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Fast Fact
Children who suck their thumbs are able to begin at an early age to meet their own need for sucking. These children fall asleep more easily, are able to put themselves back to sleep at night more easily, and sleep through the night much earlier than infants who do not suck their thumbs.
A study by Dr. T. Berry Brazelton indicates that as many as 94% have finished with sucking their thumbs by their first birthdays.
According to the American Dental Association, thumb sucking does not cause permanent problems with the teeth or jaw line, unless it is continued beyond four to five years of age.
Many studies have looked at the number of children who continue to suck their thumbs at this time. As it turns out, somewhere between 85% to 99% of children have finished thumb sucking spontaneously before this period (the numbers vary depending on the study).
When investigators looked at this group of late thumb-suckers for common traits, they found that they had one thing in common that distinguished them from other children -- a prolonged history of a strong battle with thumb sucking at an earlier age. It is striking that many well-meaning parents have actually encouraged this behavior by trying to forcibly take the thumb out of their children's mouths.
My son was not circumcised. He's now 2 1/2 years old, and the foreskin is still very tight and will not go back. I was told not to pull it back when he was a baby as it would loosen on its own by the time he's 2 - 3 years old. But it isn't loosening at all. Is this normal? Should I be concerned about it?
Many moms share your concern. In uncircumcised boys, the foreskin begins firmly attached to the glans, but over time, the attachments are broken (mostly by the stretching resulting from repeated normal erections). In most boys, the foreskin is loose and mobile by age 2, but this normal process can sometimes take five or more years. Even if you know other boys your son's age whose foreskin is already loose, you can be reassured that your son's timetable is completely normal. It is not a reason for concern. When the foreskin has separated from the glans, the foreskin should retract quite easily. Trying to pull back the foreskin before it is really ready is unnecessary. Beyond that, it can lead to pain, scarring and adhesions.
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