15 Replies
4mths old is still so young. it is difficult to let baby quit pacificer. for me personally i prefer pacificer than thumb. i feel thumb has more germs than pacificer. because at least i sterilised it after every use. but baby thumb i cant keep washing or clean with baby wipe. also it is easier to quit with pacificer. i thought it would be difficult. i tried 1day when my son is 18mths old. i didnt give him and just let him sleep as he is really tired that day. lights dimmed. he didnt ask for it and sleep through the night. so i tried the 2nd day and 3rd day and so on. he then totally forgot about it. now he is 4yrs old when he saw baby with pacificer, he cant rem that he ate that before. lol.
she is still so young. she needs to self-sooth!! think in ur baby's shoes, what can she do when she feels stressed or upset or just need to suckle? we can't expect them to handle it like adults. imagine someone limiting your ability to calm yourself down when u feel anxious. it is their instinct to suckle. unless mummy can comfort nurse her more frequently? just thinking, would rotating the use of pacifier and thumb and comfort nursing help? what about providing other alternatives such as comfort cloth or blanket or bolster ('chou chou' in mandarin) so that they can self-sooth?
There is no need to limit the period, maybe, can try this, give only she wan to sleep or teething(mean when keep crying, shouting). If there is no pacifier, and she suck her thumb, stop her, take out her thumb and smack her hand and say NO. Doesnt need to smack till cry or red, jus a light smack to tell her NO. Soon she will also understand what is NO too.
Must try to make them take pacifier instead of thumb. Pacifier can stop much earlier than thumb. A thumb sucking habit is much harder to break than a pacifier habit because a parent can take the pacifier away, But note thumb sucking and pacifiers both affect teeth and roof of mouth - the same dental effects happen with either.
Sorry, but if you had to limit the use of pacifier in her fourth month only, you should not have introduced it to her in the first place. Anyway, if she has started sucking thumb, then either you put mitten or let her use pacifier for a few more months, as it is easy to get her off pacifier than thumb.
I think pacifier shouldn't be an issue at this point of time. You can take away the pacifier at a later stage, but you can never take away her thumb. Thumb sucking might be more exposed to bacteria, which might cause fungal growth.
she is still young. i find pacifier better than thumb. like what eliza mention, sucking will expose to bacteria and cause the skin fungal infection. pacifier at least can sterilise but not thumb.
I don't have a child yet. But when I did this my parents got that clear nail polish that tastes gross and put it on my thumbs so I wouldn't suck them.
she is just 4 months old !! you shouldn't be worried unless she is a 4 year old who is sucking her thumb. pacifier or thumb both helps the baby to sooth.
Trust me, thumb is worst than pacifier. I know of a 15yo who still can't quit thumb sucking habit. Pacifier is easier to quit.