Sucking Habits

Sucking is a natural reflex that infants must have to survive. After their first few months of life, infants and young children may associate good feelings with sucking and develop a sucking habit: use thumbs, fingers, pacifiers and other objects to calm and comfort themselves and help them go to sleep.

Some children will suck infrequently and with little force. These children rarely have significant changes to their teeth or jaws. Other children are persistent suckers who suck forcefully and for many hours each day and night. These are the children most at risk of having protruding upper teeth and deformed upper jaw bones.

The majority of children give up their sucking habits by two or four years of age. Even the most vigorus sucking habits stop about the time children start school. Often peer pressure will convince them that they should stop.

The only way that pacifiers are better than fingers is that they are more easily taken away! Even so-called ‘orthodontic’ pacifiers will cause orthodontic problems. Discourage the use of pacifiers as much as possible.

If your child is still sucking by the time the permanent teeth are erupting, you should begin addressing it in a supporting and loving way:

* Praise your child when they are not sucking rather than scolding them when they are sucking.
* Try to reassure and comfort your child to reduce their need for sucking due to insecurity and comfort needs.
* Reward your child when they do not suck during difficult times, such as leaving their parents.
* Children who are sucking for comfort will feel less of a need when their parents provide comfort.

If you have concerns about thumb sucking or use of a pacifier, consult your pediatric dentist. We can encourage children to stop sucking and explain what could happen if they continue.

Getting children to acknowledge that they want to quit their sucking habit is the first step in breaking it. Helping remind them of their own decision is better than nagging them about what you have decided for them. Some techniques that have worked in the past include a simple bandaid on the preferred finger to make it feel different, having them wear a long sock over their hand and arm at night (use a safety pin to their PJ) or use an ace bandage to hold a rolled magazine over their elbow to prevent bending. When all else fails, an appliance can be made to block the sucking.

Harold’s
Hideaway Thumb
by Harriet Sonnenschein, Jurg Obnzt (Illustrator), Jurg Obrist
(Illustrator)