My 3 month old has started?

My eldest son's doctor told me not to break my son of sucking his fingers and he was almost three years old, but to slowly start distracting him away form it, but not too quickly. He said that non-nutritive sucking, (not for food, but for comfort,) is very important to infants and even toddlers. If you are worried about his teeth you could try to teach him to use an orthodontic pacifier instead, but some kids just won't take them.

At three months old your son is just learning to comfort himself, so breaking him of it seems counter productive.

Try to give him a pacifier. They are easier to break. My daughter is almost 12, and I just got her to stop about two weeks ago. I had to take her to the dentist and start the procedures to get a habit corrector put in her mouth. It scared it right out of her. I'd say get a couple pictures of him doing it before you break him so you can remember how cute it does look. Oh yea, a good time to break the pacy is at about one year. A few months after he is done with the bottle, or a few months before. Don't do it at the same time because it will be traumatizing for him. But you don't want to wait too long either.

My daughter started thumbsucking around the same age. She is just over 9 months now and only sucks her thumb for comfort right before bed (it used to be ALL the time when she first started) I wouldn't worry just yet - let it ride out. I thank God she learned this self soothing technique b/c at 4 months she started sleeping 10-13 hrs a night! So to everyone that said "oh! she's a thumbsucker! you'd better nip THAT in the bud" I said, "no thanks! we do just well and Mommy & Daddy are well rested and my baby is well adjusted" I will worry when the dentist gives me reason. The older they get the more they need their hands to explore and play. You will get through it and look at it this way, chances are he won't be sucking his thumb down the aisle on graduation day!

My baby started to suck his fingers at 3 months too. Now he's 7 months, and still no signs of teething. Babies have been known to suck their thumb in the mother's womb and babies are no where close to being born with teeth. I think is a matter of baby's preference and habit. I think it's o.k., I'm not stopping him. But then again my baby is not sucking on thumb but chewing his fingers, so that could be different. I think it matters on the position of his thumb.

Is it facing inward or outward when he's sucking, and also the intensity of the sucking. Some babies just will simply break out of the habit, others not until teenagers... Then they'll suck on your wallet......Scary Huh?

Well my best friend is an othodontist and has told me more than once, sucking fingers/thumbs/pacifiers is NOT what causes orthodontic problems. What causes those problems is GENETICS, and again I'm proof, never needed braces, and I sucked my fingers all through infancy and childhood. So did my sister. If you don't want your kids to have orthodontic problems don't have any yourself and don't have sex with anyone who has had any.

Hi Chynah, I don't think you have anything to worry about. I have a nephew that sucked his thumb until he started kindergarten. Actually he continued to suck his thumb til the 1st grade. My sister and everyone else in the family were trying to make him feel like a baby , they made fun of him thinking he would stop , everyone told him that all the kids at school were gonna make fun of him and laugh at him. He knew how I, his Aunt Dee Dee felt about it so he was comfortable about coming to me and asking if the kids were really gonna make fun of him. knowing kids will be kids , i told my sweet little boy that they most likely would. so, i said let's just keep it a secret. when you're at school don't do it. when you come home you can do it then. His dad is a great big truck driver all manly man...ya know ?? and he told my nephew he better stop doing it or he was going to be getting in trouble over it. my sister sat there and allowed dad to scare , hurt , and take away the one thing that helped this child to relax and calm down. after being in school and not being able to seek out the comfort of sucking his thumb,he needed to be able to come home where it was safe to do so when he felt tired or nervous. well , everyone might say that it was none of my business to say anything about how my sister and brother -in- law raised their children. I am the oldest of 3 sisters. my sisters and i lost our parents. As the eldest sister i felt it was my job to kind of do my best in the place of our parents. so, i told them that they should let the little fella alone. i said when you think about how the world is these days we almost all need some form of relaxing. my nephew's way was sucking his thumb. i told them if i were able to become as content and stress free as my nephew became when he sucked his thumb, i too would be sucking my thumb. he's 9 years old now and his teeth are just fine. your baby is an infant , if they don't have a pacifier they will find something to suck on. If i were you , i would let your baby go right ahead with sucking that itty bitty thumb of peace and contentment. good luck Chynah and GBU and your wee one. i hope i have helped.

try giving him a pacifier. there are orthodonic ones to help prevent future problems. buy him lots of soothing teething toys or give him a damp washcloth to chew on. I was a thumb sucker until I was 7, and although for me it's only slight, I still have an overbite. Others aren't so lucky, and have to have alot of work done later on in life to fix the jaw alignment. but if it's his thumb he likes best, let him have it, most babies suck on thier thumb when they are hungry. my daughter was the same way, and she doesn't suck her thumb and hasn't since infancy, and she will be 2 on the 13th

I'm not going through this but i would break him of it as soon as you can because the longer you wait the harder and longer it will be to break him of it. I don't think that a pacifier is a good thing because that is also a habit that is hard to break i think it might be worse than thumb sucking.

It is perfectly normal for children to do this at this age, and usually they grow out of it about the same time they are broke from the bottle. If you would like for him not to there are orthopedic binkies, they are about $4 a pack of two, and every time he starts sucking his thumb, move his thumb and put the binky in.

I *encouraged* my son to suck his thumb from the day he was born. Both he and I dislike pacifiers (he doens't like the way they push on his face).

Once his top and bottom front teeth have come in he has all but stopped. Baby teeth are sharp!!!

Also my husband sucked his teeth until he wa 10 and never needed braces, my mom did til she was 7 same thing.