# Adult thumb suckers **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 21, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-thumb-suckers/156622 "2003-02-21T20:53:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![big\_alex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@big\_alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/big_alex)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-thumb-suckers/156622/1 "2003-02-21T20:53:26Z")
Are there any other thumb suckers out there apart from me? I’ve always sucked my thumb, and I’ve never managed to get rid off the habit. I don’t want to. I mainly do it when I’m tired, stressed or watching tv/reading. Anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-thumb-suckers/156622/2 "2003-02-21T21:48:54Z")
I thought the “As an adult, have you ever crapped your pants?” thread took guts to create. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2003, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-thumb-suckers/156622/3 "2003-02-22T01:15:15Z")
I mainly suck on the knuckle of the thumb–although I occasionally slip the tip of my thumb into my mouth, too–for me, it’s an extension of my nailbiting habit. Since I’ve been trying to keep my nails looking more neat, I’ve slowly been compensating more and more by sucking and teething lightly on the thumb instead. Maybe one day, I’ll grow out of it altogether. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![lazurm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@lazurm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazurm)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-thumb-suckers/156622/4 "2012-05-14T19:21:24Z")
I suck my thumb and I’m an adult. In my life I’ve seen more than 25 other adults that suck their thumb. > [@big\_alex](#): > > Are there any other thumb suckers out there apart from me? > I’ve always sucked my thumb, and I’ve never managed to get rid off the habit. I don’t want to. I mainly do it when I’m tired, stressed or watching tv/reading. > Anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-thumb-suckers/156622/5 "2012-05-14T19:41:42Z")
One of my sisters chews on her pinkie as she did as a child. She’s 57. I guess some habits are impossible to break. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-thumb-suckers/156622/6 "2012-05-14T20:40:37Z")
One time on a Metro train, we saw an adult with a binky in his mouth and no baby nearby. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-thumb-suckers/156622/7 "2012-05-14T21:22:31Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I thought the “As an adult, have you ever crapped your pants?” thread took guts to create. Just you wait for my “Ask the Premature Ejaculator with a Microphallus” thread. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-thumb-suckers/156622/8 "2012-05-15T00:34:09Z")
I made myself laugh 9 years after posting. Go, me! ZOMBIE ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-thumb-suckers/156622/9 "2012-05-15T00:55:18Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > One time on a Metro train, we saw an adult with a binky in his mouth and no baby nearby. He could have been on ecstasy. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-thumb-suckers/156622/10 "2012-05-15T16:39:13Z")
My sister, now 64, does still suck her thumb, according to her husband. She sucks her left thumb and twirls her hair with her right hand, just as she always used to do. In bed only, when falling asleep. No pacifier. ---
**Author:** ![lazurm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@lazurm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazurm)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-thumb-suckers/156622/11 "2017-12-26T18:56:29Z")
Did it affect her teeth in any way? > [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > My sister, now 64, does still suck her thumb, according to her husband. She sucks her left thumb and twirls her hair with her right hand, just as she always used to do. In bed only, when falling asleep. No pacifier. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-thumb-suckers/156622/12 "2017-12-27T07:06:31Z")
ISTM, when you are all grown up, there are so many more interesting things to suck on. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adult-thumb-suckers/156622/13 "2017-12-27T13:08:40Z")
(yes zombie, I know, move along) > [@lazurm](#): > > Did it affect her teeth in any way? I knew someone that sucked his thumb well into childhood. IIRC the last time I saw him he was probably 7 or 8 and still doing it. He had a pretty severe overbite. I can remember him being able to get his thumb into his mouth with his jaw closed.