Suck on this

cristina1 · #1 12-09-2001, 11:06 PM

I have heard people talk about an infant "finding their thumb" usually around the 2 month mark if they are going to be a thumbsucker. Is there any truth to that? My middle son is a thumbsucker, but he started from right after birth - we laugh that he was born with his thumb in his mouth.

The problem I am having with the baby (not yet 2 months) is that he seems to really want to suck his thumb, but still hasnt gotten around to uncurling his little hands and he gets all frustrated that he cant comfortably suck his fist. He HATES any sort of pacifier - he gags on them. If i help him with his thumb, he sucks really hard, and then has one of those jerky newborn movements and his hand comes out of his mouth, and he screams bloody murder.

He is obviously showing the need to suck, but nothing satisfies him. Anyone got any advice?

clubber63366 · #2 12-09-2001, 11:16 PM

Our four-month-old came out sucking on his hand. "Slurp, slurp" echoed through-out the OR (was a c-section). He occasionally finds the need to still do that, but refuses a binky. Don't know what any of that says about the future, though.

Mike

**amykhar** · #3 12-09-2001, 11:24 PM

I only have one thumb sucker, and it took her about 3 months until she really got good at it.

Amy

magenta321 · #4 12-09-2001, 11:50 PM

Oh gosh, shouldn't you be thrilled that your child is not sucking his thumb? I thought thumb sucking and pacifier sucking screwed up their future teeth. Not to mention the germs...

Margaret, who hopes she doesn't have suckers for children, and who has been told she was never much of a sucker.

*emeleel* · #5 12-09-2001, 11:57 PM

Erin never could get the hang of "comfort nursing", i.e. sucking without getting milk, but she desperately needed to suck more as a baby. Until she was about 3 months old, she was happy with my pinky finger (nail trimmed closely), finger pad up to the roof of her mouth, to suck on.

When she was about 3 mo., she finally got the hang of sucking her own fingers - the middle two of her left hand, NOT her thumb - but like you say, had trouble with losing it a lot. She finally figured out that she could take her right hand, wrap it around her left wrist and hold her left hand in place in her mouth. It was soooo cute! After about a month of that, she did finally learn how to keep that left hand in her mouth on its own.

She continued sucking on her fingers until she was about 28 months old, when all of a sudden she developed these horrendous dry-skin-type cracks in those two fingers. They were just this side of bleeding! This happened literally overnight, I don't know why. I showed it to her, explained why it happened, and she had to wear band-aids for a few days to break the habit. I was so proud of her, she had trouble going to sleep without her fingers, and she was restless during the night, but she made it through with no tears! She did develop a brief but quickly given up love affair with some of her stuffed animals, I'm glad that didn't develop into a new habit. I've had enough with Sean's stuffed rabbit!

cristina1 · #6 12-10-2001, 12:11 AM

Mike - that was how my middle son still sounds. I even have an ultrasound picture that looks like he was sucking his thumb. He is almost 2 now and still the only time his thumb comes out of his mouth is to eat. He also drags a little blanket around with him so we call him Linus.

Margaret - I have talked to quite a few pediatric doctors and dentists about the teeth problem (as I said above, my middle guy never has his thumb out of his mouth unless he is eating, or we yank it out to take a picture.......lol) - it seems to be that no one really knows if pacifiers or thumbsucking can hurt teeth. My oldest had his pacifier until he was 3 (he tried to give it up a few times before that, but kept returning to it) and his teeth are perfectly straight, and my almost 2 year old has perfect teeth as well. I truly think that some kids are just destined to need braces and some arent.

cristina1 · #7 12-10-2001, 12:23 AM

Melanie - Nicholas also loves to suck on my finger. But with a toddler and preschooler in the house, I try to have at least one free hand......lol.

When I give Nicholas "belly time" in the day he actually enjoys it because his hand is right next to his mouth and he can suck all he wants. Unfortunately, this is also the time that his big brothers have to hug and kiss him - the poor baby never gets a break!

ms_n · #8 12-10-2001, 12:23 AM

Have you tried introducing your finger?

It may be tiresome to keep trying, but there could be other ways of calming your sweet one down.

Try the humming and warmth of being nestled on top of the dryer
in a baby carrier. Try driving around the neighborhood at 2:00 a.m. in the morning. Try the baby swing. Try Mozart. Try everything . Then, try Grandma.

Good luck!

cristina1 · #9 12-10-2001, 12:32 AM

ms_n - I have tried just about all the tricks with this guy - he is a crier. He doesnt like his bouncy seat, he doesnt like his carrier. He likes his swing for about 5 minutes. I thought at first that he just didnt like me, but he is the same way with everyone......haha. Sometimes, the vacuum cleaner noise will calm him down. And sometimes a bath works.

My oldest was a high needs child, but baths and rides in the car did the trick. I still havent found the trick for the little guy.

ms_n · #10 12-10-2001, 07:14 AM

Oh, you poor thing. My eldest was like that. Sometimes things would work. But, I recall sitting up with her a lot lot. Hang in there.

*emeleel* · #11 12-10-2001, 10:10 AM

Oh dear - high needs kids! There's a thread in itself! Sean was a high need child, but he didn't like pacis or his fingers or anything. He just liked to comfort nurse all the time. (Meet Mommy, the human pacifier!) Which is why I freaked a bit when Erin didn't like to comfort nurse, wouldn't take a bottle or paci, I didn't know what to do! I think it was Gracef who suggested the pinky finger and that did the trick.

Have you tried a sling or front carrier? That helped a lot with Sean. It was either that or sit on my butt all day and hold him!