Thumb Sucking or Dummies?
Most babies use sucking to calm and settle themselves. Thumb-sucking starts before birth (there are pictures taken of babies sucking their thumbs in utero) and can be a very helpful way for babies to cope with tension.
In this article I will try and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of both thumb- and dummy sucking so that parents can make an informed decision.
Thumb Sucking
There are many advantages to allowing children to suck their thumbs rather than a dummy:
· thumbs are always there,
· don't fall on the floor,
· aren't tied to children's clothing by potentially dangerous strings that can get caught on things, and
· is under your baby's own control.
Children usually give up thumb-sucking when they develop other ways to self-calm and comfort themselves, usually by age four or five, although many children suck their thumbs at night or occasionally, when stresses become too much, for many years beyond that.
Thumb-sucking is a very common childhood habit, thought to occur in about 80 per cent of babies and infants. Parents usually notice it within the first three months of their child's life but ultrasound scans have observed babies in the womb sucking their thumbs from 20 weeks gestation. (See picture above)
Sucking is one of a baby's natural reflexes and they use it as a way to calm themselves down when they are tired, hungry, bored or just in need of comfort. As it is relaxing, it may also help induce sleep.
Thumb-sucking actually makes the brain produce endorphins, which calm the body and give the child pleasure-almost like that feeling of satisfaction you get after eating a big meal. There's an actual change in body chemistry that takes place when a child sucks his thumb.
Buck teeth and shrunken digits?
Despite the fact that it's perfectly normal -as well as therapeutic- for babies to suck, many parents remain concerned about their child's habit. Much of this is due to the horror stories associated with thumb-sucking, most of which are totally untrue.
It causes prominent teeth.
This is not a problem until after the milk teeth have fallen out and the adult teeth are coming through. At this stage, thumb-sucking can force teeth forward into a more prominent position, as well as damage the growth and formation of the upper palate (roof of the mouth). However, research and dentists agree that thumb-sucking as a baby or toddler will not have any lasting effect on your child's teeth.
A sucked thumb will not grow properly.
This is not strictly true, although the skin on the thumb can get soggy and sore. Experts say this happens because the enzymes in saliva and the constant wetness caused by the constant thumb sucking irritates the skin and causes a form of mild dermatitis, but can be rectified using a mild cortisone cream.
Thumb suckers are mentally unbalanced.
No they're not, neither are they emotionally impaired or destined to a life of masturbation. No-one knows where these myths started but research has proven them to be wrong.
When does it become a problem?
Most children give up thumb-sucking during their toddler years but 15 per cent are still doing it at the age of four.
The main problem associated with thumb-sucking is the risk of crooked or prominent teeth. However, this only becomes a problem if your child is still sucking her thumb when the adult teeth are coming through, usually at around 5 or 6 years old. Also, different types of thumb-sucking differ in the damage they can do to teeth. Experts say that it's the intensity of the sucking that causes tooth problems. Children who rest their thumbs in their mouth are less likely to suffer problems than their forceful sucking peers.
Can it be prevented?
Babies are born with the need to suck but in some babies the need is more pronounced than in others. To fulfill this non-nutritional need, some babies suck dummies and some suck fingers. Because of this, thumb-sucking in young babies is not preventable. However, research has shown that attitudes to thumb-sucking can be a cause of the habit continuing.
Dr B D Schmitt, author of Your Child's Health, says, "Thumb-sucking lasting beyond the age of five can be prevented if you avoid pulling your child's thumb out of his mouth at any age. Also, don't comment in your child's presence about your dissatisfaction with the habit."
Drop the habit!
The sucking need usually diminishes by around 9 months and the great majority of children stop thumb-sucking spontaneously as they get caught up in learning new skills like crawling and walking, and no longer need to be stimulated or comforted by sucking.
