The Repercussions of Thumb Sucking

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Guests

Welcome this week’s guest blogger Andrea Van Ness, mompreneur and founder of Thumbuddy To Love™

Teeth malformations:
According to the American Dental Association, prolonged thumb-sucking can cause a child to develop dental problems. Thumb-sucking can cause a child’s teeth to become improperly aligned (malocclusion) or push the teeth outward, sometimes malforming the roof (upper palate) of the mouth. Malocclusion usually corrects itself when the child stops thumb-sucking. But the longer thumb-sucking continues, the more likely it is that orthodontic treatment will be needed to correct any resulting dental problems.

Although thumb sucking is a normal habit in infants, it causes serious teeth problems if it continues long after the eruption of permanent teeth. The problem gets more serious if it continues after the age of four or five.

Speech problems and other problems:
A child may also develop speech problems, including mispronouncing Ts and Ds, lisping, and thrusting out the tongue when talking.

Other undesirable effects can include problems with jaw movements, narrowing of the cheek bones due to the contractions of the cheek muscles, ulcerations beneath the tongue, and root resorption. More commonly, the thumb may develop calluses or an irritant eczema, and the digit itself may become deformed.

Germs spreading:
Another reason you want your child to break the thumb sucking habit sooner than later is that is easy to spread germs on a wet thumb or finger. With the onset of flu season and other bacteria living in our world, it is good to keep hands washed and dry. Thumb sucking can easily spread germs from counters and floors or any surface the child has touched with their thumb/finger and then put to their mouth.

Try and keep your child’s thumb as dry as possible so as to lessen the chances of infections or other bad bacteria. Talk to your child how germs are spread and how thumb sucking can spread germs. With the flu season approaching and swine flu getting lots of attention, stopping thumb sucking can be a good thing and may lessen the spread of germs through stopping the thumb sucking habit.

Social challenges:
According to Steven Parker, Barry S. Zuckerman, and Marilyn Augustyn who wrote Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics: A Handbook for Primary Care, “thumb sucking can contribute to impaired parental and peer relationships. It is often viewed as immature and socially undesirable. Parents and peers may criticize, tease, or punish a child for engaging in thumb sucking. These reactions may in turn, adversely affect a child’s self esteem.”

Treatment:
Usually, treatment can be done at home and includes parents setting rules and providing distractions. It may be helpful to limit the times and places that your child is allowed to suck his or her thumb and to put away blankets or other item your child associates with thumb-sucking. Offering praise and rewards for not thumb-sucking may also help your child break the habit.

Parents usually start to worry too early, about how to stop thumb sucking habit of their children. It is advised that you do not try to make a child to stop thumb sucking before the age of three (unless you notice a problem to teeth due to vigorous thumb sucking) because it might have the opposite results. Here are some tips:

  • Keep the child’s hands occupied with a toy, puzzle or other activity.
  • Carefully remove your child’s thumb from his or her mouth during sleep.  
  • Give the example of his friends that have managed to stop thumb sucking.  
  • Don’t put the child in a state of anxiety or fear. If the child has any emotional problems, or is under stress and needs comforting, you may need to resolve those issues first before your child can successfully stop thumb-sucking.  
  • Talk about the ‘bad’ germs that are on our hands and how the child puts them in his or her mouth while thumb sucking.  
  • Avoid punishing or shaming the child.  
  • Reward the child for not thumb sucking for a progressively increasing time period.  
  • Ask the advice of a pediatric dentist. He will explain to your kid what will happen to the teeth if the child does not stop sucking its thumb.
  • Introduce Thumbuddy To Love® to your child

Thumbuddy To Love® addresses all of the above issues:

