Pacifier vs. thumb sucking

Strunella · February 2011

When LO sucks his thumb, I occasionally offer him a pacifier instead. I figure, if he's forming a habit, I can always take away the pacifier when he gets older but I can't really take away his thumb!

On the other hand, I've read that it's good for babies to learn to self soothe. Better for him to suck on his thumb than to have a meltdown as a result of a missing pacifier.

Hhhmmm....what do you do?

simo7079 · February 2011

My mom says she always sat and forced us to suck our thumbs vs having pacifiers... none of us formed a habit and like you said it's good for self soothing.

Kellina · February 2011

i have 2 thumbsuckers- this one refuses a paci anyway. my 2 year old is still a big thumbsucker- i cant really rip it out of his mouth!

he was such a happy baby, and i never had to get up and stick a binky back in all night- he could get his thumb himself!

1ht

MNgirl326 · February 2011

My LO is a thumb sucker through and through....

There isn't much I can do, he rejected the paci and uses his thumb.

Bad habit or not it is here to stay for awhile. oh well.

Sonadora · February 2011

My LO is neither. We never gave her a pacifier because I hate them. She once in a while finds her fist to suck on, but otherwise, we let her nom on our fingers if she's just looking to suck on something. I'd prefer if she'd find her own hand more often.

I sucked my thumb until I was 3 and I have no teeth issues (never had braces either) and I gave it up on my own.

kg_08 · February 2011

I did the same thing as you, and then at 5 months old we decided to quit the paci cold turkey because she was waking up EVERY HOUR at night for me to go put it back in her mouth.

Fortunately, it went perfectly~! She was able to self soothe by that point, started sleeping like an angel right away, and within 2 days forgot the paci existed. Now she's paci free, and isn't addicted to her hands either.

TBLilyRose · February 2011

DS won't take a paci so of he finds solace in his thumb that's okay to me. I'll be prepared to deal with breaking a habit down the road if it comes to it but I have a feeling it won't be a problem. If he's like me, he'll have a harder time giving up a blankie. *still misses the blankies she had to give up when she got married* haha

kdk815 · February 2011

My LO takes a paci. I think that would be easier to break instead of thumb sucking.

erind0213 · February 2011

I am very torn in this debate. I like the idea of being able to fully take the paci away, definitely can't just take the thumb away. My older sister had 2 thumb suckers, which were tough break the habit and my other sister had 2 paci takers who also weren't easy to break, but did so by 2 or 3 years old, as opposed to the thumb-suckers who where in elementary school.

Currently LO takes a paci, very rarely (just really the last couple days) and she is 11 weeks old. She will often times suck on her hand and self sooth also, so we will just play it by ear and see what she prefers and go from there I guess.

mishu917 · February 2011

LO is using an ortho paci right now, she can't thumb suck bc of the swaddling. However, once the swaddle is off, she is all up on her fist LOL and if anything else is near to her, she tries to suck that too. Not too worried about either, I guess I'll cross the habit breaking bridge when I get there. We all have great teeth in our family, so I think it's more genetic. For now, I want her to be happy sucking and swaddling prevents her from using the fingers. I am scared to un-swaddle when she sleeps... I don't know if she will be too consumed with the hands to sleep! lol

kapereasd · February 2011

DS#1 was a paci user...at the time I thought it was a pain because if it got dropped out in public or lost, we were without one for a while and it was rough. DS#2 was a thumb sucker...which I liked better at the time because we never had to worry about not having a paci readily available...but now he is almost 5 and we can't for the life of us get him to stop!! He has an open bite because of it and his teeth are getting worse and worse

Now with DD we are pushing the paci over thumbs...occasionally she will suck her thumbs or fingers, which we quickly replace with a paci. We don't want he to have the difficulty that DS#2 had with giving it up...and we don't want her mouth to get messed up either...

Mama_SAS · February 2011

I sucked my thumb until I was in middle school. I hid it once I was in school but I still did it and I have perfect teeth. Both my kids liked pacifiers. I took DSs away at 22 months, but it was definitely a pain when he couldn't find it at night or when he threw it out of his crib or when we lost or forgot it. Pros and cons to each one I think.

pixieprincss · February 2011

I was anti-pacifier until I realized my LO is one of those with an intense need to suck. He'll comfort nurse for hours on end and pre-pacifier when I couldn't offer him the breast, we gave him our finger to suck. We did breast or finger until he surpassed his birth weight, my supply was established, and he was latching properly--that was at 5 weeks old. At that point we started selectively offering the pacifier. We don't use it as a default for comfort and we try to take it out gently once he is calm. I am eagerly anticipating him finding his thumb consistently so we can ditch the pacifier and he can use his thumb at will. I am not a fan of keeping track of the pacifier or LO's his screaming in the car when he loses it and I can't help him--it is so sad. An extreme need to suck past infancy is not common, so pervasive thumb-sucking into childhood is not a concern to me.

Lucky_Dragonfly · February 2011

I would take DS's thumb out of his mouth and give hima paci because I didn;t want to have to dealwith the thimb sucking issue. My nephew is almost 4 and he still sucks his thumb. DS was really easy to break the paci habit. We started with only giving it to him at sleeping times, (once he reached 15mos since he was not allowed to have them in the toddler room at daycare) and then we picked a long weekend to go cold turkey on it. worked like a charm. At 18mos we wer paci free.

futurewright · February 2011

I wouldn't want my LO to start the thumb habit. Stopped sucking mine when I was 17. Parents tried everything and my father's a dentist. Also I have several students in my class now who can't function w/o sucking thumbs. I teach High school. Gross.

IPmama · February 2011

My opinion: never do the thumb! My SS is 8 yrs old and can't stop. I think if you know if your baby really depends on the sucking then definitely use a paci, but if LO just needs it occasionally then maybe the thumb won't be so bad. But still you can NEVER take away the thumb!

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