thumb sucking in babies

Hi all! We're new to all of this! We have a nearly 9 month old baby girl, who rejected a dummy and prefers her left thumb. She usually only puts it in when she's tired or hungry, so at the moment it's quite a useful tool.
At what point do we discourage her from sucking on her thumb, and any ideas as to how to do so.
Also, she is now going through a stage where she 'kicks up' at any nap time. She squirms and carries on to the point that we just have to walk out of the room until she settles down enough to rewrap her, and seems to now want to sleep on her tummy, which we aren't too comfortable with. Any ideas on tactics to overcome any of these problems will be greatly appreciated! She has slept all night from 6 weeks, so we know how lucky we are, and up until now has always been really good at going for her naps and big sleep, so it's a bit of a mystery to us! Thanks guys!

Hi PKL, maybe she is trying to tell you she doesn't want to be wrapped any more. My little boy used to put up a stink as well so we stopped wrapping, no more grumpy bubby. To combat the fact that he kicks his blankets off we put him in a baby sleeping bag suit which he loves. He is now 16 months and when asked to go and get his sleeping bag for bed he toddles of to get for us. As for the tummy sleeping I am afraid the only solution we found to this was to let him do it. At first we were paranoid and had a few sleepless nights (us not him) but now we know he is okay. Good luck, I hope you find a solution that suits you.

Hi PKL,
I have to agree with piglet. Maybe your daughter doesn't want to be wrapped up anymore. My daughter Ella is just over 9 months and she rolls around everywhere when she goes to bed. If she goes to sleep on her tummy I will go in and roll her over before I go to bed and tuck her in then. If she's on her side I leave her as she will just roll onto her back from there.
With the weather warming up I don't cover her up straight away as she likes to spread out.
Also at this age babies only need between 12-16 hours sleep a day. Ella sleeps 11 hours of a night and has 2 to 3 half hourly sleeps throughout the day. If she's acting up throughout the day when you put her down maybe she isn't ready to go to sleep. I wind up Ella's musical doll and she now knows that once that happens it's sleep time.
My advice to you would be forget wrapping her up, let her lie on her tummy and then her over once she is fully sound asleep.
Best of luck!

And I forgot, don't worry too much about the thumb sucking. I did it when I was a baby and grew out of it on my own. The best thing at the moment is to not worry about it too much, wait until she's older before that is dealt with.

Hi again! I can't seem to find the place where you can add a new topic for some reason! Hopefully someone will read this!!
Our daughter is now nearly 11 months old, and appears to be cutting top teeth - what a joy! The baby that used to sleep all night without a sound now yells out at least once a night, sometimes screaming hysterically. We presume this is the discomfort of teething, otherwise does anyone have any ideas as to what we can do to return to the sleeping baby??
Also, she is at the 'stranger danger' stage, which I guess we just have to ride out. She goes to creche twice a week, and this probably has also become a 'comfort zone' to her. People she only sees occasionally she now screams at if they dare to want a cuddle, which is most embarassing! Any ideas as to how to get her over this, or is it just time?? Thanks guys for your help!

Hi PKL,
You're not alone. My darling cherub use to sleep all night, but as soon as the teething started hasn't slept a full night since. Some nights she will go straight back off to sleep, others she will just scream (like last night) even after Panadol and will end up being in bed with me and hubby. I know sometimes she has really bad dreams as I hear her crying out in her sleep so it's hard to work out which one it is.
Ella is also at the stranger danger stage which is completely normal. Her child health nurse told me there is nothing you can do about it, she will outgrow that stage in a couple of months. Ella won't go to anyone that she doesn't see much off - so besides me, Paul and my mother that counts everyone else out.
So don't worry too much about it, nearly all babies go through it some worse than others (Ella is one of the worse ones).
And as for the sleeping, I don't really have the answer except I know exactly what you're going through. If you ever want to email me I'm on loulou_074@hotmail.com

Thanks for your advice! Nice to know someone is going through what we are! My sister has a girl 3 months older than Lia, and even though she doesn't have her at creche (and has only just started taking her once a week to a playgroup), Lauren hasn't particularly gone through the clingy stage at all. Mind you, that could be because my sister is always with her, too!!
I guess you just have to accept all these changes - must be a bit of a shock to them as they teethe, and become more aware of their environment. It's awful going from a bright, outgoing kid who would go to anyone, to a baby that seems socially retarded!! Just part of the fun.
Lia has been snuffly with a bit of a cough throughout all of our winter in Tassie (joys of being a creche kid), and that has become a bit worse this week, so even though she isn't screaming out with the teeth, she's been waking us up with coughing fits. The vaporiser is on, she gets a dose of Dimetapp at night, the Euchy Bear rub etc, so that's just another stage we're going through as well. Bed looks great at 8-30pm. We're also about to have the Daylight Savings changeover tonight also, so that will throw the routine out by an hour for a few days. Life is never dull, is it?!
Thanks again for your help - hope Ella is going well!

Hi all,

I have a 3 montsh old baby and since two days he has started sucking his thumb. Though it looks very cute and I enjoy seeing him putting his thumb so beautifully in his mouth, I am really worried. I know it is very common in babies and most of them tend to quit this habit as they grow older. But I do not want him to continue with this as he is at the risk of dirtying his fingers and then suck. Yukk!!

Pls suggest some ideas to stop him making it a habit.
Thanks.

Hi Ikraj1
There really isn't anything you can do to stop them sucking their thumbs at such a young age. It won't matter how often you pull his thumb out if he wants to suck it he will just put it back in again.
Babies as they get older, end up digesting more than a bit of dirt on their fingers so my advice at the moment, let him be as that is his comfort - sucking his thumb.
My daughter sucked her thumb for about a month and then stopped, so just be patient and see what happens. (Now she only wants her dummy going to sleep).