1. Thumbuddy To Love keeps a child occupied.
2. Thumbuddy can be worn to bed so it encourages them not to suck.
3. Thumbuddy To Love teaches the importance of stopping thumb sucking and growing up to be a big girl or boy.
4. Thumbuddy To Love is a positive teaching tool for parents, teachers and children.
5. Thumbuddy To Love lessons the anxiety by making it fun to stop.
6. Thumbuddy To Love books give the example of friends and heroes who have stopped.
7. Thumbuddy To Love avoids shaming or punishing a child by not using thumb guards or thumb polish which has chemicals in it.
8. Thumbuddy To Love rewards a child with a success calendar in the back of the book and keeps them motivated and positive so that they can quit.
9. Thumbuddy To Love is recommended by Dentists and Pediatricians.
10. Thumbuddy To Love received the prestigious Mom’s Choice Award. You can order Thumbuddy To Love at thumbuddytolove.com or on Amazon.

Andrea Van Ness

Andrea Wulfing Van Ness founded Thumbuddy To Love™ in Boulder, Colorado because she noticed the lack of positive teaching tools to help stop thumb sucking without the use of thumb guards or awful tasting nail polish (Malava Stop) which is full of chemicals. She wanted to help kids with their thumb sucking problem before they have to get braces to save their teeth.

 

We have a Thumbuddy set to give away to one lucky reader. Your choice of Fireman Fred, Ballerina Sue or The Binky Fairy (for pacifier suckers) thumb puppet and illustrated story book with a success chart to help stop thumb sucking. To enter, simply leave a comment below telling us your thoughts on the Thumbuddies.

For bonus entries:

Please be sure to leave a separate comment below for each of your bonus entries.

  • Giveaway is open to US and Canada
  • Winner will be drawn at random
  • Winner can choose one of the Thumbuddy crew: Fireman Fred, Ballerina Sue or The Binky Fairy
  • Giveaway closes February 10th, 2012

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Rosebud, B-Dawg, Budderball, Buddha & Mudbud Meet Babi & Cammy

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Guests

Treasure Buddies giveawayIf your kids love the Air Buddies crew they’ll be super excited to hear that Disney’s irresistible talking puppies are back on Jan 31st in an all-new movie that takes them halfway across the world to the ruins of ancient Egypt. With the help of some exotic new friends, this epic adventure Treasure Buddies is pure Buddy fun. Following in the pawsteps of Air Buddies, Space Buddies and Snow Buddies, Treasure Buddies is the pups’ 6th action-packed adventure.

This latest story is told from the perspective of the Buddies’ newest friend, a mischievous Egyptian monkey named Babi. In a race against a devious cat, the Buddies and their new friends, Babi and a baby camel called Cammy, must avoid booby traps, solve puzzles and explore a mysterious tomb – all in search of the greatest treasure known to animalkind: the lost necklace of Cleocatra.

We’ve got 3 Treasure Buddies Combo Packs (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo)RRP $32.99 to give away courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Canada.

To enter, simply tell us in a comment below the name of one of the Buddies crew.

For bonus entries:

Please be sure to leave a separate comment below for each of your bonus entries.

  • Giveaway is open to Canadian residents only (excluding Quebec)
  • 3 winners will be drawn at random
  • Giveaway closes Friday February 3rd, 2012

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Placenta Smoothie Anyone?

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Lorraine

I didn’t give a second thought to my poor old placenta, either during my pregnancies or after the births. Sure they’re clever and all that, but they’re ugly, ‘offal’ some might say. I never saw them and didn’t have any desire to. Your average mom would agree with me. Some, less squeamish moms are a little more curious as to the makeup of the wondrous organ that nourished their baby for 9 months. And there are those that go one step further and want to celebrate the placenta; some even calling themselves ‘placenta enthusiasts’. After watching the Channel4 documentary ‘How to be a Good Mother with Sharon Horgan’ I was driven to look into this further. You might be surprised with how many ways there are to celebrate the placenta. Here are a few in increasing order of ickiness (IMHO).

