Stop baby from sucking thumb?

amother

OP ↓

Tue, Jan 09 2024, 11:12 am

My 5 month old sucks his thumb. Mostly when bored or tired. I want to stop it before his teeth come out.
Any ideas how to?

amother

Peru ↓

Tue, Jan 09 2024, 11:19 am

amother OP wrote:

My 5 month old sucks his thumb. Mostly when bored or tired. I want to stop it before his teeth come out.
Any ideas how to?

Give a pacifier instead? But seriously though, I dont think it is something you can stop at such a young age. Unless you buy that gross nail polish that tastes bad and hope that will make the child not put the fingers in the mouth.

Lovable ↓

Tue, Jan 09 2024, 11:29 am

amother Peru wrote:

This is abusive for a five month old. A five month old cannot be warned that there is bad tasting nailpolish on its fingers.
poor baby
Op I just want you to realize that a baby finding ways of self soothing/comfort is a blessing

amother

↑ Peru

Tue, Jan 09 2024, 11:33 am

Lovable wrote:

OMG, chill. I was joking. If anyone thought that this was serious, for a 5 month old...
I was just trying to show the OP that for a 5 month old there really is nothing you can do except sub the finger for something else.

amother

Eggshell

Tue, Jan 09 2024, 11:33 am

I had pictures of my one daughter sucking her thumb in utero. She stopped sucking her thumb pretty recently. It really calmed her.

↑ Lovable

Tue, Jan 09 2024, 11:36 am

amother Peru wrote:

Ok I will Chill. But take this piece of advice - please note on a post if you are being sarcastic or not.
Not everyone picks up sarcasm, or takes sarcasm very well.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Jan 09 2024, 11:37 am

amother Peru wrote:

That's what I do but he usually just chews on it. I'm trying to switch it to a pacifier but it's not really working. I want him to signal to me that something is bothering him rather than just taking his finger. I don't mind holding him or rocking him to sleep or giving him a toy or put him someplace else if he's bored or just feed him - I just need to know that! That is what I do when I find him with finger in mouth - replace it with something else.

I'm not putting nail polish that will just be abusive.

amother

Yolk

Tue, Jan 09 2024, 11:38 am

Personally, I was a thumb sucker.
I remember being very embarrassed at 9/10/12 when I was teased, but it was very hard to stop.

So when my babies found their thumbs, I really pushed them to take pacifiers, which they became quite attached to.
The benefit of a pacifier was that if it was not the appropriate environment for a paci, I could work with my child and remove it. Thumbs are attached

But many kids need the sucking, either from their thumbs or pacifiers. No matter how much nursing they do, some babies also need to suck.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Jan 09 2024, 11:40 am

Lovable wrote:

I know it's a blessing. It's not my first kid by any means... I already have one kid with a thumb sucking habit and trying to figure out a way to stop now before it becomes a real habit.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Jan 09 2024, 11:41 am

amother Yolk wrote:

So I'm trying to give a pacifier, but I can't hold it to his mouth 24/7!

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Jan 09 2024, 11:41 am

amother Eggshell wrote:

I had pictures of my one daughter sucking her thumb in utero. She stopped sucking her thumb pretty recently. It really calmed her.

How old is she?

amother

↑ OP ↓

Tue, Jan 09 2024, 11:48 am

amother OP wrote:

So I'm trying to give a pacifier, but I can't hold it to his mouth 24/7!

And I'll add, nor would I want to, and it's not needed 24/7

BrisketBoss

Tue, Jan 09 2024, 11:59 am

amother OP wrote:

I know it's a blessing. It's not my first kid by any means... I already have one kid with a thumb sucking habit and trying to figure out a way to stop now before it becomes a real habit.

A) How old is your other kid?
B) No need to project them onto this kid
C) It's years before dentists start to become concerned
D) You're not likely to get rid of anyone's bad habit by attacking it directly. Think: what need is this fulfilling?

Iymnok

Tue, Jan 09 2024, 12:22 pm

Pacifier. Keep putting it in.
Thumb habits are hard to break and cause orthodontal damage. I sucked till age 8 and my daughters till ages 9 and 11.
It’s NOT a blessing.

amother

Hunter

Tue, Jan 09 2024, 12:23 pm

I don't think there is a how. He's been out of the womb for 5 months... It's what he's supposed to do.

amother

Oleander

Tue, Jan 09 2024, 12:24 pm

As someone who also tried to he adamant about not getting started on the thumb because of one child who was a thumbsucker until 8: there's really not much you can do at this age. Babies need to suck (in fact, the shores for sucking is literally in the Hebrew word for baby!) You can try to push a pacifier, but if he doesn't go for it, he doesn't go for it. Leave it be for now. However, I do wish I'd been more aggressive about stopping before age 2. So I'd work on it closer to then.

amother

Eggplant

Tue, Jan 09 2024, 12:35 pm

Most children stop by 4. It doesn't cause permanent damage. The people who do it longer are stressed out and need to learn other coping techniques. Signed mother of anxious child who sucked until 8 when we put a palate expander because she had ruined her palate. My son stopped at 4 but now chews on his clothes when stressed. Not sure if that's ideal either.

amother

Razzmatazz ↓

Tue, Jan 09 2024, 12:39 pm

Check for posterior hidden tongue ties. Thumb sucking can be an instinctive attempt to stimulate the vagus nerve or compensatory behavior for oral restrictions.