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Home › Articles › Dental Health › All Thumbs

All Thumbs

What Does Thumbsucking Mean for Development?

By Lisa Marie Metzler

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When infants discover the soothing and comforting feeling a thumb gives them, they repeat the behavior. This was the case with Mary Talbot, a Barrington, R.I., mom. Her son didn't discover his thumb until he was 7 months old, but when he did, he was more comfortable.

"Initially it helped him sleep for longer periods of time," says Talbot. "I also found that when he was unsure of a situation, he started sucking. If he became distressed, like when a stranger approached him, the thumbsucking would become more vigorous."

Talbot isn't concerned about her son's thumbsucking. "If it gives him comfort, why pressure to stop him?" she says.

There are other factors to consider when it comes to your child's thumbsucking. "When evaluating whether to deal with thumbsucking, parents need to consider how frequently the child sucks his or her thumb, whether the child's oral development is being affected and whether the child's communication skills and word pronunciation is affected [by the thumbsucking]," says Dr. Peter Stavinoha, a pediatric psychologist at Children's Medical Center of Dallas. "If the thumbsucking is an occasional comfort habit, parents should be less concerned about doing something about it."

For the most part, children stop sucking their thumbs between the ages of 2 and 5. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry says children should stop sucking their thumbs between 4 years of age and when the maxillary permanent teeth erupt.

For most toddlers who suck their thumbs, stopping isn't a big issue because as toddlers begin to explore their world and gain more independence, the thumb has less appeal. You may find them only sucking their thumbs before naptime or bedtime or when they're cranky Eventually the thumbsucking will cease and be replaced with a blanket, teddy bear or other comfort object.

Preventing Prolonged Thumbsucking

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