From a child therapist point of view, I would say the key point is that the child makes the decision that he doesn't want to do it anymore. Most children stop spontaneously but even for those who continue past the age of four, peer group pressure and embarrassment once they start school is an ideal time to encourage them to stop.
Parents should not try to break the habit in pre-schoolers because:
- They only understand the pleasure they get from doing it, not the reason why adults don't want them to.
- They don't care what they look like so the worry of crooked teeth won't impact on them.
- They live minute to minute so a reward 'tomorrow' might just as well mean 'in 100 years'
My advice is:
- Do not make comments to the child about her habit as this type of criticism just makes the child more uneasy, and more likely to suck his or her thumb.
- Because children depend on digit sucking to relieve stress, pick a time to break the habit when neither you nor your child is experiencing any stress or change.
- Pay attention to the cues when your child sucks his thumb and help them find an alternative (without them knowing you're doing it).
Dummies
When a dummy can help?
There’s no doubt that during your baby’s first year a dummy can be a life-saver. At first the sucking urge can be so strong that some babies seem to want to spend the whole time at the breast or bottle... and when they’re taken off the breast, or away from the bottle, the howls begin.
A crying baby makes it almost impossible to concentrate on anything else, and is enormously stressful. If you find yourself in this situation a lot of the time, a dummy may well preserve your sanity and calm your baby down. But if you're breastfeeding, you need to ensure that this doesn't affect your milk supply.
If parents come to me and say their child is being fractious a lot of the time, one of the things I recommend is using a dummy. It won’t harm the child, and it’s certainly worth a try. Most babies either take to them straight away or reject them from the start, in which case you have to think of something else to stop the crying.
Some experts believe that a dummy can cause nipple confusion to a breastfeeding baby so that he does not latch onto the breast properly. Others believe that sucking on a dummy reduces time the baby could be spending on the breast so your milk supply isn't stimulated enough.
It's recommended that you try to wean your baby off her dummy by the time she is a year old to prevent problems with her teeth. In fact, both dummy and thumb-sucking can affect how your baby's teeth grow and develop but some argue that dummies can also interfere with speech development. It's not a good idea to attempt to "break her" of the habit until she's ready to give it up on her own: you're unlikely to be successful, and it will only lead to unnecessary struggles and frustration for both of you.
Main benefits:
- A dummy can soothe your baby to sleep.
- A dummy can keep your baby asleep - if disturbed at night, he’s likely to start sucking and may drift back into deeper sleep without opening his eyes.
- Sucking gives a feeling a security, so a dummy can also be used to calm your baby if he is suddenly frightened or hurt. He'll also take comfort from it in a new or difficult situation.
- Dummies mean a baby is less likely to start thumb sucking, which can lead to dental problems later on.
- Research shows that adults who had dummies as babies are less likely to take up smoking.
- In June 2007 The Foundation for Study of Infant Deaths announced that settling your baby to sleep with a dummy - even for naps - can reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Don't worry if your baby doesn't like a dummy, you shouldn't force her to take one purely to prevent SIDS. Also, if you're breastfeeding, it's best to wait until your baby is at least a month old, as using a dummy too early can interfere with breastfeeding.
Possible problems
Unfortunately, using a dummy can bring its problems, too. In the early weeks, your baby’s sucking stimulates your breasts to make exactly the right amount of milk for him. If your baby needs to suck in order to make more milk, and you give him a dummy instead, you could reduce the amount of milk you are making. This will mean that your baby will not be satisfied at the next feed and may become so fractious that you give him a dummy again, leading to a vicious circle of insufficient milk and a restless baby.
So it is very important that you read your babies cues and use helpful techniques like the Dunstan Baby Language system to determine if your baby is hungry or maybe just want to use non-nutritive sucking for pleasure.
It is also important that you choose the correct dummy so that no nipple confusion takes place and the use of the dummy does not interfere with breastfeeding. Giving your baby a dummy occasionally won’t affect breastfeeding if you use the correct dummy at the right time.
