Thumb v. Pacifier v. Neither... - Page 2

[hakeber]

Originally Posted by •Adorkable•

since i don't have kids yet,t he only thing i will add to this talk is a comment about sucking on lips. i sucked on my bottom lip as i was growing and my happily crunchy mom thought it was fine cause it was a natural part of me. well it wasn't, it completely reshaped my jaw tot he point that i could not speak clearly. it took 7 years of ortho works and speech therapy to get my mouth working normal.
i had no known issues prior to getting my teeth in, but once i had them the force of the sucking against them and my jaw growing were at odds.

so just a warning to keep a keen eye out once babies get teeth and please don't think that just because something is not toxic, that it does not have side effects.

On the otherhand, I sucked my thumb until I was thirteen and BECAUSE of that did not need painful orthodontal work. The force of my thumb pressing against my upper teeth caused them to have a bit of an overbite and a space between my front teeth, but then my wisdom teeth started pushing in and everything fell into place. I have perfectly straight teeth now and no overbite.

ETA: but obviously you should always keep an eye on that sort of stuff...thanks for the reminder why.

[limette]

Not in your ddc.

I prefer neither but reality is sometimes a pacifier comes in handy.

We had them around but dd1 never used one. She would happily comfort nurse and that was great.

DD2 was a projectile vomiter with silent reflux. She couldn't just comfort nurse because she would throw up. When she wasn't nursing she'd have issues with reflux. A soother allowed her to comfort suck (no vomiting) and kept the reflux away.

She dropped the pacifier around a year when she got her first cold. She wouldn't suck it with a stuffy nose so I tossed it and she never noticed.

[crunchy_mommy]

I guess I'll be the one to say neither. I hate the idea of a paci (many reasons, but they make me cringe) and I think the thumb can cause orthodontic problems. When he wants to suck, he gets nursed... which has been a huge commitment on my part considering for his entire first year he wanted to suck almost 24/7!! I'm sure my answer might change if my circumstances were different or I wasn't able to WAH or had several kids etc.

[Gray's Mommy]

Originally Posted by CrunchyMamaToBe

I don't like the idea of pacifiers, but we have tried them with both kids. Neither have been interested.

none of mine took to the paci nor have they beeb thumb suckers. Its all about the boobie for them

[Mulvah]

I prefer the pacifier since I can take it away.

Edited by Mulvah - 10/16/11 at 11:28am

[geo_girl]

maybe it is unpopular around here, but I'll admit that I *hate* my boob being used as a pacifier.

AND I find that route very difficult with two other children running around...

for that reason, most of the time it is a choice between finger or paci. That being said, most of the time when she gets upset I pick her up and comfort her that way....the worst is when she is in the car seat and *NOTHING* works.

oh well...

[JayJay]

Bella found her thumb about ten days ago or something - she'd found it twice before then - once in the hospital and once at about a month old on a trip to Menards :P

It's actually nice for her because instead of becoming upset when she can't comfort nurse, she'll happily suck on her thumb. By no means does she suck on it all night long - just until she's asleep, and then it comes out. After that not until she wakes up, and if I'm not there she will suck it and when I come along, she takes it out and grins at me.

I never sucked my thumb OR a pacifier but have a bloody awful overbite and totally wonky teeth - even a snaggle tooth - so hey, sadly good teeth can't just always grow no matter what you suck.

I did try giving her a paci once or twice but it was SO depressing to me to have half her face covered up with plastic. She spat it out or gagged on it every single time I tried, so that was totally useless!

It's sweet to watch her sucking her thumb. I would think humans have done it for...well probably since the dawn of time. It woulnd't surprise me if other primates do the same things...

[zenmama108]

nak

diego took the paci that the hospital sent home until he was 2 weeks old. at that point, one of the cats got to it and chewed it up, and diego refused to accept another one. about a week ago, he discovered how to get his index finger into his mouth, and has been soothing himself that way. i prefer finger/thumb over a paci because he can decide when he wants to suck and does not need to rely on someone else to give him a paci, them retrieve it over and over.

we had to hide the unwanted pacis in a drawer, because padma (who is 3 and never took a paci as a baby) has decided that she likes sucking on them.

[Lillitu]

our decision was partially made for us, as our baby was given a paci (a nuk) when he was in the NICU. since he could not breastfeed until 15 hours old, they gave him a nuk while he was on an IV.

he still has that nuk, and we put it on one of those cords that attaches to whatever they are in so it doesn't get lost. he prefers the nuk to his own hand, but prefers our fingers or even better, a boob to the nuk.

i say if it works, more power to you!

oh yeah- when i was a kid i sucked my thumb in my sleep (never awake once i was past preschool) and ended up (so they tell me) with an overbite and braces.

[Mulvah]

Originally Posted by geo_girl

maybe it is unpopular around here, but I'll admit that I *hate* my boob being used as a pacifier.

AND I find that route very difficult with two other children running around....

I feel the same way and I don't have two older children running around. Thankfully DS seems to get upset when he just wants to suck and milk comes out!

[Asiago]

My son is 5 months and he puts his thumbs in his mouth and presses up against his gums (teething) but never actually sucks his thumb. Sometimes I see both thumbs in there pressed up against the top of his gums, one on each side.

A pacifier has never really entered my thoughts, so he doesn't have one.

[rachel65655]

I prefer paci to thumb, if they take one at all. The paci you can throw away when they are too old for it but the thumbs you can't get rid of. It's a harder habit to break when they are thumb suckers. I have never had a thumb sucker but I never encouraged or discouraged it either. None of them ever even really tried to suck their thumbs.

Neither one of the twins suck their thumbs or take a paci either. As long as they are fed and their diapers are dry they are happy.

Only Jacob and Isaac ever took a paci while babies. Clara found one in a toy box when she was about 14 months old and decided she liked it and we took it away at 2 yrs old. I don't let them have it past 2 yrs.