thread: Thumb sucking

  1. #1
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    Sep 2007
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    Thumb sucking

    Jesse sucks & chews on his thumb alot.
    My mum said straight away to get him out of it. I think its cute though!
    & it's a comfort thing for him. He has the dummy, but isn't too keen on it.
    Should I just let him go? Or should I try to stop it?

  2. #2
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    Thankyou. Thats what I thought.
    But people say thay if he has a dummy it'll be easier to take off him later.

  3. #3
    Registered User

    May 2008
    where the V8's roar
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    Wink

    My DS never took to a dummy so he llloooooves his hand/thimb etc... I figure this way I don't have to get up in the middle of the night to replace a dummy. I may live to regret not encouraging more with his dummy, as everyone keeps telling me , but it's something I am willing to deal with later

  4. #4
    BellyBelly Life Subscriber

    Feb 2006
    South Eastern Suburbs, Vic
    6,054

    Personally, at 5 months, I'd leave him be! And I'm a fan of thumbs over dummies tbh, dummies can get lost, at 3am I didn't need to go in and re-find ds's thumb for him! :P

    Whatever settles them is fine I reckon. I'd say that many children grow out of thumb sucking as they grow older, and those that don't can be persuaded by other means.

  5. #5
    Registered User

    Jul 2006
    Brisbane
    3,205

    I too say leave him My first was a thumb sucker but I think he stopped before he turned 2. We used to flick it out of his mouth and made it funny with a "pop" noise and he just kinda stopped on his own. I prefer thumb to dummy too cos they're attached and easily found in the middle of the night Oh and I can't remember if there's a thread somewhere or not, but apparently so long as they stop by the time they're around 3 you shouldn't have teeth issues - so I've heard on some show on tv.

  6. #6
    Ellibam Guest

    i have one of each. ds is a thumb sucker but only at bed time/sleep time. dd Had a dummy until a week before her first birthday( i had enough of moving the cot to get to them).
    i personally foundthumbs the best for travel!(never have to think about them they are always with them) but the dummy has been easy to get rid of!

    but as someone that sucked their fingers until the age of 12(and my teeth are in perfect shape no braces ever) i always wanted my kids to be dummy users because i know how hard it was to give them up.

  7. #7
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    Thanks everyone. Its good to know not everyone is looking down on me when I let him do it.

  8. #8
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    MJ has neer had a dummy s uses her hands if she needs to self settle.
    I dont see anything wrong with it TBH - not at this age anyway

    I was a thumb sucker, not all day every day, but to get to sleep... oh and i have perfect teeth

  9. #9
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    Jan 2006
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    OK, this is why I wanted DS to be a thumb-sucker (he doesn't suck anything, btw):

    Easy instant comfort without Mummy being there
    Thumbs don't get lost
    Thumbs don't get shared (DS will pick up other kids dummies and bite them if I don't stop him)
    You can't walk with a thumb in your mouth
    You have to remove the thumb to speak (these latter two as niece was a constant dummy user for 18m and didn't speak, only grunted, for 2 years)
    You can out-grow it when you're ready, not when your parents decide they no longer like it.

    Even when children grow out of the thumb you can tell when they're really upset because it goes back in: I gave up thumb-sucking at 2-3 but I do bite at my thumb when I'm really upset.

  10. #10
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    They are exactly my thoughts.

  11. #11
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    Oct 2006
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    I've got both. My DD1 was a dummy sucker and we managed to kindly put it away at 2, she only ever had it for bed anyway. My DD2 is a thumb sucker, I love that I dont need to get up to her at night (was forever doing it with DD1) but I do worry what it will do to her teeth if she continues, I guess we'll deal with that as it comes. She only ever has her thumb in her mouth at night and during the day when she's tired, I just take it out again and play with her (she laugh's coz it makes the pop sound sometimes).

    I really dont care what other's think tho, its none of their business as she's my child!

    Anyway, thats my take on it if it helps!

    Cheers,

    Beck

  12. #12
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    I friend of mines DD had dummies - do do's she called them. Everywhere they went she had to have 3. One in the mouth, & one in each hand. Then of course 2 or 3 spares in the bag in case one got lost.
    They gave them to Santa just before she turned 3.

  13. #13
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    Jul 2007
    Dapto, Illawarra...NSW
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    Leave him to it, I say. Jack has a dummy, but, most the time he has his whole hand in his mouth, not just his thumb, LOL.

  14. #14
    Registered User

    Apr 2005
    1,814

    My son's still a thumb sucker and he's 16 months old. Doesn't bother me in the slightest. He only does it for sleeps, not all the time, and I like that he can comfort himself without me having to always have a dummy on hand.
    And it's really cute

  15. #15
    Registered User

    Aug 2007
    Sydney
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    I sucked my thumb for 12 years (only at night in the older years ) - Didn't do me any harm, never did anything to my teeth. I just liked doing it!

  16. #16
    Registered User

    Aug 2004
    Hunter Valley, Wine Country, NSW
    3,006

    I`d leave him, DS#1 was a thumb sucker (was in the womb as well as was born with sucking blisters), he didn`t suck his thumb for too long at all not like myself LOL