The type of dummy used for non-nutritive sucking is very important. It must be the appropriate size and shape to encourage the normal development of facial muscles and jaw development as well as not interfering with speech development.
Welma Lubbe (Prematurity, Adjusting your Dream, 2008) suggests the following when choosing a dummy for a premature infant but most of the same principles applies to full-term infants too:
· Choose a dummy that is soft, but firm and cylindrical in shape with a round end to enable tongue cupping.
Tongue cupping is the u-shaped tongue groove in your baby’s mouth in which the dummy can be placed. Tongue grooving is very important for successful breastfeeding and speech development.
· The round end of the dummy should reach the soft, high palate to stimulate sucking as well as the limbic (emotional) system of the brain, which will release all your “happy hormones” like Prolactin & Ocytocin. The limbic system is the “feel good” area of the brain and therefore sucking will help to calm your baby when she is stressed.
· Dummies that are too flat or too short can lead to abnormal tongue movement, which can be difficult to overcome during the transition to breast or bottle feeding.
· The dummy should have a big, soft mouth shield to prevent your baby from swallowing it. The shield will stimulate all the nerve endings around her mouth and will assist with lip closure.
· The dummy should be a single unit without any loose parts and should have a grip your baby can hold onto. This will support the hands-to-the mouth and midline positioning, self-soothing and self-regulation actions and develops the integration of the left and right brain.
As your baby grows into a toddler it may become more difficult to separate him from his dummy.
Regular use of a dummy can cause speech problems for a number of reasons:
· A baby with a dummy in his mouth has fewer opportunities to babble, which is the foundation of speech, and may not communicate with others as readily.
· An older baby’s ability to swallow may also be impaired, and this can result in difficulties with speech. Once he starts to speak, the dummy user may talk from the back of his mouth instead of the front, and get into the habit of saying ‘k’ instead of ‘t’, for example.
· Regular use of a dummy can lead to dental problems where the upper and lower front and back teeth may not meet properly, and the front teeth in particular may be at higher risk of decay. However, it's worth knowing that regular thumb sucking can also lead to dental problems. Recent research shows that tooth decay levels are higher among children who suck their fingers rather than dummies, because sucking a dummy produces more saliva which helps combat plaque.
I do think it’s very important that parents are given the information they need before reaching a decision on whether or not to introduce a dummy to their child.
Using a dummy sensibly
It is perfectly fine to resort to a dummy - providing you use it selectively and sensibly. Here are my guidelines for safe dummy use:
- Don’t use the dummy as an instant plug - try to identify the source of the problem first by listening to your baby’s cries through using the Dunstan Baby Language System for example. Remember that if your baby is crying, it’s often because he needs something from you and trying to communicate with you.
- Don’t get into a habit of using a dummy regularly. It’s fine to fall back on when all else fails, but it’s not a good idea to start off every day by popping the dummy into your baby’s mouth.
- See the dummy as a short-term life-saver, not a long-term habit or solution. Wean your baby off his dummy as soon as possible, certainly not later than 12 months.
- Never dip your child’s dummy into anything sweet - this can lead to tooth decay.
- If your baby is still using a dummy when he is starting to speak, discourage him from trying to talk with it in his mouth.
Tips to help your toddler kick the habit
Persuading your baby or child to live without his dummy can be hard work, but the following guidelines should help:
- Make a clean break and go cold turkey! - most babies and toddlers will fret for only two or three days and nights, which, as long as you’re prepared for it, isn’t that bad .
- Find a time when you’ve got some support, such as the weekend, before embarking on the Ditch the Dummy Campaign.
- An alternative is to go for gradual reduction - for example, start limiting the dummy to use in the house and then only at bedtime. This approach may seem less harsh, but obviously prolongs the agony - for both of you!
- Get an older child to agree that giving up is the grown-up and sensible thing to do.
- Replace the dummy with another safety/comfort object like a new fluffy soft toy.
