Thumb sucker/super drooler

[Crayola kiddies]

Exactly my point ..... It's not a good habit ! If parents only knew how much braces cost ..... My two oldest have had them and not because if thumb/soother sucking just bad (teeth) genes.....and it's cost me ten grand for the two of them ..... I hope the next three fair better in the teeth dept.

[mom-in-alberta]

This can be a very divided issue as many parents see absolutely nothing wrong with thumb sucking or finger sucking.
My personal school of thought is; "only food goes in our mouths". When a little one is teething, of course, they need the relief of chomping on something. But I have discouraged all my kids from having their thumb or fingers in their mouth for comfort.
One of my best friends endured years upon years of braces/retainers, at a cost of thousands of dollars to her folks, because she sucked her thumb for so long and so often it pushed her front teeth out all weirdly. And another friend was recently told that she needs to get her daughter to stop putting her fingers in her mouth all the time, because it's changing the shape of her jaw.
It's a hard habit to break if you are working alone. I had a little guy who was TERRIBLE for putting things in his mouth. I finally managed to get him to stop that, for the most part. He was also a thumb sucker (I think he had "sensory" issues, but that's another topic). I didn't encourage it. It was not just at nap time or if he was chillin' on the couch, it was always. And I find it yucky that he would suck his thumb until it was all wrinkly and wet, then touch things. So after quite a while of saying "No thumbs in the mouth at Miss L's house" and physically removing his hand, usually giving him something else to do/hold onto, I eventually just had to say "W... no thumb!" and he would take it out.
But I know that mom thought it was cute. And I've seen his baby pics, he was sucking his thumb in most of them. He had a habit of sucking on the one hand, and hanging onto his ear with the other. So much so that his ear was getting all floppy on the one side. What can you do?
I believe it is Reggio's suggestion for kids that keep chewing/mouthing things to attach a specific toy/ring to them and THAT is what they can put into the mouth? I like it, and if I ever get another oral-obsessed kid, I will be trying that!! I am not a big fan of soothers, etc for older babies/toddlers, but I would rather that habit than thumbs or fingers. At least you can get rid of a "sucky"!!