Thumb vs. Pacifier

I went through the whole debate in my head of whether it was better for Aaron to use a pacifier or suck his thumb. Initially I wasn't keen on using a pacifier, but when he started using me as a pacifier and he wasn't yet able to suck his thumb, I started to use the plug. I hadn't realized until his pediatrician told us, but he needs to suck more than he needs to eat, so I'd rather he suck on a pacifier than me.

Since he's been using the pacifier, I thought the debate was settled and I was just hoping he would grow out of using the pacifier when he is fairly young so we wouldn't have a battle over it when he is older. I try to give him the pacifier only when he is tired and close to going down for a nap or when we are out in the stroller, I give him one to keep him calm. But lately, he has started spitting out his pacifier and then putting his left hand into his mouth. Well, not his whole hand, but at first it was his thumb and fore finger. Now he is getting more adept at just getting the thumb in there. And then he chews on it. Then he takes his hand out and cries.

What I've realized is that he is ultimately going to decide the debate. He seems determined to learn how to suck his thumb. He actively spits out the plug to suck on his hand. His father was an avid thumb sucker so maybe it is genetic. At nearly 4 months, I'm not going to use negative reinforcement to discourage thumb sucking. I've tried putting the plug back in when he spits it out, but that doesn't seem to work. Although it will be harder to ween him from thumb sucking than a pacifier, at least if he figures out the thumb sucking business, he'll be able to self soothe when he wakes up instead of crying until we put the pacifier back in his mouth.

And for those of you who may be worried about it, Thom sucked his thumb until he was old enough to remember having done it, and there was no lasting effect on his teeth.