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Is Thumb Sucking Common In Infants?
Question: Hi, We have twin girls and they are 3.5 months old, I have two clarifications:
1. The doctor had prescribed the following supplements:
a. Tonoferon b. Visyneral c. JustDee 400 drops
Since the taste of these medicines are very strong and the kids struggle to take them, is there an alternative that you can recommend, something that tastes good? or is there any method you recommend that will allow them to consume these medicines without any struggle?
2. My kids have started sucking their thumb frequently, even thought we expected this to be normal we want to find out if there is a way we can stop them from doing this?
There are two problems we are observing
a. they try to shove their thumb all the way in and end up puking
b. Once the thumb in their mouth they keep pushing the upper pallet of their mouth using their thumb, we fear that their teeth might later protrude outward.
1. The doctor had prescribed the following supplements:
a. Tonoferon b. Visyneral c. JustDee 400 drops
Since the taste of these medicines are very strong and the kids struggle to take them, is there an alternative that you can recommend, something that tastes good? or is there any method you recommend that will allow them to consume these medicines without any struggle?
2. My kids have started sucking their thumb frequently, even thought we expected this to be normal we want to find out if there is a way we can stop them from doing this?
There are two problems we are observing
a. they try to shove their thumb all the way in and end up puking
b. Once the thumb in their mouth they keep pushing the upper pallet of their mouth using their thumb, we fear that their teeth might later protrude outward.
Brief Answer:
Mix the medicines with expressed breast milk. Thumb sucking common.
Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking again on HealthcareMagic. It is good to hear back once again from you. The problems that you have mentioned, are common. Let me address them one by one:
* Tonoferon contains iron and Vi-Syneral is a vitamin drop. These can be mixed with express breast milk and given. In such a case, the taste would be less intense and therefore would be tolerated well. JustDee 400 is Vitamin D supplement and needs to be given. Other alternative brands are Calshine P Drops or Arbivit-3 Drops. The dose would be 1 ml once a day for any of these. You may try that instead and follow the method I have just given.
* Thumb sucking has a soothing effect that is very common in children of this age. Subsequently, with development of language, children develop better coping skills and thumb sucking becomes secondary. I do not think that you need to discourage it at this stage.
* In context of the puking effect of shoving the thumb deep inside, you may try discouraging however. I am not sure that would stop them from doing it.
* There are two sets of teeth we get - the temporary and the permanent teeth. Although thumb sucking can affect the primary or temporary teeth, it should not have any effect on the permanent teeth. So you need not worry.
Hope that helps.
Regards
Mix the medicines with expressed breast milk. Thumb sucking common.
Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking again on HealthcareMagic. It is good to hear back once again from you. The problems that you have mentioned, are common. Let me address them one by one:
* Tonoferon contains iron and Vi-Syneral is a vitamin drop. These can be mixed with express breast milk and given. In such a case, the taste would be less intense and therefore would be tolerated well. JustDee 400 is Vitamin D supplement and needs to be given. Other alternative brands are Calshine P Drops or Arbivit-3 Drops. The dose would be 1 ml once a day for any of these. You may try that instead and follow the method I have just given.
* Thumb sucking has a soothing effect that is very common in children of this age. Subsequently, with development of language, children develop better coping skills and thumb sucking becomes secondary. I do not think that you need to discourage it at this stage.
* In context of the puking effect of shoving the thumb deep inside, you may try discouraging however. I am not sure that would stop them from doing it.
* There are two sets of teeth we get - the temporary and the permanent teeth. Although thumb sucking can affect the primary or temporary teeth, it should not have any effect on the permanent teeth. So you need not worry.
Hope that helps.
Regards
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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