Susan's post about listening and responding to a mother's concerns was a 
good reminder. Yes, maybe this mother is worried that some stress or 
change in the breastfeeding relationship is behind the sudden 
thumbsucking.  It's worth exploring a bit before offering information on 
the wide range of normal baby behaviors. Way back, LLL's communication 
skills workshops first made me see that, much as I loved technical BF 
info, rushing in with facts, and  saying "You don't have to worry about 
x, because...." can come across as dismissive.

One useful point about thumbsucking is that, since the baby controls it, 
it's less likely to interfere with other behaviors.  A baby that can't 
yet manipulate objects well has to hold onto that pacifier for dear life 
-- they know if they let it out of their mouths, they can't get it back 
in themselves. But when sucking a thumb, the baby can pop it in for a 
minute, then take it out to babble or smile or reach whenever they want. 
(That early babbling is more than just cute -- a linguist can 
distinguish a 10-month-old's primary language because the babbling 
starts to include only the phonemes from the language the baby hears.)

An older child can walk around with a pacifier tucked in for hours while 
they do other things, but a thumbsucking toddler will need their hands 
to yank all the books off the bookcase, while crowing with a sense of 
accomplishment.

Margaret Wills, LLLL, IBCLC

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