Thumb Sucking vs Pacifier

Molly I sucked my finger until I was 10 and I have perfectly straight teeth w/o ever needing braces. My brother sucked his thumb and he never needed braces either. I think it's just how your teeth naturally grow, whether you'll need braces or not. I say let him suck his thumb. It's security for him, and for some reason so many mothers love taking away their babies security, ie: pacies, thumbs, bottles as soon as they turn one or even before, so just let him enjoy his security with his thumb. Congrats on a new baby!! :)

molly, a couple thoughts. first, i sucked my thumb, and my little brother sucked his thumb, until four or five years old (we both stopped once we hit school age). my teeth are perfectly straight, my little brother needed braces - but not because of sucking his thumb. i got my mom's straight teeth, my brother got my dad's crooked ones. it was pure genetics. now my son is sucking his thumb, and personally i have no problem with it. you have to remember it's a self soothing thing, and if you take the binky away, immediately he will latch onto the thumb. but the way i see it, if you give a binky the first year or two, then take it away, likely the same thing will happen. i kind of wished my son had taken a paci (he NEVER wanted it, from day one), because it seems to me it'd be a lot easier habit to break - you can't take away his thumb! but we got a thumb sucker, and i don't think there's much you can do about it. plus it's awful cute :) anyway, rest easy. i have heard a lot of conflicting information about teeth and thumb sucking, but when it comes down to it you can't force a kid not to. and i don't buy the whole "messing up the teeth" thing. just my experience. good luck and congrats on your new gift :)

I have a new little one as well and I was never going to give the pacifier, but he had to spend some time on the billi bed and couldn't be held so we broke down and gave him the paci. And it's stuck since, but recently he has started sucking his thumb too. At first I hated it. I thought, you can take away a paci, but not a thumb. But, I've come to realize that I can't stop him, so I might as well look at the positives. You won't be searching for a thumb while driving or in the middle of the night. Thumbs won't fall on the floor etc.... I have heard lots of people say their dentist is the one who helped break the child of the habit. I wouldn't worry about it when he is so young.

My son does the same thing to it's either the binky or the fingers, and the answer to your question is it just depends on the type of binky you give your son. Try to give him binky's that are some what flat like MAM slik they come in 2 and are like 4.39 for the 2
Hope that answers your question