Thumb Sucking - My thoughts.

I have been wanting to write something about thumb sucking because it is a habit that seems to run in my family. On my wife's side her niece sucked her thumb and our daughter sucked her thumb. I have to admit that I don't think that I handled this properly. We had several dental attachments made by our daughters dentist with the hopes that this would stop her, but it did not.

So in today's post, I want to give some advice on this problem, but admit that it was probably me who needed to change.

So why do kids suck there thumbs anyway?

Small children suck their thumbs because it makes them feel good. It is that simple, it's comforting and calming. Many of us probably practiced this habit while we were in the womb and some go on to make it a full blown habit as infants. When your child is bored, scared, sick, tired, or just not having a good day he or she may find comfort in sucking her thumb. I seem to remember it was occasions like when our daughter went to preschool and even when she was playing a game that she found challenging that she would suck her thumb. Watching TV could even be a trigger. She would often times suck her thumb while sleeping. And I imagine that it would bring her comfort when she woke up sometimes in the middle of the night.

At least that is what my reading on the subject leads me to believe, but I know it did comfort her.

Now what can you do to stop it.

I truly wish that when I was younger and our daughter was smaller I had not worried about it so much. Because none of my fears came to be true. She did not damage her teeth, which I had always figured that she would. Her dentist kept a close watch on what was happening and as I mentioned we had attachments to stop her from sucking her thumb place in her mouth.

But according the American Dental Association until your kids permanent teeth appear which is around 5 years or so, you should not worry so much. For one thing all children do not suck there thumbs the same way. Some place there thumbs against the roof of their mouths and others do not. Some do not put the whole thumb in, while other kids get as much of their hand in there as they can. I had a childhood friend who, did not suck his thumb, he actually sucked both his index finger and his middle finger. Strange but true. I mention this to point out that all kids are different, and it is really the intensity of the sucking and the tongue's thrust that deforms teeth and makes it necessary for your kid to wear braces. Our dentist told us that our daughter was putting her thumb in her mouth in a passive way but recommended that we use the attachment anyway.

If I had it to do all over again, I probably would not have nagged or punished our daughter for her thumb sucking, because I now realize that she may not have really known when she was sucking her thumb. And as I said there were other children in our family who sucked their thumbs. I think that our trying to get her to stop, may have made her want to do it more. But the really sad thing about trying to get your kid to stop sucking their thumbs is that they do it for comfort and security and it is difficult for most parents to deny this to their kids.

According to pediatrician Suzanne Dixon who was quoted in an online story about thumb sucking, you could try to wait it out. Your child will probably give up thumb sucking when they've found other ways to calm and comfort themselves. Small children may suck their thumbs when they are hungry, but an older kid my know other ways of getting food, like asking mommy or daddy, or even opening the refrigerator and looking for a snack.

Another method to minimize thumb sucking is to figure out when your kid is mostly likely to suck their thumbs and try to preempting it with some other activity. I know that this is easier said then done, but for example if your child sucks her thumb while watching television, you may want to give her a toy that can keep her hands occupied. If you child sucks his thumb when he is tired then it might be easier to give him more naps. The main point of this is to notice when the thumb sucking happens and then diverting your child's attention by offering an alternative.

And finally except that your kid does this and will hopefully outgrow it. That seems to me to be the most healthy attitude to take. Again, I came to this mind set after our daughter became older.