Thumb-sucking, hair-twirling, etc...

Emma Rose sucks her thumb and twirls her hair, both at the same time. She looks very cute, but lately I've been getting a lot of comments from strangers (and not-so-strangers, meaning, my nosy know-it-all inlaws), along the lines of, "You should make her take that thumb out of her mouth" and "She's going to twirl her hair right off and have a bald patch if you don't stop her."

Did anyone else's monkey suck their thumb and twirl their hair, and live to tell the tale? Am I doomed to munted teeth and bald patches (as the naysayers seem to delight in telling me)?

I did it as a kid!

I don't have bald patches but did require braces once I got to high school to fix my teeth - they weren't deformed at all, just pulled further forward.

LOL doesnt the "inlaw" have a child that does anything bad you can retaliate with???

Im sure she will be ok...dont think the hair twirling will hurt...but the sucking may cause her to need braces later...but then some non suckers do also...

I twirl my hair and always have. I went thru a patch where I didn't get bald patches but broke my hair off so had a short patch. Mainly because I only twirled the same piece and good shampoo stopped this as my hair then wasn't so brittle.

LOL all right, if there is some genetic trend going on, I never sucked my thumb, and I have awful teeth -- braces for years, tooth decay, the works. I often joke that my teeth are composed more of fillings than of actual tooth! My brother, on the other hand, sucked his thumb until he was 5, and never needed braces, and didn't have a cavity until he was 22... So I suppose it depends on the individual. I am going to just wait and see with the thumb-sucking, then.

The hair-twirling is just a little twirl (looks like she's making the "loco" sign next to her head) so not a big deal yet -- no pulling or twisting. When I'm holding her, she'll twirl my hair too! I'll stop worrying about that too... Although Certain Evil Know-It-All IL, who is doing a certificate in psychology through a mail-order school, has been regaling me of stories of kids who hair-twirl and then develop trichotillomania! Delightful way to overreact!

You girls are great -- thanks for bringing me back down to earth. I was starting to get paranoid. Now I'm repeating the mantra: "She is only 1. Stop stressing about stupid things."

I wouldn't stress... thumb sucking is for comfort and hair twirling shows she's a deep thinker - let her go for it !

It's a tricky one Frances because trying to help wean kids often just makes them feel embarrassed about it (like in my case). I'd give it another year and see if it has settled. Hannah is 3 now, she used to suck her fingers and cuddle her doll all the time. Nowadays she really saves the sucking for sleep time. I guess it's all part of growing older.