Help Thumb or Pacifer

Kylie - posted on 03/29/2009

sorry i dont have any suggestions but i think ur doing the right thing. good luck.

Alyssa - posted on 03/23/2009

Also sucking your thumb can cause buck teeth and no one wants to have to pay for braces when they could of stopped it early on

Alyssa - posted on 03/23/2009

Ok I would give him the pacifer more and take his thumb out of his mouth and put on a mitten bc it took me until i was 12 years old to stop sucking my thumb you can always take the paci away you can't take his thumb off my mom tried tape, hot sauce, this stuff called thumb, sock taped around my arm, and a bunch of other stuff. It didn't work I sucked right though tha thumb and hot sauce and put tha other thumb in with tha tape and sock. So yeah and when you want to break him from tha paci take a ride and throw it out tha window he might cry but he knows it's gone. 

Shannon - posted on 03/21/2009

I was determined NOT to let my boy have a paci and I would rather him suck his thumb but he was about a week old and he spent 2 hours with my pinky in his mouth before I broke and gave him the paci.
My good friend wanted her daughter to have a paci and she ended up sucking her thumb in the womb and still is at 2.

You can fight this if you want to or you can worry about it in a couple years. It is up to you and there is no wrong answer. Good Luck with your decision

Melissa - posted on 02/25/2009

All three of my boys sucked their thumb. I was always really defensive when people would criticize me for letting them do it. But our oldest is 8 and we tried everything to break the habit. He ended up getting an open bit appliance, which is a row of spikes behind his front teeth to correct a tongue thrust and to stop the thumb sucking from the orthodontist. Our youngest who is three got his hand closed in a door when he was 15 months and the thumb he sucked was smashed. He quit sucking his thumb after that and we gave him a pacifier to help him transition and it was a lot easier to get rid of the pacifier. We have been trying to break our five year olds thumb habit for what seems like forever. So while I never thought it was a problem to let kids suck their thumb some kids have a hard time quiting. My advice is if you let him do it try to break the habit early.

Teresa - posted on 02/22/2009

When my girls would put their thumb in their mouth I would take it out and put the pacifier in.  They would leave it that way.  I would also randomly take the pacifier out of their mouths if they weren't tired or upset.  By around a year and a half it was confined to when they were in bed.  We took the pacifiers away from them shortly before turning 2 w/ very little problems.... other than the fact that they quit napping.

My son won't take a pacifier (loves to play w/ them though) and doesn't suck his thumb.  I am his pacifier apparently.

Mary - posted on 02/20/2009

Both my boys are thumbsuckers, and my 4 yr old likes lemon juice. We've mostly broke the habit. I know it sounds horrible, but my sister used hot sauce on his thumb, and he didn't like that. After that, it only took a couple threats and he stopped, mostly. Now he just uses it breifly at night. My 15 month old seems to be walking the same road..... Good luck.

Meaghan - posted on 02/17/2009

Thank you all so much, I just know it cant mess his teeth up more if he does it when his adult teeth come in, and im hoping he does grow out of it soon.

Cherrie - posted on 02/17/2009

I have 4 boys, none of which took a pacifier.  My youngest (now 6) was my one and only thumb sucker.  That thumb was a lifesaver for me, as strange as it sounds, but once he found that thumb, he would sleep for more than 1/2 hr at a time.  He did go from his thumb to his pointer finger though.  But he has outgrown them both.  On very rare occasions, or if he isn't feeling well, he may go for that pointer finger, but it doesn't happen often. I wouldn't worry to much about, my guess is he'll outgrow it sooner than later. 

Sandra - posted on 02/17/2009

My children didn't do either, but my friend ended her sons thumb sucking by putting lemon juice on it during the day and broke him of it.  He was pretty old before she thought it was not appropriate anymore.  I wouldn't worry about it at 4 months.  My son does suck on his blanket and I am worried about having to break him of this too in the future, but I'm not going to freak out about what I'm not sure will or will not happen.  When my children were 4 months they wanted to put everything into their mouths.

Chloe - posted on 02/14/2009

My son stopped his pacifier recently. I was so used to him using it that i only realised when he stopped it was me that was attached not him. Yes he now sucks his thumb. But this is apparently a transition & a step away from the pacifier. Id let him suck his thumb. He will soon grow out of that also. Its better than having a 5 yr old with a pacifier. good luck:.)