# Any thumbsuckers around? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 12, 2003, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-thumbsuckers-around/187860 "2003-07-12T00:41:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![look\_hergo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85e7bf/32.png) [@look\_hergo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_hergo)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-thumbsuckers-around/187860/21 "2004-01-30T05:30:07Z")
I never sucked my thumb, but I crooked my right forefinger and sucked that until I was probably seven or eight years old. I also had my “baa”, a favorite blanket I slept with well into my teens. I still have it, though it’s packed away. (I pulled it out once to see if it still was as wonderful as I remembered. Yes, it is. So soft…) Now I have a stuffed kangaroo that I sleep with. In college I dislocated my shoulder and the 'roo was just the right wedgy shape to prop under my hurting arm. Also, the pocket was good for keeping fresh condoms in. ---
**Author:** ![gooti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eb8c5e/32.png) [@gooti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gooti)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-thumbsuckers-around/187860/22 "2004-01-30T05:43:52Z")
I kept my bottle until I was in 2nd grade (I skipped first grade) and I sucked my thumb to about 13. Since then I occasionally sucked my thumb, on and off, until I was 21 or so. I never had a “binkie” (didn’t know what a “binkie” was until I stared dating my yankee husabnd…we call them “pacifiers” down here). My 12-years older brother was the one who broke me of the bottle habit. When I was in kindergarten, one night my brother just decided to mess with me and take away my bottle. I was about six at the time so my parents didn’t really raise a fuss when he snatched my bottle out of my mouth and threw it into the trash in the kitchen. Yeah, I cried for about a month until I discovered the sweet thumb nectar. That kept me happy until I got braces. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-thumbsuckers-around/187860/23 "2004-01-30T12:18:41Z")
I sucked my thumb until I was about 8. At that point I was only doing it on a night. I decided I wanted to stop so started sleeping with my arms crossed. It worked and soon after I stopped sucking my thumb. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-thumbsuckers-around/187860/24 "2004-01-30T13:45:26Z")
I was a thumbsucker until I was around 13, with occasional thumbsucking until I went off to college. That’s the point I absolutely made myself quit. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that I occasionally suck it in my sleep, but never consciously. I never had any problems from it - no overbite or the like. My brother had a serious overbite and he was a thumbsucker as well. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2004, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-thumbsuckers-around/187860/25 "2004-01-30T14:30:17Z")
I suck other people’s thumbs when I’m sleeping. Is that a bad thing? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lazurm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@lazurm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazurm)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-thumbsuckers-around/187860/26 "2014-01-08T01:16:08Z")
Found at: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/7879/45940263364_520c30f5b1.jpg "thomas.pouce") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/7819658@N05/with/11821717926) > [@Potter](#): > > Few people know this about me: I was a thumbsucker until around the age of 11 when a dental retainer made my thumb not ‘fit right’, so I stopped. After years of my mother nagging me that it would ruin my teeth, my orthodontist said it had probably actually helped with my bite. When I was tiny and deeply thumb-addicted, my right thumb was even a slightly different shape to the other. If I owied it and had to wear a bandaid and so not suck, I was inconsolable (“No!! The other one doesn’t taste right!” _whine_) > > These days, if I’m overtired or stressed or can’t sleep, very occasionally I’ll still suck my thumb. I’m a thirty year old man so it feels pretty stupid (and probably looks even worse) but it’s oddly comforting. > > I would like to point out that it is only _very_ occasionally that I still do this… > > So, anyone else either with a history of it, or still having the occasional furtive suck when no-one’s looking?\* > > \*Yes, I am still talking about thumbs. ---
**Author:** ![compositejoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/compositejoe/32/7232_2.png) [@compositejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/compositejoe)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2014, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-thumbsuckers-around/187860/27 "2014-01-08T01:50:30Z")
I’m still a goddamn proud thumb sucker. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-thumbsuckers-around/187860.md?page=1)