Thumbsucking

[ChiQui]

My baby's three months old and her mouth and her fingers are such a huge fascination to her. However, she also has started thumbsucking. Any suggestions on how I can stop this?

[CraZyInLuV]

i've read somewhere (www.babycenter.com i think) that when babies feel uncomfortable or nervous, they thumbsuck. it's their way of comforting themselves.
slowly try to reassure the baby of your presence, and gently remove the thumb from her/his mouth.

[Kaboom!]

Try a pacifier. It worked for our son.

Peace.

[JdelaCruz]

Why is there a need to stop it? Is thumbsucking harmful to a baby in any way?

[joben]

there could be as many opinions on this as there are doctors and grandparents :))

in our case, we share the opinion of my son's pedia to simply allow them to outgrow it. *Forcing* the issue could do more damage than good. Their mouth is their only way of learning about the world around them at this stage. Also, it comforts them. Taking it away will not do any good. Letting them suck their thumbs will do no harm. Some opinion on this is that it will interfere with the proper development of their teeth. At a certain age, it has to stop.

My son had this habit since infancy till he was about 3 years old. We just kept on encouraging him to stop but never forcing. One day he just decided to stop. :)

Now, at 5 years old, he is into nail biting. :(

Our guess is he is coping with School. Hopefully, constant reminder would still work.

[dudelish]

when i was a kid, my parents rubbed siling labuyo on my thumb when i was sleeping. those bas+ards! hehehe...

anyway, after that, i stopped sucking my thumb. it's okay if kids suck their thumbs, but you might want to have them stop when the rest of their friends stop sucking thumbs.

also, keep your kids' hands clean while he's in that stage. it's a force of habit and usually they wouldn't know that their thumb is in their mouth, so if they just had their dog lick their hands.... ew.

[BuDwEiSeR#8]

:imu: I think there's no need to worry about that,mas safe pa nga compare sa pacifier kasi rubber yung paci di bah?so ok lang iyon,normal lang naman sa kanila iyon eh,although yung anak ko hindi sya dumaan sa stage na yan.

dudelishvery violent naman ng parents mo for using labuyo,pwede rin naman kahit black pepper or ginger root,wawa ka naman :wink:
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-7/268834/budweiser1.gif

[SkaRLa]

I was also a thumbsucker when I was young and found it hard to kick the habit. Which is why up to now I have scars on both thumbs. My parents tried everything from putting Vicks, nail polish, sili, etc. - to no avail! I guess I just outgrew it.

[Fairy_nd_meadow]

You won't believe this but my daughter thumbsucked until she was in the 3rd grade. What made her stop was when we took her to the dentist and the dentist said that she if she continues to thumbsuck, her teeth may get misaligned. I talked to her about it and she never thumbsucked after that.

[noriel]

Originally posted by JdelaCruz
Why is there a need to stop it? Is thumbsucking harmful to a baby in any way?

Unhygeinic.

On the use of tabasco to trick two year old girl into stopping her thumbsucking and her love for sweets, we found out that didn't work either. She was/is fond of spicy hot stuff just like his dad.

:p

[smilewarrior]

While the baby is young, thumb sucking is normal. If the habit persists till the kid is 12 or 13 years old, it will prevent his or her upper front teeth from growing out properly. A space will be found between the upper and lower front teeth, hence the term "open bite".

Persistent thumbsucking could lead to mouthbreathing later on, which could lead to drying of the mouth, stagnation of food debris and eventually tooth decay.

[Mickey2000]

you just need to lookout for something, there's a tendency lalo na kapag baby, they have no idea that it is their own hand , na cho choke sila,so yun lang babantayan mo,kasi kahit na cho choke na nila sarili nila, hindi nila alam tanggalin yung fingers nila sa bibig.

[dior_addict]

i have a 4 and a half year old son JASON and he still sucks his thumb while he's sleeping. I talked to him many times about it but it seems like he just cant stop doing it so before he goes to bed i make sure his thumb is really clean.

I know that thumbsucking will affect the growth of his teeth, other than that may kalyo na siya sa thumb but i guess he'll stop it soon. Sometimes when i get up to check him at night di ko na siya nakikitang nag ta thumbsuck palagi, very seldom na nya itong ginagawa. Sana nga ay tuluyan na syang mag stop.



:)

[smilewarrior]

Good day dior_addict.

