Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I sucked my thumb until I was 10 and was constantly sick with ear infections and colds from putting my dirty thumb in my mouth while on the playground or whatever.
The benefit of a paci is that it can be taken away, finger sucking is a difficult habit to break and parents/nannies can't control when it happens. If the paci is taken away too soon (and IMO before 18 months is too soon) it will backfire and the kid will end up discovering the thumb.
My kids never used a pacifier and are not thumb suckers either. It depends on the child, no paci doesn't automatically mean thumb sucking.