sucking thumb WHILE nusing

[zeedoos]

Throwing this out there to see if anyone has dealt with this before.
DD will stick her tumb in her mouth while she is nursung, which of course breaks suction. I've been having some trouble since I returned to work with her refusing to nurse after I come home, and quickly becoming impatient waiting for a 30sec let down (we use slow flow nipples on the bottles while I'm away). She resets overnight and is nursing happily overnight and the next morning. Lately using lefty when I come home seems to ease the transition back to nursing (lefty is my better boob). So I really don't want anymore upsets with feeding.

I believe the tumb sucking is teething related as DD has been drooling more, chewing on her fingers, toys, teethers and pacifiers (we are not opposed to them, and I would prefer a paci addiction instead of a thumb sucking addiction). 5 1/2 months old (4 adjusted) she is not actually cutting her teeth yet.

Has anyone else had this happen, and how have you dealt with it? Right now I have to hold her hand half the time so she does not suck her thumb, and she will continue to nurse while I do this.

[hijadelrey3]

Same Challenge

My lo is five months old and has been doing the same thing for about a month and a half. She also has been demonstrating obvious teething symptoms, though no teeth yet. It is encouraging to know that I am not alone in figuring this out!
I usually put my finger or thumb in the palm of her hand and encourage her to grab on to me. When she does this she puts her fingers in her mouth much less often and I have a chance to gently discourage her if she does seem to be moving her hand in that direction.

[GoldmanBaby09]

I found a teething necklace helped with this. My son would put fingers in his mouth while nursing, too. But I can let him hold the necklace and that seems to distract him enough and it is too big to sneak in there while he is nursing. Maybe another toy in hand while nursing will help.

[texaspeach]

ds tries to do this. I just redirect his hand and tell him he can only have milk or his thumb.. he thinks this is hilarious for some reason.

[Flower of Bliss]

My DD#2 has been a finger/thumb/hand sucker from birth. She constantly sticks her fingers in her mouth while nursing. In fact, she can somehow magically maintain a latch with one little finger in her mouth. I've taken pictures. She's 6 months and definitely not teething.

I too try to hold her hand to keep it out of her mouth. I also try to be really really good about clipping her nails that are all over my breasts.