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Babies have natural sucking and rooting reflexes as a way to soothe themselves or feel secure. And when they’re not nursing or bottle feeding, they tend to turn to their thumb or pacifier. Since you’re wondering which is worse - thumb sucking or the use of pacifier - let’s list down some of the pros and cons of each. Pacifier Pros - it may lower the baby’s risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) - it can help your baby fall asleep- once you decide to wean your baby off the pacifier, you can simply throw it away, whereas a thumb is not as disposable - it provides a quick distraction during and after shots and other procedures at the clinic - it might help during flights by relieving ear pain caused by a change in air pressure Pacifier Cons - it can increase the risk of middle ear infections - if you lose the pacifier, or pacifier falls out of baby’s mouth, all hell breaks lose as your baby bawls away until you find it - early use might interfere with breastfeeding - prolonged use might cause a misalignment in your child’s teeth or teeth might not come out properly - it takes more maintenance as you have to constantly wash and sterilize a pacifier Thumb sucking Pros - a thumb provides easy access; it doesn’t get lost in the crib at night while baby’s asleep - a thumb is low maintenance; you only need to wash it with soap and water, no need to sterilize - thumb sucking can lead to the development of an overbite, especially if it continues after the permanent teeth have come in - thumbs sucking may lower the risk of developing allergies, according to a New Zealand study published in the journal Pediatrics Thumb sucking Cons - thumbs carry germs that go into your baby’s mouth - prolonged use might cause a misalignment in your child’s teeth or teeth might not come out properly Generally, pacifier use or thumb sucking isn’t going to be a problem as long your baby gives it up before permanent teeth start to develop, which usually happens at around 3 years old. Sources: - http://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/pacifiers-or-thumbsucking-which-is-worse - http://www.parents.com/advice/babies/gear/should-my-baby-suck-on-his-thumb-or-a-pacifier/ - http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/infant-and-toddler-health/in-depth/pacifiers/art-20048140 - http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/11/health/allergies-thumb-sucking-nail-biting-children/
In my opinion, I feel that pacifier is better option than a thumb sucking child because it’s easier to wean off a pacifier than a thumb sucking habit. Give a pacifier to a baby ONLY when it’s necessary eg; when the child is tired and crying and he will sleep faster. Take it out soon after when the child falls asleep or has calmed down. Though thumb sucking may seemed convenient and adorable but in the contrary, it’s a addictive habit that is really difficult to quit for a child and this may stretched into his teens years. The last thing you would really want is to have your beautiful child ending up having bucked front teeth or crooked front teeth. With the constant sucking and hours of soaking that thumb in the mouth and with the wet saliver...the smell can be really bad. Not to say, it will also damage the skin and nail around the child’s thumb. Pacifiers are really a better and more controllable source of help but of course if given a choice, doing without the both options are a win for me! Trust me, it’s based on my personal journeys with my 5 babies. 😅😂😄...
It's really depend. My friend's daughter thumb sucking was a serious case. http://ashlynthia.blogspot.sg/2014_09_01_archive.html?m=1 Her daughter was hospitalized from it. So if can, prevent it. For pacifier, u just need to endure for few days of no pacifier, it'll wean off easily. My friend try my method, and she manage to wean away her boy from pacifier. Her boy is very hardcore pacifier fan. I only give pacifier when she want to sleep or when she is need comfort like teething period, or fever period. Hence, she is not very into pacifier. I easily wean off within 2-3 days without much hassle except during the night time when she want to sleep.
Lesser evil definitely would be sucking on pacifier. My mum’s friend told me something which i think is really very true la. If baby is used to sucking on pacifier, you can just throw the pacifier when they are older. There might cry and whine for awhile, but they will get used to it without the pacifier too. But if baby gets used to sucking on the thumb, there’s no way you can get them to kick the habit when you want. You can’t possibly cut away their thumb
Personally prefer pacifier than thumb. Both are actually harmful for their teeth development; try help them to kick the habit of pacifier when they are 3-4yo. Thumb sucking is a habit that is easy to start but difficult to stop or control. u might wana try using mitten to stop her from sucking her thumb; coz mityen isnt as nice as their fingers. That's how my mom helped a cousin stop the bad habit!
Pacifier better than thumb sucking. When my girl age 2 I ask her throw away the pacifier and she is able to understand. My niece who did not use pacifier, she tend to love thumb sucking for many years and her finger turn white because of the thumb sucking and has to seek doctor. I have encounter few babies who never given pacifier, they will automatic use thumb to suck as a comfort. Hope this help.
for me i find that pacifier is less evil. cos by the time to cut off pacific . also easy. not like compare to thumb. for my gal when we wan her to stop her (tu tu) pacifier. we will told her that she is big already . tu tu is for baby. and big pretty gal no need tu tu. and we let her throw away her tu tu her self. which work. but if her thumb not sure how already get rid this habit
I think pacifier would be easier to wean off in time to come as compared to the thumb which is readily available. As he grows older u can try to reduce his reliance on pacifier and ask him to throw it away in the bin when he is ready and have the idea that he has no more pacifier to chew on
Thumb sucking are harder to wean off compared to pacifier. Thumb are easier to reach and may lead to thumb issue beside face and teeth issue. You may find at youtube many ways to wean the thumb sucking issue but it's takes a lot of hard work compare to pacifier.
My LO used to take pacifier but one fine day, she decided to suck her thumb instead. I've been trying to switch her back to pacifier but couldn't so I decided to just let it be since she only suck when going to sleep or hungry.. I supposed it's a form of comfort for them..