Hi all,

I couldn't resist putting my two cents in about this.  About the time my
daughter was "set free" from the pelvic harness she wore for her first 3
months of life for the correction of her congenitally dislocated hip, she
began to suck her thumb.  As in many of the posts so far she tried to insert
both her thumb and my breast.  I spoke to our ped about this who said -
breastfed babies give up their thumb sucking early on and then he said, as
he did so at every visit, putting his hand tenderly on your shoulder - you
are doing a terrific job as a mother, breastfeeding is the best.  A couple
of years later with a visit to this lovely ped, I said well she still it at
it. He said well there are exceptions to every rule.  I really expected my
daughter to be an early weaner but she weaned herself at 3.5 years.  This
was a child who was high need and was constantly carried and held until I
physically could no longer do so - I can still hear UPPIE, UPPIE Mommy. At
thirteen, she still uses her thumb to comfort herself and loves it.  (Also
loves that her ped is Madonna's baby's ped).

At 2.5 she tripped and fell pushing her 4 front teeth into her gums.  That
involved some orthodontic work using retainers.  Supposedly this would
prevent the thumb sucking.  She broke the retainers sucking.  This year we
will go to braces. I want her to be really ready for yet another weaning.  I
think the sucking need is so individual.  I do think it is a gift to be able
to calm and soothe oneself.  Too bad thumb sucking has such a negative
connotation and can interfere with appropriate tooth placement.  There may
be a Zen element, a mediative tool - there is so much yet to know about suck
and the inportance of it at many times in our lives.

Joanne