Breastfeeding My Thumbsucker
When Hannah was born, I noticed that she had a propensity to seek out and try to suck on her hand. She wasn’t my only baby to start swiping at her face as a newborn, but she was the only one who successfully developed a thumb-sucking habit over time.
I admit, I encouraged this behavior. I even actually helped guide her thumb to the right place a few times until she could easily find it on her own without getting frustrated, and I am not sorry I did. As I see it, her thumb is a useful tool for comforting herself and also a quiet signal to me about how she feels.
My other babies who didn’t know how to find their little thumbs couldn’t suck on them while they fell asleep, as Hannah prefers to do, so it was harder to put them down to sleep. Hannah has entertained herself many times with her thumb in situations where my other children would have become bored and fussy.
You might wonder if Hannah gets enough booby time with all of her finger seeking. She does, although I am careful to not let her suck her thumb when she is hungry. If someone else is watching her while I am busy, they are trained to look for signs that she is hungry. That way, thumb sucking becomes a signal that she is either tired or hungry, and we can take action to help her out long before she melts down in frustration.
Are there ever times when there has been a “conflict of interests?” Sure. Sometimes Hannah can’t figure out whether she wants a thumb or a boob, and I have to pin down her little hand to keep it from wandering into her mouth while she nurses. And sometimes she just slips that thumb right under the boob while I am not watching. I only notice what she is doing if I hear funny slurping sounds and feel the suction breaking. Then I am back to competing with her thumb.
However, I have begun to realize that if she seems to prefer her thumb over me, I usually do better just letting her suck on it, because it usually only happens when she is tired or full. I have come to the conclusion that thumb sucking isn’t as bad as some people make it out to be, and that it can be a nice addition to the breastfeeding relationship.
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