Yummy Little Thumb

Baby J is 3 months 2 weeks and 6 days old

Recently,baby J has this new addiction of fingers sucking. It happens quite frequently lately. And sometimes when he is excited or stressed, he will try to put two hands together in his small little mouth which can't even fit in... :) Now, even when he is trying to sooth himself to sleep, I see that he will suck his fingers.

Sometimes you will even hear his sucking sound... so loud and cute! :) Now, the question is should I stop him from doing it?

Expert Answers

The BabyCenter Editorial Team

Babies generally suck their thumb to soothe themselves, which is good, because they need to learn how to rely on their own resources. The ability to regulate or control one's behavior and emotions is an important developmental challenge. When your child sucks her thumb, she's finding ways to make herself feel better without your help.

You don't have to stop your child from sucking her thumb right now. In general, thumb-sucking is more irritating to parents than it is harmful to kids. Your baby will stop when she's ready and has developed other ways of soothing herself.

Member Comments:

My husband and I are both dentists with a 3 month old that loves her thumb! Literature seems to say irreversible damage to teeth is most likey to occur at age 5 and beyond. So as long as baby is content, so are we. But we do plan to ween her off the thumb when she is beyond the infant stage.. We'll see how that goes?! - posted 10/11/2007 by Anonymous

Three of my children are thumb suckers, it helps them to calm themselves. Some nice bonuses are that they never loose it, you don't have to help them find it in the middle of the night, it is almost always clean, and you don't have to remember it when you travel. They will quit when they are ready. - posted 9/10/2007 by Anonymous

My older boys used pacifiers, but our little 3 month old spits his paci out and loves his yummy thumb. At first I was a little distressed over worries about weaning him from the habit when he's older, but for now he is sleeping unbelievably well and can soothe himself so easily. Thumbs up for the thumb! - 2007

I am a speech-language pathologist who works with kids 2 and older who have "tongue thrust" speech caused by thumb and pacifier sucking!!! They have incorrect sound production and narrow, forward protruding upper jaws. It isn't just the teeth, but the shape of the palate and jaw that are affected. I now have a 3 month old with an addiction to his thumb. As much as I enjoy him sleeping and self-soothing, thumb sucking is a terrible habit! It should be broken before they rely on it. A pacifier (preferably a straight nipple, NOT the orthodontic shape) IS better because you can take a pacifier away, but I understand you can't make them like it....my guy hates his! If he isn't self-soothing, just enjoying it, I pull it out and distract him. I also get excited and praise him when he takes it out himself. I give him other things to do with his hands and feed his oral fixation through mouth toys and wash cloths to provide stimulation WITHOUT the thumb!!! -posted 10/27/2007 by Anonymous

My daughter is 7 years old and has an appliance in her mouth top and bottom to reposition her jawline , also braces on the bottom to straighten her teeth. She unfortunately didn't quit when she was ready. I did the hot sauce on the thumb at 3 years old and the little cutie found her finger instead. She sucked her finger until she was 6 (said it tasted like chicken). I have slowly weaned her off of this habit by taking other things away from her when I saw her doing it, like My Little Ponies. It's been over a year now and her mouth has dramatically changed with these instruments. I have a 3 month old that I ENCOURAGE the binkie and she takes it just fine only for soothing. My husband and I introduce our oldest daughter to parents of children we see with the thumb or fingers in the mouth! Please try the binkie, a little inconvenience for you in the beginning can save you a ton of headaches and money later on!! -posted 12/27/2007 by itsabellything