EARLY INFANT ORAL CARE. Click buttons for info about pregnancy, teething, baby’s diet, and baby’s oral hygiene!
Here is a helpful Tooth Eruption Guide.
Note: Not all children fall within these age ranges!
Thumb/finger sucking and pacifier habits
- It is recommended to take the pacifier away by age 2. A thumb may be harder to address until the child is around age 4.
- Pacifier use and thumb/finger sucking that persists beyond ages 2-3 can cause problems with the proper growth of the mouth and tooth alignment.
- Develop an age appropriate reward system to praise and reward them when they are not sucking their thumb, fingers, or pacifier.
- Try cutting off the tip of the pacifier to slowly ween them off.
- If these approaches don’t work, remind your child of their habit by wrapping the thumb with athletic or medical tape or by putting a sock on the hand at night.
- Try the Thumbusters
- Or, the FingerGuard might help
