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Original poster

8 month DD sucks her thumb .. HV says to stop her .. I think its cute

52 replies

Twiglett · 11/01/2005 11:07

But DS never sucked his thumb

If I don't try to stop her will I regret it (like I regretted DS's bottles... he was still drinking milk from at nightime at 3)

She doesn't do it all the time .. just when tired or a little grumpy .. it seems a great comforter and I'm loathe to stop her

Experiences please...

OP posts:
Piffle · 11/01/2005 12:19

Ps sorry for vitriol bit OTT perhaps?just been to see my HV today am am incensed about something else entirely...

tortoiseshell · 11/01/2005 12:21

You're not going to be able to stop her, short of painting something unpleasant tasting on her thumb. Dd is a real thumb sucker, and sucks all night. So unless I crept in every 10 minutes and physically pulled it out of her mouth, she's going to suck. Don't worry about it.

DissLocated · 11/01/2005 12:23

Dd is almost 9mo, sucks the first two fingers on her left hand has done since she was about 5 weeks old. She's never wanted a dummy despite me trying in the early days - I have no intention of trying to stop her - although it is amusing to watch her confusion when she's wearing mittens!

Pagan · 12/01/2005 09:55

DD (16 months) sucks her thumb. She always has although more prolific with it in the past. She does it when she's falling asleep or tired or grumpy. Lots of people told me to get a dummy instead but then I see babies who then need their dummy to go to sleep so if they lose it in the blankets the yelling starts and sleep for parents is disturbed. Once she's able to reason I'll explain that thumb sucking is really for babies and it won't do her teeth any good but until such time I don't see the point.

hunkermunker · 12/01/2005 10:02

DS sucks the first two fingers on his left hand - and though I've read posts on here from people saying breastfed-on-demand babies should get enough sucking from the boob, he actually pulls away from feeding to have a quick suck on his fingers!

Short of taping his hand to his leg, I don't see what I can do to stop him - I figure it'll just be something he does naturally one day and if I stress about it, I'll make him want to do it more.

What does annoy me is people (some close relatives - LOL!) saying to him 'get those fingers out of your mouth' - he's 9 months old FFS!

It gets him back off to sleep in the night too and he can't 'lose' his fingers like he could a dummy, plus he looks really cute doing it, so I really can't say I mind.

hunkermunker · 12/01/2005 10:03

LOL Disslocated - just read your post! My DS won't wear mittens...he can't get to those yummy fingers then!

nasa · 12/01/2005 10:07

ridiculous thing to say, far to young to try and 'stop' them. I think it's very hard to wean them off any sucking - but it's a fact that some children are 'sucky' are some aren't.

It's probably not what you want to hear but I still stuck my fingers when I'm really tired and I'm 33

munnzieb · 12/01/2005 10:09

I sucked my thumb right until I was 11, then I had to go into hospital and have a bandage, the nurse said she didn't want to see my bandged hand all wet around the thumb area, so I stopped. I did do it only at bed times, the dentist was more worried my teeth would push forward, but it doesn't seem to have done them any harm.

wobblystarryknicks · 12/01/2005 10:24

I very occasionally suck my fingers without realising it, if I'm really bored or stressed. Way I look at it is if I didn't maybe I'd be smoking or something and at least sucking your fingers is free, very convienient and has no health downsides!!

Distracted · 12/01/2005 10:31

I actually asked my HV about this the other day as dh is concerned about ds sucking his thumb (his older sister never did). She said that nowadays they weren't so worried about it - studies show that mostly it doesn't affect teeth unless it is excessive or I think she said if they do it too much when they're older. My sister is in her mid forties and still sucks her thumb

galaxy · 12/01/2005 10:59

dd sucks her thumb when tired and still has betime milk from a bottle and she's 26 months. My HV said not to worry about either. Does that make me a bad mother?

eidsvold · 12/01/2005 11:33

my dd1 is 2 1/2 and sucks her thumb when tired.. seems to help her go to sleep - once she is off the thumbs had fallen out of the mouth... not going to stop her - as others have said it is soothing and she started with sucking her hand - never took to a dummy, and we needed her to be sucking something to help with her sucking relfex as she was tube fed for 8 weeks. DD2 is eight weeks and is now sucking her hands at times... not quite found her thumb although she has a dummy at times.

handlemecarefully · 12/01/2005 12:19

Another vote for cute and essentially harmless.

PocketTasha · 12/01/2005 12:29

with ds1 i was always worried about his teeth as he got older. Doesnt affect all childrens teeth, it depends on how they hold their thumb or fingers in their mouth. As soon as he started to suck his thumb i went out and bought him some tooth friendly dummies, it meant that he didn't ever get used to sucking his thumb, so when it came time to ween him off the dummy it wasn't so hard. I went by the theory that you can't take a childs thumb away as the get older, but a dummy you can. He was about 15 months when he was off the dummy completely. So it worked for us, but all children are different.
Good luck.

SoupDragon · 12/01/2005 12:37

Stop her.

DS1 sucked his thumb and still does (he's now nearly 6) despite our best attempts to stop him. He has pulled his front teeth forwards, pushded his lower teeth back and reshaped te roof of his mouth and his jaw. No doubt he will require braces when he is older. Sigh. I was made to feel Really Bad Parent by the dentist who said he should have been stopped by the time he was 1.

