. It gives me the strength and rationale to sort through difficult nuances of emotion with reassurance and empowerment. My thumb is a constant source of support in my life. Its there for me unconditionally. I feel that has value xx

I sucked my thumb intensively till I was nine, when the well-meaning adults around me finally succeeded in humiliating me enough to make me abandon it.

My teeth were/are fine - perfectly straight.

Tried to encourage both my babies to suck their thumbs (rather than resorting to horrible plastic dummy thumbs) but they wouldn't have it.

EDIT: Whoops, Zombie thread and it looks as if I have basically reposted what I posted on it before, many moons ago.