Parenting Your Child: Pacifiers and Thumb Sucking

Everyone knows that odd little kid - maybe from when they were growing up themselves - who would still suck his thumb in elementary school. Others remember with a shudder the little child in the supermarket who was perfectly capable of walking, talking and interacting, yet was still sucking on a pacifier. Fast forward to the here and now, and you are now finding yourself as a parent, wondering in awe how you were so fortunate as to bring home such a cherubic little child from the hospital! Yet pretty soon you too will be faced with the pacifier and thumb sucking debate - should you give one to your child? If you do, will she or he end up like the little kid you remembered from your past?

Thumb sucking itself is a completely normal activity. Ultrasound technology has shown that unborn babies suck their thumbs even in the womb! Once they make it into the world, infants will find the availability of a pacifier quite soothing, especially when they are scared, bored, or getting ready to drop off to sleep. Ideally, the use of a pacifier will decrease as the infant ages, and by six months of age your baby should be able to do without. Thumb sucking is a bit more habit forming, and usually young children will not stop this habit until they are between three and six years of age.

Much has been written about the use of pacifiers, thumb sucking and the development of teeth. It has indeed been proven that continuous thumb sucking during the advent of the first teeth has contributed to their being misaligned in the mouth. In some severe cases, thumb sucking has been connected to the malformation of the roof of the mouth, which then has required medical attention to ensure that the child's palate will continue to grow properly and not result in an inability to properly form sounds and words.

Thus, if your infant is using a pacifier, do not worry. This is normal. If your toddler is sucking his thumb, this, too, is normal. Yet if your kindergartener is frequently thumb-sucking, you will need to intervene. Bring it up to your pediatrician and ask her opinion. Perhaps your tot has some anxiety problems that need to be dealt with. If this is ruled out and if your pediatrician gives you the go ahead, you may deal with the thumb sucking like you would with any undesired behavior - by positive reinforcement when the behavior is avoided or curtailed.