Thumb and finger sucking

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Information was obtained from 600 parents of their childrens'' daytime and nocturnal sucking habits from birth. Most children used some form of supplementary sucking which commenced at birth and lasted for as long as 2 yr. From the 2nd yr, the predominant form of supplementary sucking involved a thumb or finger, and digit suckers mostly did not suck a dummy or a bottle teat at night. Palatal or arch distortion occurred in only 18 children. This was 17% of the digit sucking group. Of the children of the 17 parents who would not allow a dummy, 10 became digit suckers. Of the 72 children who refused a dummy, 38 became digit suckers. Parents should encourage dummy sucking in children who show sings of being potential digit suckers to prevent a digit sucking habit from arising. Where a dummy was not allowed by the parents or used by the child, 56 became digit suckers.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: