Your Preschooler This Month

Friday, March 29, 2024
56 Months Edit Child's Info Growing Up: The Preschool Years
What to Do About Thumbsucking Sucking on a pacifier, thumb, or finger(s) is a self-soothing behavior for up to 90% of babies. Most children gradually lose interest in what's called "non-nutritive sucking" -- sucking for reasons other than feeding -- by the time they are 4 or 5 years old; however, many will ditch the habit soon after their first birthday. Overly enthusiastic non-nutritive sucking can create dental problems as well as speech delays. In addition, when the object being sucked is dirty, children may be at higher risk for catching colds and other viruses or developing ear infections. So what's a parent to do? Although a pacifier can be removed relatively easily from a child, that just isn't possible when it comes to the thumb or fingers. Most children can stop a pacifier cold turkey around 18 months of age (although they may still be looking for it for a day or so). Thumb sucking can take much longer to stop (even years), but here are some tips to try until your child is ready to keep the thumb out of her mouth for good: First, try to ignore her thumb sucking behavior. It may stop on its own. Look for patterns to your child's thumb sucking and manage any stress that seems to trigger her habit. Try to limit thumb sucking to naps/bedtime. She may realize she doesn't need to suck as much as she used to. Give her an alternative to hold on to such as a small blanket or cloth or a stuffed animal. Make sure she washes her hands first if she must suck. Try to get her involved in stopping. (This tends to work best in children 4 years or older.) Reward her for periods without thumb sucking, and ask your pediatrician if a bitter-tasting liquid applied to her thumb may help. For very stubborn suckers, your child's dentist may recommend using an oral appliance to help remind her not to suck her thumb. Next Month: Taming Temper Tantrums About Dr. Jennifer Shu Parenting Tips •  What to Feed Your Family •  How to Have a Healthy Day From Morning to Night •  Is Your Neighborhood Playground Safe? •  Germs: How Clean Should We Be? Connect •  WebMD Parenting Community •  Children's Health Center •  Parenting: 4 & 5-Year-Olds Community •  Raising Fit Kids Home  |  Conditions A to Z  |  Community  |   Parenting Don't miss an issue of this newsletter. Add WebMD to your email's safe sender list -- get instructions here. You are subscribed as asaislam93.parent@blogger.com. To unsubscribe from this email, or manage your individual email/newsletter preferences, click here. Please note that you may be asked to sign in to your account. To unsubscribe from all emails from WebMD, click here. WebMD Privacy Policy WebMD Office of Privacy 1201 Peachtree Street, NE 400 Colony Square, Suite 2100, Atlanta, GA 30361 © 2024 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.