I would like to know your opinions about thumbsucking. From what I heard, this is not a good habit that a child will develop for it will damage the growth of teeth. But on the other hand, some researchers say that it is some kind of a way a baby sooths itself.

I sucked my thumb until somewhere in kindergarten/first grade. My mom tried tobasco sauce, that nail stuff for biting nails, and anything else the other moms told her to try. Nothing worked until I got scratched by a cat, right across the pad of my thumb and put on a cloth bandaid. It tasted less than good, so I stopped for a week while my thumb healed and just never started again. I got braces later on in life, but not for anything sucking my thumb did. I know if the child continues for long periods it will create a slight bucktooth to their bite, but they have to be quite old to have that big of a problem, and it can probably be corrected with braces which most children seem to get these days for one reason or another.

Some children are just more oral than others and NEED something in their mouth all the time. Binky/nummy/paci or thumb, something is going to end up there.

Past the age of about 2ish, I personally hate seeing children with anything in their mouth in public. And nothing is more difficult than trying to understand a child talking over a thumb/binky.

I dont think the impact on teeth is as great as dr's would like us to believe. I have seen children that never sucked a thumb a day with bigger overbites than children that tumbsucked til they were well in elementary school.

Neither of my children have done this, not b/c we as parents made them avoid it, they just never got into the habit. I do understand it can sooth a baby, but I also have seen the after affects of when a child does this for long amounts of time, and it does end up messing with their dental care. My niece for example, sucked her thumb til she was maybe 6-7 years old. She did not have any teeth issues, but it always made my sister get odd looks in public by other parents.

So what is the real reason why some babies tend to suck their thumbs? Is it because they are used to sucking the mother's nips that they want to suck something else if they don't have their mother's nips?

I have seen my cousin thumb suck when he wants to sleep. He is more than one year old already.

The problem I see on thumbsucking is the health of the baby. Babies will touch anything they see and some of these things are dirty. Then when they put their thumbs in their mouth, those dirt will enter their body and might they might become sick.

Toddlers are hardier than you might think. A little dirt on their hands isn't going to hurt that much. There's an old saying that you'll eat a pound of dirt in your life, so you might as well get started young when no one will look at you funny.


Neither of my sons sucked their thumb or any else really. They quit using a pacifier about the same time they got off a bottle. I breast fed for about 9 months with the first, but only about 6 months with the second, then switched to bottle. But like alexis, it was their choice rather than anything I did.