Everyone is different - I was a thumbsucker until I was 6 or so and it didn't affect my teeth. HOwever, having seen what it's done to DS1's teeth, I would stop any subsequent children of mine from prolonged thumbsucking. DS2, luckily, is not interested in his thumb.

californiagirl · 12/01/2005 17:33

DD sucked her thumb quite a lot still at 8 months, but hardly ever does anymore at the advanced age of 10 months. I'm not certain I prefer hair-pulling and head-smacking, which are her current going-to-sleep theories. My MIL also advised me to stop her, but failed to produce any suggestions on exactly how I would do this. DH never sucked his thumb or had a dummy, which she seems to think was an accomplishment on her part. Un-hunh.

Amanda3266 · 12/01/2005 18:27

Hi Twiglett,

I'm a HV too and I think you know best what is right for your DD. Some babies just like sucking - my DS still has a dummy (just turned 2) which I admit I am having some difficulty parting him from. However, they don't do it forever - I can't understand what your HV's concerns are. Too many of them out there who've never had kids and don't understand - agree with aloha - what does she suggest you do - tie her arms by her side.
I say don't worry about it - let her get on with her thumb sucking if it comforts her - she'll grow out of it when she's ready.

Mandy

hercules · 12/01/2005 18:30

I havent read the other posts but let her!

Bless. I bet she does look really cute.

sievehead · 12/01/2005 20:40

dont' stop her. both mine do ( 5 years and 2 years) and its just been a total godsend at time. 5 yo only does at bedtime now, but 2 year old all the time, actually sucks here forefinger which looks funny. don't worry about. i'd have used a dummy if they hadn't taken to thumbs!

MrsBigD · 12/01/2005 20:53

Twiglett,

dd (3) despite some of our efforts is still a thumb sucker and a nailbiter! We've tried all sorts of things to make her stop but to no avail so now we just ignore it and hope it'll go away

As for the drinking milf from the bottle at 3... well of course! Milk belongs in a bottle as far as my dd is concerned! Everything else has to be in a big person glass but not milk! An you'll laugh at this... dd had her reassessment at hospital today because she's so small and the doc asked me if she drinks milk from a beaker or the bottle. When I told her 'milk = bottle' she laughed... her 6 year old still insists on that too and there's nothing wrong with it.

JennieD · 12/01/2005 21:18

I was really anti thumb sucking or dummy until I realised my ds (now 18 months) settled so well with the latter and I was desperate - of course when I couldn't get it off him I then wished he had sucked his thumb. Can't have everything though and as I am still caught sleeping with my thumb in my mouth (aged 40) , at least I will be able to throw the dummy out one day...... My teeth are fine by the way so don't worry too much about that.

Gwenick · 12/01/2005 21:31

Well - my teeth are probably the MOST crap teeth on MN - BUT I never sucked by thumb (or fingers for that matter). I just had the bad luck to have crap teeth LOL

Brother sucked his thumb AND had a dummy and his teeth are great.

DH - and almost all of his family have a 'gap' in his front teeth - it's 'family' thing - which DS1 doesn't seem to have, but DS2 seems to have.

DS1 didn't take a dummy or suck a finger - he sucked me for 4 months - and then didn't really do anything.

DS2 has always been a 2 finger sucker - doesn't really do it unless he's tired - and looks incredibly cute, - I have no intention of stopping him - being a boy he'll probably stop once he starts school and he's likely to get 'pointed' at for it.

Oh and BTW - back to my teeth - when I was 11 I needed to have some fillings done - dentist told my mum to make sure I brushed my teeth 2 times a day and cut right back on fizzy drinks and sweets.................I already brushed my teeth 2 times a day, didn't eat many sweets (10p's worth a WEEK if that) and HATED fizzy drinks LMAO

AussieSim · 13/01/2005 01:37

My DS is a thumbsucker and I think it is natural and he only does it when he is tired and to get himself off to sleep BUT, he gets eczema on his thumbs and I have tried to wean him off, with v little result. Currently his little thumbs are bandaged up to protect them from the onslaught of sucking and scratching. Worrying about teeth is nothing compared to going into him in the morning and finding his sleeping bag covered in blood. I've been to 3 different dermatologists, been admitted to hospital for a course of IV antibiotics and any results are only temporary. My next stop is a Naturopath. I am 16weeks pregnant and sorry to say that I will be trying to keep the next one on a dummy if they have to have something, on the off chance that he/she will have the same problem.

essbee · 13/01/2005 02:08

Message withdrawn

webmum · 13/01/2005 10:26

twiglett

just to add to what everyone else has said, dd1 suycked her thumb for 18 months and the first year we had 8 months of uninterrupted sleep 12 hours per night, we coliuld her when she was tired as she would bring her thumb in the mouth and the great thing was that she could confort herself this way (always been v. independent), she then switched to a dummy, but still sucks her thumb when she loses the dummy in bed. There's nothing you can do about it... She also sometimes has milk in a bottle (3.5!!), when she wants to a 'baby', I don't like the look of her with a bottle, but I don't think it does her any harm and if she's happy...we're all happy!

Anyway, there's nothing you can do about it really, so just enjoy the benefits of thumbsucking and don't worry about it!!