# Thumbsucking by my Baby!



## Nameo (Jul 11, 2011)

I'm a first time parent. My baby is one year old. She likes to suck her thumb finger. She does it even when she is sleeping. I'm worried that she will never stop it. 

How do I get her to stop?
Should I leave her to stop on her own?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## that_girl (Jul 6, 2011)

She may stop on her own, or she may not.

I was an avid thumb sucker until 3rd grade when my mom had the dentist put in a thumb guard (horrible metal contraption that barred my thumb from being put into my mouth). After a few months of that, the habit was broken. But I loved my thumb.

You can try painting her thumb with that nasty thumb stuff. My mom tried that, I just sucked it off. lol.

I had to wear braces for my overbite from 5th to 8th grade though.


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## Enchantment (May 11, 2011)

My oldest sucked his thumb until he was at least 10. We tried everything - but by that point it was totally unconscious on his part. We never did make that big of a deal about it - just would remind him when we would see him doing it.

Nothing we tried really worked to break him of the habit. He was finally cured when he had to get a palate expander put in prior to getting braces which he had to have because his palate was misshapen because of all of the thumb sucking. Two days after the palate expander - no more thumb sucking.

Thumb Sucking | How to Stop Thumb Sucking in Kids | BabyZone

According to the above article: 
_"The ADA recommends children give up thumb sucking by the time their permanent front teeth start coming in, which is typically around the age of five. But the good news is that the majority of children lose interest in thumb sucking long before this point_."

So, you have some time to monitor it. And if it continues to be a problem by the time you take your baby to their first toddler/preschool dental appointment, you can discuss with the dentist or your peditrician then.

Best of luck.


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## turnera (Jan 22, 2010)

That's why I gave my daughter a pacifier. It was much easier to get her to give up the pacifier than to forget her thumb was there and available. 

DD20's best friend was a thumb sucker and had THE WORST teeth.

Try a pacifier.


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## ulous (May 15, 2011)

My parents gave me a frozen pacifier and weaned me off, it worked well from what they say.


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## Idun (Jul 30, 2011)

My younger brother and I both sucked our thumbs and both ended up with horribly pushed out teeth and needed braces. My older brother had a dummy and had perfectly straight teeth. It depends how you suck your thumb as to if there will be much damage, apparently.

I have a 15yr old cousin who still sucks her thumb occasionally in her sleep. She also has terrible buck teeth, but her brothers don't (not sure if they had dummies or just stopped sucking their thumbs earlier).

I've given dummies/pacifier to my 3 kids and none of them have sucked their thumb. Try and get her onto a pacifier (it took me a week to 'train' my kids to take them, be persistent) because at least later on you can take the dummy away when you want that habit weaned! Depending on how long and how much she sucks her thumb, she may just keep rejecting the dummy.


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## turnera (Jan 22, 2010)

When DD20 turned 3, her dentist told her it was time to give it up because she was a big girl now, and he had a special 'bucket' to put them in, and he told her that they gave pacifiers to the new babies, and she could help some baby by giving up her pacifier to them. She bought it, looked at her paci sadly, and dropped it in the bucket, and never asked for another one.


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