I sucked my thumb until I was eight or nine and probably needed braces but
my parents couldn't afford them. My first child was an in-utero
thumbsucker - the first thing he did when he was born was pop that thumb
into his mouth. He continued to suck his thumb, but not frequently. I think
that sleeping with me and having access to the breast all night helped keep
the thumb-sucking from becoming his method of comforting himself at night.
He stopped sucking his thumb completely around the same time he weaned from
the breast (2 and 1/2 years).

I subsequently learned a lot from a good friend of mine who is the mother of
five children. When she saw one of hers beginning to suck her thumb, she
took it as a sign that this child needed more time at the breast. Each time
she saw the baby put her thumb in her mouth, she would gently remove it and
offer the "most-empty" breast. If the baby fussed about this change, she
would rock or walk with her. Before long, the baby stopped showing any
interest in her thumb.

She commented to me that she felt it was better to comfort the child at the
breast than let her use her thumb because comforting at the breast was "more
complete" - it included the skin to skin contact, mother's heartbeat and
voice and arms around the child as well as the sucking and the warm milk.

I found that this approach worked well with my other children, and none of
them became thumbsuckers.

I know many people are not concerned about thumbsucking and are happy for
their children to have another way to comfort or soothe themselves, and I
recognize that it can actually be helpful for children with breathing
difficulties. My main reason for not wanting my children to suck their
thumbs was the embarrassment I recalled from my own childhood and how hard
it was for me to stop even though I wanted to.

Teresa Pitman
Guelph, Ontario

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html