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Thumb sucking vs pacifier

ricejlricejl member
in Alabama Babies
Alex has found his thumb and once it goes in he completely zones out. If we ever pick him up and it comes out he gets pretty upset. We've never been big on the pacifier and neither has he except at daycare they have been giving it to him which I am ok with. So I'm interested in hearing the pros and cons for both. One pro is when I hear him at night start grunting and fussing I start to get out of bed and then I hear the slurping noise and I am able to fall back asleep, it's really cute.
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Re: Thumb sucking vs pacifier

  • aubie96aubie96 member

    both are a soothing mechanism and both are fine from what I understand.  Lydia uses the paci mainly to help with spitting up but if she doesn't have it she sucks on her fingers.

    I sucked my thumb for a LONG time as a child and sometimes that can attribute to having to get braces later on, as it did for me.  Not always the case though.

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  • hamillmhamillm
    Jaxon could always give/take his paci, so we never pushed it.  He did suck his thumb, and would at night to soothe himself...but he stopped on his own around 9 months.  I was terrified I would have a thumb-sucking child, but I'm thankful he isn't anymore.
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  • mrssamuels2bmrssamuels2b member
    This was actually an issue for us...Preston came out with sores on both of his hands from sucking on his hands while in the womb...I was totally against the paci but the pedi told us to give it to him b/c apparently he had a very strong need to suck and that we could take the paci from him whenever we were ready to wean him but we could never take his hand away...I, having been a thumb-sucker and eventually a brace-face, decided to go with what the pedi called the lesser of two evils...
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  • ameliaandmattameliaandmatt

    Maddie never really took to the paci.  Every once in awhile she will if she's really tired, but that's about it.  Honestly, I personally would rather her soothe with a paci rather than her thumb.  Weaning from a paci is much easier than weaning a thumb sucker.  You can take a paci away, but you can't take a thumb away!  I sucked my thumb until I was 6 years old Indifferent and wound up with tons of costly and painful dental and orthodontic work because of it. 

    That being said, in the middle of the night when she cries then sucks her thumb, I'm very thankful that I don't have to get out of bed to reinsert a paci! :)

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  • kc0721kc0721 member
    We're going through the same thing with Miller right now.  He'll take a paci at daycare, however he loves his hands.  It's not just his thumb, he tries to stick his whole hand in his mouth and suck on it, LOL.  I really wish he'd do the paci instead because that can be taken away, a thumb can't. 
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  • star21gazerstar21gazer
    The only time Aubrey really took to a paci was bedtime and naptime.  When she was 2-5 months old she started sucking on her hands a lot.  She just stopped on her own around 5 months.  I'm pretty much in agreement with everyone in that you can take a paci away, and a thumb is permanent.
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  • FutureMrsWagnerFutureMrsWagner member

    Ohmygoodness, I think a baby sucking their thumb is one of the cutest things ever!  Now, a toddler sucking their thumb...not so much!  But, it is such a sweet baby thing to see. 

    Neither of mine took a paci or sucked their thumb, so I don't have any advice really.  I guess the only thing about a paci, is that you CAN take it away when it is time, but with a thumb, you really can't.  I mean, if they get super attached to the thumb, you may have some real issues trying to get them to stop when they are toddlers.  It's hard to get a paci-attached kid to let it go too, but at least you can just get rid of all of them and be done with it.  So, if it were me, and my baby needed to suck, I would probably lean toward the paci for this reason.  However, I think it would be super frustrating to have to constantly get up to put a paci back in their mouth in the middle of the night which makes the thumb sucking that much more tempting!  LOL...I am NO help!  Sorry!

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