Thumb or dummy?

[mp2024]

Hi everyone!

My little one has been sucking her thumb to help fall asleep from a few months old. She's 13m now and has started to do it more often in the day / when she feels shy or needs comfort.

I never introduced a dummy simply because I never had to!

Now I'm just wondering if a dummy would be easier because at least I could take it away eventually - I have no control over the thumb 🤣

Just wondering if anyone had a similar experience / what they did, how they encouraged thumb sucking to stop?
(Aware this isn't an imminent issue but just future thinking)

Thank you!

Why would you want her to stop self-soothing?

My parents were cruel about getting me to stop, using instant coffee and nail biting liquid. They even said that my bone deformity was caused by sucking. I only found out this wasn't the case when I was in my 40s and an ultrasound detected the deformity. I asked how.it happened and was told it's a genetic condition that happened in utero.

It only made me ashamed and scared of my parents. I hid it.

I stopped eventually.

Dummy if you can get her to take it! My 3yo DD has been a thumb sucker since she was quite a small baby and it is proving a very hard habit to break. I've tried telling her to stop, the dentist has told her she needs to stop, thumb covers which she just takes off and the disgusting tasting stuff which doesn't seem to bother her! She would never take a dummy unfortunately but it would have been much easier to take away. Hoping she will grow out of it.

My little girl was a brilliant sleeper with thumb sucking. Went cold turkey when she was about 5

Dummy! Thumb sucking knackered my front teeth! I had braces and they corrected some of it but they've slowly drifted forwards over the years. Nothing cosmetically awful but still, not ideal.

I should add I was well into my teens before I stopped, actually thinking about it, it was when I got my first brace, as I couldn't feel my thumb on the roof of my mouth. So probably 12/13.

I’m planning on introducing a dummy if my baby starts to thumb suck. I was a compulsive finger sucker as a child and the only thing which broke the habit in the end was a hand injury. All the gentle things to stop me thumb sucking were totally ineffective and honestly, I think I’m lucky that the injury broke the habit for me. While it was an accident for me and deliberately hurting your child is wrong, I’m really glad it happened because it was starting to affect my teeth in the end. I don’t know if or how I would have grown out of it otherwise.

My two kids had dummies and were super attached to them. Really dreaded the time when I had to remove them. Both got rid at 3 (some people will prob think this was too old). It actually went much easier than I thought and they adjusted quickly. I personally sucked my thumb and I didn't stop until I got braces at 12 🙈. It's a tricky one and hard to know if your LO will gradually stop with thumb sucking as they get older or not.

My older one took to a dummy no problem and we got rid of it easily when he was 3. We "paid" for a toy in a toy shop with the dummy! My younger one was a finger sucker from the get go and never accepted a dummy. She didn't stop until she was embarrassed by the dentist saying thumb or fingers when she was around 8! So I think the dummy is an easier habit to break but you can't always be the one to choose especially as she's already 13 months!