https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 11 May 2026 03:04:00 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thumbsucking#post-193672 Mon, 18 Jun 2012 10:41:20 +0000 mrs. wagon 193672@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Cchoi4: Wagon Jr. is 2.5 months and we can tell him to not touch or pick his nose and he listens pretty well.... so give it a shot!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thumbsucking#post-193665 Mon, 18 Jun 2012 10:39:07 +0000 Cchoi4 193665@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrs. wagon: whew! i hope so mrs. wagon...actually, my mom told me i was a huge thumbsucker but i never needed braces surprisingly. maybe I will wait it out until LO can understand me telling him to stop. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thumbsucking#post-193646 Mon, 18 Jun 2012 10:28:21 +0000 aMohror 193646@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Cchoi4: I sucked my thumb until I was 7! The only reason I stopped it because I got some dental work done and I couldn't suck anything, thumb, straw, etc. It was a HARD habit to break for me, I would still wake up with mu thumb in my mouth and I had a huge callous on it as well.<br /> I think the biggest concern is having dental problems later on. It can make your teeth stick out of get pushed up from always having the thumb in there.<br /> However, when they are so little I just don't know if I would be able to stop it....I'm sorry this is probably not helpful! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thumbsucking#post-193645 Mon, 18 Jun 2012 10:25:44 +0000 purrpletulips 193645@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DD is 26m and sucks her thumb mainly at nap/bed time but usually stops sucking it shortly after falling asleep. I generally ignore other people who offer advise on her thumbsucking because I typically don't take others' unsolicited advice on parenting in general. We have recently noticed that DD is sucking her thumb more frequently (like every time we get in the car) so DH and I have started telling her to take her thumb out of her mouth during these times and she usually does. I'm not sure if the increased thumb sucking is because I'm pregnant and things are changing around our house or because she is now one of the older kids in her daycare class and it seem that all of the younger ones have a pacifier in their mouths every time I am there. I asked our dentist about it and he said she will most likely grow out of it on her own but it isn't a problem unless she gets to be about 4 and is still sucking it non-stop. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thumbsucking#post-193642 Mon, 18 Jun 2012 10:23:49 +0000 mrs. wagon 193642@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Cchoi4: In terms of dental issues I believe there's nothing to worry about until their adult teeth grow in. Which is years away!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thumbsucking#post-193637 Mon, 18 Jun 2012 10:17:50 +0000 Mrs. Pen 193637@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Cchoi4: oh my gosh that's sooo rude and totally none of their business! There are peoPle I've known who sucked til like ten years of age but most don't and most will drop it on their own, I wouldn't be concerned about it at this point. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thumbsucking#post-193635 Mon, 18 Jun 2012 10:17:19 +0000 Cchoi4 193635@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@autumnlove: I feel the same way. I read all these blogs that told me that this was their way of soothing themselves and that it would help with napping and such, so I wasn't too concerned. Now people are warning me about not letting it go on for fear that either his thumbs will be different sizes (the one he sucks on will be double the size of the other!) or he'll have dental issues. </p> <p>I'm not sure what to believe. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thumbsucking#post-193630 Mon, 18 Jun 2012 10:13:43 +0000 autumnlove 193630@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My MIL pulled my LO's thumb out of her mouth last night and warned me about permanent damage. Right now, she is 5.5 months and I'm not concerned yet! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thumbsucking#post-193627 Mon, 18 Jun 2012 10:11:45 +0000 mrs. wagon 193627@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Wagon Jr. sucked his first two fingers as a comforting thing. He dropped it on his own, so I think he grew out of it. I think he just got older and was able to handle his emotions better, and now is pretty attached to his lovey again (he goes through stages) so we got lucky in that we didn't have to get him to stop sucking. I would not try to take away all forms of self-soothing because I think it helps them deal with their emotions, especially negative ones. </p> <p>I would say just let him if it works for him and it doesn't bother you... if it begins to be a problem or it starts to bother you then you can try to get him to stop. </p> <p>If anyone yanked Wagon Jr.'s fingers out of his mouth when he was sucking them because he was scared or sad, I'd punch them in the face!!!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thumbsucking#post-193614 Mon, 18 Jun 2012 10:05:18 +0000 Rubies 193614@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>LO sucks her thumb when she's tired and when first placed in her crib to sleep. She's 10.5 months old. I've had people do the same thing - pull her thumb out and this has caused me to almost punch their daylights out! But anyway, I think for now and for my own daughter, I'm fine with her soothing herself this way. She doesn't suck her thumb any other time but for sleeping/tiredness. I might feel differently if she sucked her thumb constantly but I think she's still very young so I'm not sweating it yet. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thumbsucking#post-193612 Mon, 18 Jun 2012 10:04:14 +0000 prettylizy 193612@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't have any firsthand expierence, but my sister sucked her thumb well into late childhood (9 or 10). My parents ended up having to get a dental appliance put in to stop it. She keeps telling me to never let LO suck her fingers! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/thumbsucking#post-193609 Mon, 18 Jun 2012 10:01:21 +0000 Cchoi4 193609@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My LO was never a pacifier baby - constantly would spit it out. But he started sucking his thumb (late in the game) around 9 months or so. Now he's sucking his thumb mainly to soothe (when he sees strangers, when he's tired, when he's trying to nap in his crib, etc). </p> <p>I recently went to a picnic where almost everyone I encountered tried to get LO to stop sucking his thumb. They would pull his finger out of his mouth every time he would put it in. One mother (who has four kids of her own) told me to make a plan where I would flick his thumb every time he tried to suck (this includes napping and nighttime sleeping) so she said to count on 1 week of me not sleeping to achieve this...</p> <p>so the question is - is thumbsucking bad? Is this something he will grow out of eventually or should I actively try to stop him now so that it won't be harder later when he is 5 yrs old? </p>