Hi , I am new to Lactnet so I will introduce myself. My name is Randy Halpern, I am a BSN, LLLL and IBCLC wannabee. I have been reading with much interest the posts about bf baby thumbsuckers and security objects. My oldest boy started to suck his thumb at around 6 months of age. He was still at that point exclusively bf. What was especially interesting about his thumbsucking was that he would only do it when I was holding him. If my husband would take him from my arms his thumb would automatically come out of his mouth. I was always available to nurse him but sometimes he just preferred his thumb. His security object was me. As he got older he liked to sit with me and suck his thumb and rub around my chest area. At about 21 month he refused to nurse anymore, but continued to suck his thumb. When he became verbal (he did not talk until he was almost 3) he would say "mommy I want to suck your chest". I thought that did not sound so great so I explained to him that he actually sucks his thumb and rubs my chest. He agreed with my explanation. He is now 4 and has a baby brother who spends most of his day nursing . My older boy will approach me question which side his brother is going to nurse on and proclaim the other side to be his to rub. Has anyone else ever had this situation? Also, I have been wondering does anyone think that thumbsucking might be genetic? I was an avid thumbsucker as a child and now I have two thumbsucking children.