Thumbsucking

All of us, at one time or the other have put our thumbs and rest of the fingers in our mouths. Most often this is restricted to eating as adults. However, babies and some toddlers do it more often during the day. Let’s take a quick look at the process of thumb sucking through a development perspective.

Why do we suck thumbs?

Sucking is the only independent function a baby is born with. A newborn is able to stop sucking at the breast when full or when the comfort need is met. This is the first self-initiated, self-directed and self-soothing behavior pattern that is reinforced from birth. Bringing hands to mouth is something babies are doing since the 5-6th month of pregnancy. The movement pathways of bringing the hand to mouth is so well travelled by the first few months of life that many babies do it without thought. (Read why this is essential in the first year of life here)

As kids grow older and face newer situations causing emotional turmoil, they revert back to this soothing behavior experienced from day one: bringing hands to mouth. The easiest method of this is thumb sucking. Many children also may also bite nails as a sign of nervous-ness.

When to worry?

Most children outgrow this habit in the first couple of years simply because they find other ways of self soothing and gaining reassurance in times of anxiety like talking to the caregiver or physically moving away from situations. Some kids who continue to exhibit these behaviors realize these are not socially acceptable and will get over by 3-4 years. However, a small percent of children do continue to thumb suck for a prolonged duration. Unfortunately parents often use this percent as a reference point and will panic about thumb sucking during infancy. Please note that thumb sucking is acceptable till 2 years.

If your child is able to function in the day without thumb sucking, then its not a problem.

How to resolve it?

1. For toddlers, offer gentle redirection to other activities that require use of hands.
2. For older kids, offer social stories about kids who suck their thumbs into toddlerhood. Here is a link to one such book.

What not to do?

Constant bring attention to your child’s thumb sucking.

Bribing or punishing your child to stop.

Puja

27/6/17