Why is baby sucking his thumb?
From birth, and even in the womb, the baby sucks his thumb. This suction reflex is therefore very soothing and helps regulate the sleep and relaxation cycles of the young child.
By sucking your fingers, sucking a teat or cloth, the baby makes appropriate contact with the world around you. This habit can last up to 2 to 3 years for the child. If it’s a stressed, insecure or very spoiled baby, it could last much longer.
Does sucking your thumb have specific functions?
This is an innate gesture. The fetus sucks its thumb from the 4th month of pregnancy, at specific times of the day: when tired, anxious… or when you’re angry!
This in utero suction certainly has a training role to make your baby immediately “operational” at birth. Because it is imperative that it feeds from the first days!
But, apart from this technical function, it is visible that suckling gives the child a great pleasure. This phase, known as the “oral stage” of development, is characterized by the sensory predominance of the mouth and the baby’s satisfaction with its functioning.
Does sucking your thumb distort your teeth?
This is an issue that is still widely debated and in which several factors come into play:
- The thumb itself: If your baby just puts his thumb in his mouth, it will have little impact on his teeth. On the other hand, an "active" suction will cause deformities, as the thumb then presses on the teeth and maxillae.
- The position of the tongue is very important because when your baby sucks his thumb, it is in a low position. The force it exerts is therefore downward… and may project the teeth forward.
- Breathing: Thumb suckers breathe more often through the mouth than through the nose, which can cause disorders in the growth of the upper jaw in the width direction.
- Swallowing: Even when your child does not have his or her thumb in his or her mouth all the time, he or she tends to place his or her tongue at the level of his or her teeth every time he or she swallows (this is called infant swallowing), which, in the long run, pushes the teeth forward and upward and causes the incisors to open (the upper and lower incisors no longer touching each other).
Should we stop a baby from sucking his thumb?
Definitely not! Over the months, baby pleasure suction has become a need for your child. Banning it brutally exposes your toddler to finding a substitute: biting his nails, wiggling his hair…
How do you help your child stop sucking his thumb?
For most children, abandonment will be fairly easy and rather natural. But if the little one is not able to stop this childhood habit on his own, there are little tricks to help him make the decision:
- Explain to him that sucking his thumb is reserved for the little ones and that he is now a big one. With your support and desire to be considered a child and not a baby, her motivation will be stronger;
- Choose the right time. There is no need to combine this with a complicated period of your life (cleanliness, birth of a brother or sister, divorce, moving, going to school, etc.)
- Act gently and gradually. Allow thumbs only at night, then reduce to weekends only for example. Slowly and gently, the child will detach from this habit more easily;
- Never be critical. It is counterproductive to scold him or mock him if he fails. On the contrary, show him that it’s nothing and that he’ll get there next time and encourage him to communicate and explain why he felt the need to get his thumb back. Often linked to an illness, the thumb recovery can be understood and verbalized so that a next time, it is not automatic. Communicating to calm down is a great way of “deconditioning” the child to help him give up his mania;
Give them clear, achievable goals and create a game from that challenge. It is also essential to value your successes with a chart, for example, that will be filled with each success and that will give rise to a small reward.
In case of a difficult course to pass during a day, Or if you feel tired and want to crack, suggest an activity that will mobilize both hands and share this moment with you. By diverting his attention and soothing him with the game, you will allow him to forget this desire for suction that seemed indispensable to him. Offering him a hug or reading him a story are also soothing solutions that will help the child relax without him feeling the need to suck his thumb.
Encouraging your child to stop sucking is a long-term job. You will need to be patient and understanding and support her every step of the way to get there. But, after all, isn’t it, by definition, all parental work?