thumb sucking

[yeahbutnobut]

My 10 month old daughter has just started to suck her thumb, she never really went for a dummy when she was younger and never sucked her thumb. She only seems to do it when she's tired. Do you think i should stop her? Or let her carry on?

[spacechimp]

Is thumb sucking related to weaning?

[Poglet]

My 18 year old daughter did the same, started thumb sucking very late but only did it when tired. She stopped by the time she went to primary school and it never affected her teeth. My only concern was worms as she was always playing outside in the garden and with our pets so I made sure she was "wormed" regularly like the dog... you have to get the human form of tablets obviously

[andy-hughes]

I wouldn't worry about it at all. This is purely a subconcious comfort mechanism, she will grow out of it, and with modern dentistry, you don't have to worry about her teeth either.

[raysparx]

let her be,it is a natural thing to do and far better than those great big ugly dummies

[kissyfur]

Hi, ive done vast studies in speech and language therapy especially in paediatrics. Throughout the programme, ever since the first week the effects of dummies and thumb sucking has been hightlghted to us. I dont want to make you panic but I shall tell you a few of the things that we have been taught. Thumb sucking and dummies do exactly what they say on the tin, they keep your children quiet! At this stage children are just starting to explore language and sounds, and by having a dummy or a thumb in the mouth can affect the developemnt of correct speech sounds, and also the oral muscle development. However you say she only tends to do it when she is tired which is naturel. If it becomes a regular thing and she starts to do during the day or through vocalisation, then try to ween her off it. Hope this helps!