Sucking is a normal phenomenon in early infantry. A hungry child may not only put his thumb, but his whole hand onto his mouth. Sucking is soothing and comforting. A little thumb sucking when the child is hungry, disturbed and lonely, or is satisfying his urge for sucking, is a perfectly acceptable and normal phenomenon in children less than a year old.
An older child is often unaware that he is sucking his thumb. A child is not likely to spend time sucking his thumb, if he finds his home life occupying and interesting. It is often an emotional problem that makes him suck his thumb. If the child is contented, well fed and has playthings to occupy himself with, he will soon stop sucking his thumb. Sucking a thumb for a little while when falling asleep or when the child is tired should be allowed.
If, after the age of five, a child sucks his thumb frequently without any obvious reason, consult your doctor for a checkup and then perhaps take the child to a child psychologist. Putting spices or bandages or quinine on the thumbs or splinting the arm will not helps to solve the basic problem. On the contrary, it might increase child’s guilty complex, and he may resort to this habit behind your back.
Does thumb sucking affect the teeth? The answer is Yes. A vigorous thumb sucker can harm his teeth; the upper teeth will protrude forward while the lower tend to be drawn inwards or backwards. Since this habit mainly in children under five years of age, and the harm is done primarily to milk teeth, one need not worry too much about it. Of course, if this habit persists beyond the age of five, the permanent teeth will also get affected, leading to expensive dental treatment for malformed teeth. Orthodontic appliance may be recommended to prevent thumb sucking. Consult your dentist.
An older child is often unaware that he is sucking his thumb. A child is not likely to spend time sucking his thumb, if he finds his home life occupying and interesting. It is often an emotional problem that makes him suck his thumb. If the child is contented, well fed and has playthings to occupy himself with, he will soon stop sucking his thumb. Sucking a thumb for a little while when falling asleep or when the child is tired should be allowed.
If, after the age of five, a child sucks his thumb frequently without any obvious reason, consult your doctor for a checkup and then perhaps take the child to a child psychologist. Putting spices or bandages or quinine on the thumbs or splinting the arm will not helps to solve the basic problem. On the contrary, it might increase child’s guilty complex, and he may resort to this habit behind your back.
Does thumb sucking affect the teeth? The answer is Yes. A vigorous thumb sucker can harm his teeth; the upper teeth will protrude forward while the lower tend to be drawn inwards or backwards. Since this habit mainly in children under five years of age, and the harm is done primarily to milk teeth, one need not worry too much about it. Of course, if this habit persists beyond the age of five, the permanent teeth will also get affected, leading to expensive dental treatment for malformed teeth. Orthodontic appliance may be recommended to prevent thumb sucking. Consult your dentist.
1 comment:
sorry, i don't buy that only bored children suck their thumbs...my now 22 year old daughter - who routinely sucked her right thumb - would switch to the left when she was engaged in drawing, writing or other interesting and attention intense activities that required, as a right handed person, use of her right hand...i think it helped her concentrate...
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