The Bright Side of Having a Thumb-Sucking Baby

My little guy found his thumb within 48 hours of life, and twelve months later he is still clinging to it. He is my fourth (and last) baby. None of my other children sucked their thumbs, so this is new territory for me.

I have a love/hate relationship with my baby’s thumb-sucking addiction. It is of course adorable right now, but I know it will not be as cute at age four, eight, ten, or (deep breathes and do not panic) the teenage years.

I have a tendency to focus too much on the downside of any situation. When I look at my baby as he sucks his thumb, sometimes I see a sweet adorable cherub. However, other times my brain flash forwards to a decade ahead and I envision braces, retainers and very large orthodontist bills.

I go back and forth with being worried about my little thumb-sucker, but lately instead of being anxious I have decided to chill out because thumb-sucking has made for some great months of babyhood. There are pros and cons to everything in life, even my baby’s current addiction.

The list below is my attempt to focus on the good and not fret so much about what is a pretty common habit for fetuses, newborns, infants, babies and toddlers.

No Pacifier

My older three kids all took a pacifier at different intervals for about the first year of their existence. They never typically were given one at night, however my husband and I did have to take conscientious steps to get rid of the pacifier for car rides and naps.

This is not the case with my youngest. He had a few weeks of getting a pacifier forced into his face during shopping trips or stroller walks. But, almost every time he got one it would be spit out in under five minutes and replaced by his thumb. My husband and I did not have to wean him from a pacifier and that was glorious.

We also never had to make sure to pack pacifiers into the diaper bag or send one to a grandparent’s house. It was just one less thing to worry about because our baby already had his thumb.

Self-Soothing

I describe my youngest as a content baby, and I think I have his opposable digit to thank. Whenever a crying spree starts, he will find that delicious appendage and immediately calm down. Since he has to compete with three older siblings for my attention, the thumb has become an almost zen master for keeping him cool and collected. It wields enough magic for me to be able to place my baby on the floor and fold a load of laundry without him going ballistic. Thumb-sucking even helps him stay composed in his high chair for longer stretches of time, so that my husband and I can have a few minutes to inhale our own food at the dinner table.

Great Sleeper

My thumb-sucker earns the title of greatest sleeper. He transitioned from bassinet to crib with no problems and was sleeping 5-6 hours a night from almost the very beginning of life. During the twilight hours I often find him to be sound asleep in his crib and making soft suckling noises as his thumb wiggles around in his mouth and takes him to dreamland. I slept better in the days after he was born than I ever did during the nine uncomfortable months of pregnancy.

Thumb-sucking has even helped my little guy through the tough times of teething. I have never had to use Ora-jel or teething rings with this baby. Even though his gums are swollen and soar, he still just wants what he knows and that is his dependable thumb. It never fails to put him at ease and help with discomfort.

The Cuteness Factor

I hear more compliments about my baby’s adorable habit than of anything else. Multiple friends and strangers will “ooh and aah” at him as he places his head on my shoulder and pops his thumb into his mouth. I know I am bias, but the whole thing really is adorable. No one can resist a grinning baby cuddled into his mama with a tiny thumb between his lips. It gets even cuter if he falls asleep that way.

During my moments of worry, I digress to online research. During one late night Google search, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that until the age of five, thumb-sucking really is not a cause for concern. WebMD explained, “In fact, more than three-quarters of infants suck their thumbs or fingers through the first year of life. A child usually turns to the thumb when bored, tired, or upset.”

Thumb-sucking makes my baby more of a snuggle bug, and that makes my heart happy.