Children and Thumb sucking and emotional feelings

if thumb sucking is associated with twisting a blanket, you might suggest that the child cuddle a doll instead. But don't make an issue of it. Interest in Sex You can be certain that sooner or later a child will be interested in the sex organs, where babies come from, even in sexual intercourse. If your relationship with him is a good one, he will ask questions just as freely as he asks why grass is green. They may not be easy questions to answer, but do your best to answer them truthfully. The fact is that telling the truth is simpler in the long run. 

Children don't mind deception about Santa Claus, mainly because there is fun in the deception and no tension about it in their parents. Deceptions about the stork, however, are likely to create problems. It is often hard for parents to explain later why they told the stork story.

It is easier to answer truthfully the simple questions small children ask than to take on the complicated ones they think of later. Tell the truth and you and the child get off to a good start. You need not go into details. That is more than the child usually can understand. Tell the truth simply and without baffling, meaningless analogies about birds and bees. / The first thing children usually want to know, sometimes when they are no more than two years old, is where babies come from. The answer can be simply that they grow inside their mothers. 

Then, or sometime later, a child is likely to ask how the baby got there, and an adequate answer can be that "It grew from a little seed that was there all the time." When, as is likely, the child wants to know how the baby got out, the answer can be "Through a special opening that mothers have." And when the child asks whether daddies have anything to do with it, it can be said that the father's seed is needed, too. It may be necessary to repeat all or part of this information frequently, but that does not mean that you should add more facts than the child demands.

Small children rarely expect explicit information about the sexual act or the actual mechanism of birth. When they are older and do want to know, explain simply in your own words. If you feel you can't do this, tell your child you will read to him about it. Many excellent books on birth in animals and human beings are available, and your librarian can suggest several. Give your child truthful answers about the sex organs, too. Sometimes, it may be necessary to volunteer a little information, since children are not always able to make their curiosity, or concern, known to their par- ents. The fact that a boy has a penis, and a girl does not, often is a source of worry to both of them.

Children and thumb sucking reasons and prevention

Parents will, we think, do best if they let nature take its course, with just a little encouragement and guidance. Parents can, for example, make occasional suggestions about use of the potty when the child is really ready to understand what is meant, or remind a child that it is a good idea to go to the bathroom before he becomes so engrossed in something that he won't take the trouble.

 Toilet training should, we think, be avoided in the first year for all children and in the second year for most children. If you do insist upon trying early, you should be prepared for many failures; and when there are failures, you should be prepared to be nonchalant and willing to start over again. Doctors often encounter parents who are so upset about soiled diapers that it seems almost necessary to encourage them to go ahead and try premature toilet training.

 But this is regretful because the child is being required to assume a burden the parents should be willing to carry. Talk the matter of toilet training over with your doctor. If he sees that you appreciate the value of being in no rush, he will undoubtedly encourage you to wait until the child is ready. Thumb sucking Almost all children suck their thumbs at times-when they are going to sleep or are frightened or lonely. Babies also suck their thumbs or fingers when hungry and when teething. The best way to handle thumb- sucking is to regard it as a harmless way for a child to obtain satisfaction or reassurance-s-and to forget about it. If your child seems to thumb suck excessively, don't immediately worry about his face being distorted or his teeth injured. 

These things almost never happen if sucking stops before the second teeth appear. But do think about possible reasons why he requires this kind of satisfaction. Often your doctor can help you discover them. Usually thumb sucking indicates that a child is, in some way, deprived of all the affection he wants or that he needs the solace of his thumb in situations that make him feel nervous and tense.

Babies are less likely to suck their thumbs very much if they are breast-fed (which requires harder sucking than bottle feeding), if they are bottle-fed and the holes in the nipples are not too large, if they are allowed to drink their fill, and if they are allowed to progress from breast to bottle to cup at their own speed. Older children who still suck their thumbs do so out of needs other than an urge to suck. They may suck when bored, tired, very sleepy, or when they have been scolded, or are lonely or tense. Usually, children stop thumb sucking by the age of four or five. If your child is older and you are fairly certain that the habit is simply lingering, you can generally find a way to help the child give it up.