While parents and infants give a thumbs up to this usually
harmless habit, dentists vote thumbs down because pressure from the thumb
against the inside of the upper front teeth can cause an overbite and other
dental malocclusions. Yet seldom does thumb sucking become a dental problem in
children under the age of 2, and certainly at 11 months it is unlikely to
affect your daughter's teeth. At this age, I would recommend that you let her
enjoy her thumb; chances are she will wean herself before it causes a problem.
Telltale signs that your infant is sucking hard enough to
bother the formation of her new teeth are sores on the skin of her thumb, such
as a callous, or cracking or bleeding. If she sucks hard enough to damage the
skin, she could be putting harmful pressure on her teeth. If that's the case
with your daughter, try these time-tested tips to satisfy her need to suck in
other ways:
Keep little thumbs busy. Toddlers tend to suck their thumbs
when they're bored, so as soon as you see your child's thumb making its way to
her mouth, distract your daughter and involve her in another kind of hands-on
activity.
Let her suck on your clean finger. New insight into the
physiological benefits of sucking reveal that non-nutritive sucking (sucking
without feeding) not only calms babies, but stimulates the flow of saliva,
which can in turn act as a lubricant to settle an upset stomach.
The most severe thumb sucking malocclusions were in children
who sucked their thumbs intensively all night. If a toddler always goes to
sleep sucking her thumb, she will tend to revert back to this comforting habit
throughout the night, especially when she wakes up. Put her to bed with
sleep-inducing alternatives, such as rocking together, listening to soft music,
and singing.
If during your daughter's second year neither your
pediatrician nor your child's dentist is worried about the effect of thumb
sucking on her teeth, let her enjoy her oral prop. Parents of an older child
may want to be sure the family pediatrician and dentist are aware of any late thumb
sucking, so they can be on the look-out for potential dental problems