Just a few anecdotal thoughts on thumb-sucking:

I was an extended thumb-sucker (to about age 13 years--frankly I am
relieved to read on Lactnet that I am not alone here).  My mom says she
nursed me for a time as a baby and I am guessing she means typical 1967
nursing supplemented with bottles and early solids from the get-go and
abandoned after 6 weeks.  I was also a very "self-reliant" baby much to
her admitted disappointment (she felt that I did not need her).  She and
I are still far less close than she and my "needier" younger brother are.

I suspect that I may well have been a "natural" thumb-sucker but that the
feeding and parenting choices my mom made influenced the matter.  At this
point the feeding and parenting choices make a lot more difference than
the thumb-sucking did--I at least have naturally straight teeth.

As a parent I have always felt that thumb-sucking was not desirable but
was preferable to pacifier use.  At least the thumb is always present and
not any kind of choking hazard.  My son Patrick has never shown the
slightest interest in thumbs or pacifiers although his interest in the
real thing continues quite unabated at 2 1/2.  Although at times the
nursing can be irritating (e.g. he falls asleep nursing and refuses to
release the nipple for half an hour--and I mean like last night!) I still
prefer it to the alternatives.

In speaking to mothers about pacifiers and thumbs I try to keep my focus
on the need of the baby to suckle at the breast adequately and the
desirability of avoiding nipple preference/confusion by early
introduction of artificial nipples.  I will also add if appropriate that
I sucked my thumb "for a long time" and never had dental problems
personally.  It really does seem that parents worry about this stuff more
than need be perhaps due to society"s pressure to routinely offer babies
mother substitutes (but that is a whole nother harangue).  A lot of babies
never feel the need to supplement their sucking needs thank goodness!


Penny Piercy, LLLL, MOM (Patrick 2 1/2) from Bloomington, IN