She is 6 weeks old tomorrow and has had a dummy from being born although she has never really been bothered with it as she can take it or leave it.
For the past couple of days she has started to suck her thumb and has refused the dummy in favour of her thumb. The thing is I really don't like seeing children sucking their thumbs especially older children so how can I or even should I discourage her?

Annabel who is a whole four days older than Tayla :) sucks her thumb and I was a little concerned for the same reasons. BUT I then read that it is good for babies to suck their thumb, and some schools of thought actively encourage it to the point of training their babies to suck their thumb.

I can't remember where I read this, but I'll have a look.

I now don't mind Annie sucking her thumb although cos she is so teeny she sucks her thumb and two fingers :) :)

my daughter hated the dummy and loved her thumb ......... right from newborn. I made a point in taking her thumb out and replacing it with the dummy, i had to persevere for 2 weeks before she finally got a taste for the dummy and didnt bother with her thumb. My brother was a thumb sucker and was still waking up sucking his thumb right into his late teens ......... thats the main reason i was adiment my daughter wouldnt get into that habbit

I'm in the process now of trying to get Noah more interested in his dummy.

My friend still sucks her thumb at 24! My reasoning is you can take a dummy away when the time is right but you can't take their thumb.

I'm in the process now of trying to get Noah more interested in his dummy.

My friend still sucks her thumb at 24! My reasoning is you can take a dummy away when the time is right but you can't take their thumb.

thats exactly what i thought .......... and it worked, the dummy went in the bin at 18 months ........ shes 8 now and never had a thumb sucking incident.

good luck

Annabel who is a whole four days older than Tayla :) sucks her thumb and I was a little concerned for the same reasons. BUT I then read that it is good for babies to suck their thumb, and some schools of thought actively encourage it to the point of training their babies to suck their thumb.

I can't remember where I read this, but I'll have a look.

I now don't mind Annie sucking her thumb although cos she is so teeny she sucks her thumb and two fingers :) :)

I can't imagine anyone encouraging a baby to suck its thumb. Just remember you can take away a dummy.

A friend of mine has terrible problems with her 4 year old daughter sucking her thumb. It looks smaller than her other thumb and constantly looks red and sore. She has tried everything to discourage her.

My 5 month old has started ot suck his thumb. Im just hoping its part of his development at feeling and all that jazz.. My sister still sucks her thumb and shes 26!!

Your little one is still a bit young for this but I know someone who put that bitter nail polish on their babies thumb nail and after a couple of days the baby soon stopped!

Don't know if this is too cruel but it worked.

My daughter was born sucking her thumb, and she is 11 now and still sucks her thumb, i think it is cute when they are babies sucking their thumb, and easier in the night, cos u aint in and out of bed finding the dummy, we have tried eveything to stop her thumb sucking. She only does it in the house, i do not like it, our dentist has even fitted her with a brace for the night time, but that didn't work either.

My friend is 52 and sucks her thumb, is they any hope i think not, if you come across a good tip please share it.

thats exactly what i thought .......... and it worked, the dummy went in the bin at 18 months ........ shes 8 now and never had a thumb sucking incident.

good luck

Exactly! My other two had a dummy and gave them up at an early age, I just can't understand why she is prefering the dummy to her thumb after six weeks, it must taste a little nicer!

I now don't mind Annie sucking her thumb although cos she is so teeny she sucks her thumb and two fingers :) :)

Yeah Tayla tries to fit her whole fist in occasionally, and she dosn't half make a racket with the sucking and slurping noises!:)

My daughter sucked her thumb as did her 2 brothers after they all decided dummies were awful because if they dropped out they were harder to find than a thumb. I frankly sighed with relief when they discovered this and I didn't have to keep going up at night to put the dummy back. They finished quicker than friends children who had dummies in. However my mother told me she remembered my brother being goalkeeper in secondary school and sucking his thumb (he was 12). He didn't have any teeth problems and is nearly 60 with all his own teeth. Sucking is just a way of relaxing. I don't think you could stop it anyway.