You could bury it. Some families choose to commemorate the birth and celebrate the placenta by burying it beside an existing tree or under a new tree or plant. It fertilizes the tree making a symbol of life. Quite tasteful and as a plus point once it’s buried you can’t see the placenta.
This is a popular custom in many African cultures. Navajo Indians bury the placenta within the sacred four corners of the tribe’s reservation as a binder to ancestral land and people. The Navajos also bury objects with it to signify the profession they hope the child will pursue.

You could burn it. After I was born at home it took my dad by surprise when the midwife presented him with a package and said “you’ll need to burn this in the garden”. The midwife didn’t want it – by the end of a busy day she’d be ferrying around a carful of placentas and trailing a string of excited dogs in her wake. Not being prepared, it took my dad quite some time searching out enough wood to make a reasonable bonfire. After my brother was born 5 years later knowing ‘What to Expect’ he had his fire all prepared ahead of time.
In some countries, South America and Korea for example the placenta is burned after birth to neutralize it. The ashes can be kept and used as medicine for the child when it is ill.

Before you bury/burn it you could embark upon a few placenta art projects. Placenta printTry a placenta print (prettier than you might think for a picture drawn in blood) or make a charm out of the plaited cord in the shape of a heart and put it in your window – should scare away the door-to-door salesmen, and anyone else for that matter.
In many cultures it is a popular custom to keep the umbilical cord as a kind of good luck charm to protect the child. In India and Mexico, the cord is placed around the child’s neck, while in Turkey it is kept in the house. Among Plains Indians, an infant’s dried umbilical cord is placed in a small beaded pouch and when hung from the headboard of the cradle becomes the baby’s first toy.

You could eat it. Eating the placenta is known as placentophagy. Many animals eat their placenta to get nutrition – but when people are already well-nourished, there is no benefit say medical experts. However, many believe that because the organ is rich in minerals and vitamins, particularly B6, it has various health benefits to the postpartum mom including reduced risk of post-natal depression and reduced haemorrhaging.
There are many ways to prepare it. Basically, treat it like beef or kidney and the choice is yours: roast placenta, placenta lasagne and placenta bolognaise, placenta meatloaf, placenta Wellington, placenta jerky and (gag) placenta tartare, which preserves the greatest amount of the placenta’s nutritional content. However you cook it, be sure to remove the membranes and umbilical cord first! Famous placenta aficionado Tom Cruise says placenta “reminds him of veal, but with a springier texture like heart” and even knew which wines to serve with a placenta meal. For example with his favourite placenta meatloaf he suggests you serve smoky wines such as Barolo or Barbaresco. One wonders just how many placentas Tom has tucked into given that he only has one child.

You could have it made it into placenta capsules – it lasts longer. One placenta makes 90-140 capsules if you steam and dehydrate it then grind into a powder and encapsulate it. For thousands of years, traditional Chinese medicine has recognized the placenta as a life-giving force. The powder is sprinkled on meals as it is believed it will increase a person’s energy and vitality, increase milk supply, settle hormones after birth and avoid postpartum depression.

You could even drink it. Whizz placenta chunks, a few berries and a banana in the food processer and you have a delicious placenta smoothie. Oh yes, that does sound appetising!

You could have a placenta party. Now here’s where it gets complicated. While you, or your husband, may not have a problem eating your own meat, it takes a special group of friends to want to indulge – you might find some have recently turned vegetarian after you send out the invites. It’s something I only associate with Hannibal Lecter and the plane crash survivors in ‘Alive’.
Anyway, if you’re going for it…decorate your room with your placenta prints and hang your umbilical cord charm on the door to welcome your guests. For the best wine to accompany your placenta pâté starter and main course of placenta hotpot consult Mr. Cruise. Follow up the meal with a placenta smoothie dessert and send your guests on their way with a strand of dried umbilical cord as a keepsake.

So what did you do with your placenta? Would love to hear any interesting stories. Do share (just the story – keep your placenta jerky to yourselves).

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