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To Suck or Not to Suck? That is the QuestionMar 03 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line You can take a pacifier away, but you can't cut off his thumb.
When my eldest son was born almost four years ago I was ADAMANT about NOT using a pacifier. I have a friend whose daughter used one until she was about 18 months old, and her teeth are badly damaged now even though she stopped sucking one before most of her teeth were in. As a result of the pacifier, her teeth have large gaps between them and have come in crooked. She speaks with a lisp, and it is possible that she will require speech therapy. So, I refused to give my son a pacifier. He seemed OK with it at first, but by the time he was two months old, he was sucking his thumb. I figured it was a phase and he would stop on his own. The doctor has told me that I shouldn't worry about it since most kids give it up. Unfortunately, he's almost 4, and is still doing it. His teeth are so badly damaged that it's a guarantee he will need braces on his permanent teeth, and he has developed a very bad overbite. He also has trouble with certain words and letter. Truck is "pruck", plane is "prain" as is train, and there are many other such problems. We have sat and coached him on these words, thinking it was just mispronunciation; and have ended up with a frustrated little boy who just can't get the right sounds out. He also has problems with the thumb. It is permanently deformed into a club shape, and constantly has painful blisters and sores on it. He still won't let it go. I've seen him screaming in pain from it, yet still stick it in his mouth. The problem with this situation is: You can't take the thumb away. Thumz is the recommended solution for it (and is nasty tasting as anything)but he's undaunted by its bitterness. Now I also have a daughter who is 9 months old. Because of my son's problems I decided on a pacifier since I could take it away. She loved it, but it turns out that it was unnecessary to wean her from it. At 4 moths old she developed thrush (a fungal infection of the mouth which can be cause by pacifier use) and would not take it any longer. She stopped using the pacifier, but she didn't start sucking her thumb. She still doesn't. So, I think using a pacifier or not really depends upon the child; and some kids will cling to it while others will not. Also, those that would have been better off with the pacifier you can take away end up thumb-suckers with more serious problems. Looking back on it, I wish I'd let my son have the pacifier. It might have saved us future problems and perhaps surgeries for his severe overbite.  |
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