Keep thumb-sucking in perspective

Most kids will stop the habit on their own without any bad side-effects to worry about, write Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen.

Q My three-year-old won’t stop sucking his thumb. I’m concerned about all the germs he puts in his mouth and that he’ll get buck teeth. How can I get him to stop?

A Well, you don’t have to worry about buck teeth if he stops sucking his thumb before his permanent teeth come in, around age six. Most kids stop thumb-sucking on their own by age four. But if his permanent teeth come in and he’s still sucking his thumb, he could alter the alignment of his teeth and damage the roof of his mouth.

In that case, you can help him stop by offering gentle reminders that it can hurt his teeth, offering positive reinforcement and identifying stressful triggers that prompt the thumb-sucking. Peer pressure at school often is the most powerful deterrent. Now, as far as germs he gets from thumb-sucking … A new study from New Zealand found that kids who were thumb-suckers (and nail-biters) have fewer allergies later in life than those who weren’t.

Score one for the hygiene hypothesis: the theory that our oversanitized world deprives our immune system of exposure to a wide range of infectious agents, resulting in an increase in the incidence of autoimmune and allergic diseases.

According to the study, children who sucked their thumbs and bit their nails (we don’t advocate either behaviour, by the way) had a 31 per cent risk of allergy at age 13, while those who didn’t had a 49 per cent risk.

That’s a big difference. And the percentages stayed the same when the study’s subjects were tested again at age 32.

So don’t worry too much about your toddler’s thumb-sucking.

And don’t think you have to douse the house — and him — with antibacterial products. That’s not good for the environment or your child. Soap and water will do.