Thumb Sucking!
Prince Louis does it, as does singer Rihanna and Kelly Osborne and even actor James Nesbitt! What am I talking about? You might be surprised to hear that it’s thumb sucking!
Thumb sucking can begin in the womb and some people even spot their babies sucking their thumbs on scan pictures. It’s a reaction to a strong natural reflex to suck as that’s the way babies consume food and it can become a handy, human ‘dummy’ that you’ll never lose and doesn’t need sterilising – great! Babies and children find it soothing and it can help them to relax when they’re tired and send them off to sleep as well as calming feelings of stress or boredom.
But, as we all know it can go on past baby age as children become dependent on that soothing feeling. Then it becomes difficult to stop and can have negative effects on children’s teeth and speech development.
Effects of thumb sucking
“Thumb sucking can change the shape of the jaw, mouth, lips, bite, alignment of teeth and even speech! If your child hasn’t stopped naturally by the age of 3 years, try to break the habit with early encouragement and positive reinforcement before the first adult teeth come through.”
Dr Nicola Peters, Stradbrook Dental, Tonbridge
Whilst the baby or milk teeth are coming through and growing, the impact of thumb sucking doesn’t matter so much as those teeth will fall out from about five or six years old onwards. But, as Dr Peters recommends the longer children suck their thumbs, the more ingrained the habit will become so try to stop thumb sucking as early as you can.
The effects on adult teeth are:
• Bottom teeth are pushed back.
• Top teeth are pushed forwards.
• Abnormal bite – your bite should be that your top teeth overlap your bottom teeth, but thumb sucking can lead to an open bite where this doesn’t happen or the top and bottom teeth actually meet.
• In some cases, longer term thumb sucking can lead to skeletal damage such as issues with the jaw.
Thumb sucking might also lead to increased tongue thrusting. Tongue thrusting is a natural part of a baby’s feeding action: for a baby to swallow safely, they need to thrust the tongue back and thumb sucking is linked to feeding. If the thrusting action becomes a habit, then this can impact speech development causing the likes of lisps.
This all sounds very negative about thumb sucking I know! It isn’t all bad though as researchers have found that children who thumb suck have a reduced chance of allergies! Throughout the day they are introducing germs and allergens to their bodies, allowing for a natural improved immunity and defence against dust, pollen and cat hair. And of course, when they’re little a thumb is a handy tool for self-soothing.
Ways to stop thumb sucking
Whilst researching this piece, I found lots of articles saying that children give up thumb sucking by themselves order valium from pakistan before they start school, but I have to admit that in my experience, this is rarely the case.
Children may give up after being teased for thumb sucking by other children but I think they then just become ‘private’ or ‘secret’ thumb suckers, resorting to doing it when they’re at home or with familiar adults.
It is a difficult nut to crack and if your child does stop by themselves then great. If not, here are some other suggestions.
• Once your child is of a certain age when they can understand more and realise consequences, you can sit down and explain that they need to stop. (Again, this is one that came up on the research, but I’ve never heard of this working on its own.)
• Have the chat mentioned above and then provide gentle reminders when you can see the thumb in use. Reward or praise when the thumb isn’t relied upon especially in situations when it would normally be, such as whilst the child is watching TV or listening to a bedtime story.
• Think about what’s triggering the thumb sucking. Is it when they’re tired, hungry, or nervous, perhaps? If you can work out the cause then you can help them deal with that in other ways maybe a snuggle on the sofa when they’re tired or a reassuring chat when they’re nervous – they can then take your calming words into other anxiety inducing situations and not need their trusty digit to help.
• If none of the above are working, you can try the foul-tasting nail polish type remedy or a thumb guard. A thumb guard prevents the nice feeling of the thumb on the roof of the mouth and if used consistently, should break the habit quite quickly.
Regardless of which route you choose, do not punish! This is likely to cause more anxiety and therefore more thumb sucking, creating a vicious circle. Use positive reinforcement such as praise and rewards (maybe not sweets if you’re trying to protect their adult teeth and prevent trips to the dentist!).
If thumb sucking continues, it can lead to dental work in the future and orthodontics such as braces or even teeth removal. Braces have improved and are more discreet these days, but they are an additional cost and more hassle for the child that has to have them fitted.
Thumb sucking is a funny issue – when you see your baby sucking their thumb it looks extremely cute and can provide welcome relief to baby and parents. But as they mature, it’s a hard habit to beat (it’s even sometimes referred to as an addiction!).
The number of adults that suck their thumb is minimal so no matter how hard it is to stop your child thumb sucking, feel reassured that it will likely stop before adulthood – whether that’s of their volition or though braces is up to you in the early years!