Thumb Sucking in Kids:

Thumb sucking is a common habit that develops in childhood. It occurs in majority of babies and infants. Ultrasound scans of the womb have even detected babies sucking their thumbs during the gestation period. It comes to the notice of the parents usually during the initial three months of the infant’s life. One of the natural instinctive reflexes of an infant includes sucking. They use this reflex when they are hungry or tired. They even do it when they are bored or require comfort. It relaxes them and hence helps them fall asleep as well.

Thumb sucking is a normal behavior, but many parents experience concern regarding this habit. Many of these concerns are associated with worries that thumb sucking may result in prominent teeth or that it may hamper proper growth of the thumb. These are baseless concerns as thumb sucking only causes a problem of prominent teeth if it continues to occur when the adult teeth are developing. Babies and toddlers do not face any risk of this occurrence. There is also no danger of improper growth of the thumb. At the maximum, the thumb may become sore or irritated due to the constant wetness. Thumb sucking stops during the toddler years in most cases, however there are some children who continue to do it till the age of four years.

In some children the need to suck their thumbs is more pronounced and these children may show reluctance in giving up this behavior. Paying close attention to the child and identifying if certain anxieties are causing the habit would be beneficial as it would assist the parents in finding healthier ways to deal with those conflicts. Reward is a very effective incentive and rewarding the child’s progress will provide him with motivation to stop the habit. Some parents even rub vinegar or other edible products with a bad taste on the thumb. This must however be done with his permission and as a way to bring him closer to his goal by serving as a reminder whenever he tends to put his thumb in his mouth. Distracting the child whenever he begins to put his thumb in his mouth by engaging him in some other activity will also help to discourage the habit. Choose activities that require him to use both his hands so that he will be forced to remove his thumb from his mouth. Another powerful motivator is to surround the child with other children who don’t engage in thumb sucking. Peer pressure is an influential force and the child is likely to imitate the other children and stop sucking his thumb.