by Exactly

Created on: November 03, 2008   Last Updated: February 08, 2010

I personally had two thumb suckers. Now, we all know that it is innate to have the sucking reflect. I have a photo of my son in utero sucking his thumb. As a rule of "thumb", I don't fight what nature deemed necessary. My son now 3 years old, has just recently stopped sucking his thumb and my daughter now 9 years old, stopped sucking her thumb just before her third birthday. The advantages of sucking the thumb over cons are far greater.

The Pros:

1) You don't have to teach them to look for their thumb; they already know where to find it.

2) In those desperate moments of a whaling baby, you don't have to look for a pacifier in the diaper bag, bed, or somewhere in the home or car.

3) They sleep much better, because of the fourth advantage.

4) They know how to sooth themselves better than pacifier dependent babies.

5) Also, I believe that they are more independent. (As were both my children)

The Cons:

1) You will have to find a way to convince them the right time to give it up. Where as with a pacifier you can throw them away and not have them around anymore.

2) Issues with the teeth and mouth formation, has always been an issue, but with the advancement of orthodontics and dentistry that should be the least of your worries.

Now from personal experience, what I used to convince my kids to stop sucking their thumb was different among the two. With my daughter I used logic and just simply told her that she was now reaching an age where she should stop and she agreed. It was just that simple. With my son however, he was more attached to his thumb. He sucked his thumb mostly when he wanted to fall asleep, while traveling in the car or watching TV. I of course tried to use the logic approach, but his logic won over. He told me that he liked his thumb and he didn't want to stop. When then didn't work I worked on another plan. We compromised and asked him to stop doing it when he wasn't trying to go to sleep. And that slowly worked. We would catch him in the act and would bring attention to it and he would take it out of his mouth. Now, to finish the final transition I did bribe the boy to stop completely. Something I am sure we have all done at least once. Wink wink.

As nature and God intended we let them be who they were born to be and do. Now they are the happiest and smartest kids. They are very independent confident children. All ready to take on the world. Now as parents, we are saving for two sets of braces.

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