The question
My son is about six months old. I took him in and he has the thumb-sucking habit, and I tried with him in several ways to leave it but Allah hasn't made it easy yet.
Any advice?
I know he's still small but I'm afraid the habit will continue with him as he grows and affect his teeth or his personality.
Our answer
May Allah preserve you and bless you. Many children stop sucking their thumb on their own — usually when they reach six or seven months, or between two and four years. Without intervention from the parents.
But a child who has stopped sucking his thumb may return to it during times of stress.
At your little one's age, thumb-sucking usually occurs when he feels tired, uncomfortable, bored, or trying to sleep. So first try to determine the cause of this behaviour. Meet his emotional needs by holding him, paying attention to him, treating him gently, talking with him, addressing him with eye contact, soothing him, and playing with him. The more the child feels safe, the less he needs to seek comfort in thumb-sucking.
I advise you to begin with him a tarbawi program that occupies his thinking, like the cards in our two-year-old curriculum. They can capture his attention. When you see him doing it constantly without stopping, speak to him — he understands you. Tell him not to do it, while gently pulling his hand away and speaking to him with kindness, and putting something for him to play with in his hand to occupy him, or a fruit or food he can eat that occupies him. Do this gently and softly, instilling safety in him.
May Allah grant you success in raising him and delight your eyes with him as an imam of the God-fearing.
Have a parenting question of your own? Contact us, or follow our Telegram channel: @estesharatjeel
