thumb sucking, can I prevent it before he gets used to it?

[Jasmer]

My 3 month old son, is constantly looking for his thumb, he is not that good at it yet and I wondered if I could make him stop looking for it in some way before he gets addicted to it? He does take a dummy but he already prefers the thumb.

My dd has never had a dummy but does not mind the odd suck of her thumb or as many fingers as possible in her mouth. I really don't think it is a matter of being addicted to her thumb/fingers. For her at the moment ( 6 1/2 mths old) it is more about soothing her gums and making her feel better. Part of putting his hands/thumb in his mouth is his exploration. So it is a sensory exploration rather than a habit. I guess that is probably why he prefers the thumb rather than the dummy - he is getting sensory feedback!! For my little one too - sucking her thumb madly is her way of telling us she is hungry as she very rarely cries when she is hungry.

Probably not very helpful but just a thought.

My dd started to suck her thumb at about 3 months old, I'd put her to bed with a dummy and would find her later with her thumb stuck in.
Once she learnt to go to sleep by herself we gave up on the dummy altogether.
Funnily enough, she has now just started using it (at 19 months)after a holiday with her cousin (9 months older)and now she prefers the dummy to the thumb, but will settle fot the thumb if no dummy is available.
Not sure if this is any help, your ds is still young to want to emulate others, but I found that there was nothing we could do to convince to give up her humb until she decided to do it herself!!

Also, think of the positives: he won't wake you up at night because he's lost his dummy, and he'll probably suck a lotless once he's older as he cannot play ans suck the thumb at the same time. We now find the dd constantly wants the dummy!!!! (I guess this is one of the reason why she has swichted to it: she can suck and have both hands free at the same time)

I would tend to leave him alone. Babies find this kind of sucking incredibly comforting and it may help him to eventually become more independent and happy to spent time by himself and sleep by himself because he can always calm himself down when upset. Babies suck their thumbs in the womb so I think this is a very deep need that, I, personally, wouldn't interfere with. He's very, very young.

I agree with Aloha. Jasmer, why don't you want your ds to suck his thumb? Personally I would prefer my kids to suck thumbs than dummies.

I'm no expert, but I would say trying to deny him his thumb will do more damage than allowing it.

I'd say don't discourage it.
Wish my 11 month old would suck his thumb and not my boob in the middle of the night

Agree with all the pro-thumb suckers. Both my twins sucked their thumbs for a very short time- between about 2 and 9 months old. Did no harm whatsoever, and in fact made my life much easier on many occasions. Was a bit worried when they first took to it as I have an aunt who sucked her thumb into her twenties but as it turned out I had nothing to fear and at the time it seemed to give them such comfort that I never thought of trying to stop them. I think the great thing about a thumb is that it's within the baby's control and they can choose when and whether to utilise it. I was always worried that if I gave them a dummy I'd be tempted to use it to their detriment as a plug to shut them up...

my dd sucks her thumb now and again and I think it is rather sweet. Im not in the least worried about it, she will probably stop as she gets older.

i'm a big dummy fan really, but my dd 8 weeks doesn't want one, but she does want to suck her thumb but it makes her gag and has even made her sick, I wonder why she just doesn't take it out?

I was very happy when each of my 3 started sucking thumbs/fingers, as babies, as it seems to comfort them so much and can never be lost, unlike a dummy. The downside is that 11 years on ds1 still sucks his thumb whenever he's sitting doing nothing (like watching tellY). He says he doesnt do it at school, and fortunately it doesnt seem to have affected his teeth, but I do think its probably time to let go..Dd is much less addicted, but ds2 who is 3, is almost never without a mouthful of fingers. But I think it makes him happy, so its OK.