Hopefully your child will outgrow the habit. If he doesn't, please bring him to your dentist.

A Pedodontist or a Pediatric dentist is a dentist who specializes in treating the teeth of children and young adults.

If your son's habit persists after the age of 6 or 7, you may want to bring your child to an Orthodontist, a dentist who specializes in fixing crooked teeth.

[glenchuy]

my kids are 3 and 2 respectively, they thumbsuck like crazy, they suck everywhere and anytime. my 3 year old daughter has callouses on her left thumb bigger than my callouses on my left toe (i'm male) i can't get her to stop.

chile's don't work, she just sucks them (i have no idea how she does that) i've tried putting band aids on, and since she's a big girl she removes them quite easily. our dentist warns me that she's going to have badly formed teeth if she doesn't stop, but i can't do anything, if i scold her, she just calls her grandparents and i get more scolding than her. sigh, doctors say that it's a passing phase, but i'm losing my patience fast, it's just unsanitary and unhygenic to suck fingers. i didn't suck my thumb when i was a kid, i wonder if it's hereditary.

[smilewarrior]

It's not hereditary.

At a very young age, thumb sucking is normal.

If it persist till the child is 6 to 7 years old, an appliance called a TONGUE CRIB can be placed by either a Pediatric dentist/Pedodontist or an Orthodontist. This appliance is cemented and will serve as a hindrance, preventing the child from putting the thumb into his or her mouth.

[sakura7_15]

Thumb sucking is normal. It has been proven that those who did not thumb suck smoked in their teens.

It's the baby's way of saying something to you like he's afraid or hungry.

Do not result to pacifier because it will ruin your baby's teeth.

[blue23mkti]

wala kayo sa kapatid ko. she's already in 4th year college and she still have't outgrown thumbsucking! im dead serious.

but she does it naman sa bahay lang namin. syempre kakahiya pag sa school.

ewan ko. sa amin parang ordinaryo na lang pag nakikita namin sya. although paminsan minsan, tinatnaggal ko. pero nagagalit naman sya. medyo childish pa kse ang pag iisip.

[advancement]

People in the province have this brilliant idea of smearing small amounts of pepper on the baby's thumb. This way, he will avoid sucking it (even when there is no pepper) after his tongue gets "burned" a few times. Just be watchful that he doesn't rub his eyes the first few times.

[marthyna]

i think joben very well explained it.

anyway, your baby will outgrown it.my eldest used to thumbsuck too (till she already had kalyo). actually, hindi thumbsucking ang ginagawa n'ya, fingers sucking. she used to suck her 2 index fingers... and that only stopped when she turned 5.

[nuper17]

Help guys, is there anyone here how to prevent my 1 yr old baby to stop her habit of tumb sucking? Nagkaroon na sya tuloy ng kalyo sa hinlalaki nya....any help will be appreciated...thanks :)

[chiccor]

my mom said lagyan ng sili yung thumb, but thats a joke..wawa naman si baby..maybe give her another thing para madivert dun yung attention nya..pero kasabihan, kapag daw nag thumb suck ang baby eh mabait daw paglaki..

[Ice Burn]

Well call me a bit mean but I did put chilli on my son Yuri's finger everytime I caught him putting his fingers in his mouth. Though I had to endure a bit of his screaming fits for a few weeks everytime I dabbed the chilli but it sure cured him of the habit of putting his fingers in his mouth. :lol:

A little chilli is harmless anyway. The burning sensation in the mouth is just the Chilli's capsaicin tricking the brain into thinking the body's on fire when it's not. :lol:

[tina11]

Does she do it when she's bored, when she's falling asleep, while she's watching TV, o buong araw talaga? As chiccor said, you can try to keep her hands busy and get her excited about something. But if she persists on sucking her thumb, I wouldn't worry about it unless she has a lot of teeth na and the thumb sucking is causing the teeth to become crooked. If that's her way of self-soothing, ok lang yun. Personally I would prefer thumb sucking rather than a baby who's dependent on pacifiers to stay calm.

[mommy_name]

actually na a outgrow ng babies ang thumb sucking ,my baby used to thumbsuck when he was 2 or 3 months tapos na stop nung mga 7 months na sya. once his attention is being focused on other stuff makakalimutan nya narin mag thumbsuck. Try giving her safe play things to suck. heheheh basta dapat safe at malinis. also dont forget the rota virus vaccine , it's really effective.