Fairchild: First "Bad Habit" 



371 



Again it is conceivable that a child in the 

 intervals between suction might press his 

 thumb against the back of the front teeth 

 but here again there is no evidence of active 

 muscular effort. On the contrary the intervals 

 between the acts of suction are characterized 

 by relaxation of the whole muscular system, 

 the child tending to fall asleep and the thumb 

 tending to fall out of the mouth. 



Sucking the thumb is such an instinctive 

 action with very young children that it is 

 probable that most babies, if not all, indulge 

 in the habit during the first year of life. Some 

 people have protruding teeth in adult life and 

 if you examine their past history it is probable 

 that most of them sucked their thumbs in 

 infancy. Hence we are apt to jump to the 

 conclusion that the sucking of the thumb was 

 the cause of the protrusion of the teeth, in 

 spite of the fact that will be at once perceived 

 by those who know anything about atmospheric 

 pressure that the act of suction could not 

 possibly produce any such effect. 



The idea that suction could produce a 

 spreading action in the mouth is as ridiculous 

 as the very common notion that sucking the 

 thumb causes a child to become cross-eyed! 



The importance of being able to make 

 or break a habit at will was so drilled 

 into me by one of my great friends that 

 it has come to seem to me one of the 

 greatest things in life. When the first 

 baby came I determined that he should 

 have a fair start. He should not be 

 allowed to form any undesirable habit. 

 Almost immediately, or certainly when 

 he was only a week or two old, he got 

 his thumb into his mouth. Everybody 

 admitted that this was the beginning of 

 a bad habit. Some predicted that he 

 would make his front teeth ■ protrude 

 and spoil the shape of his mouth, others 

 knew he would ruin the looks of his 

 thumb, and others said that thumb- 

 sucking was connected with internal dis- 

 orders of a serious character. 



With the impression firmly implanted 

 in our minds that the forming of a bad 

 habit was the worst thing that could 

 happen to a baby, we begaii to try to 

 cure this one of sucking his thumb. We 

 tried cassia solution, but he enjoyed the 

 bitter taste. We put tiny mittens: on his 

 hands, and he either sucked them 

 until they were wet through or pulled 

 them off. We tied his arms, but he al- 

 ways struggled loose. We bought those 

 round aluminum hand balls which are 

 supposed to be a real cure, but he 



bumped his head with them and got 

 into almost hysterical fits of temper. 



The weeks stretched into months 

 and we did not give up the fight. As 

 the months became years we tried 

 bribery and corruption. We threatened 

 and we punished. When the second 

 child came she followed in her brother's 

 footsteps, with variations, and when 

 the third baby arrived she embroidered 

 the thumb-sucking habit by twisting 

 her night dress or sheet around her 

 third finger. By this time we began 

 to realize that we were confronted by 

 something which was not so simple as 

 one of the habits of later life, and we 

 finally gave up. There seemed to be 

 something almost instinctive in the 

 way this habit resisted our treatment, 

 and we began to suspect a hereditary 

 character in it. 



Among some old photographs of the 

 children's mother (perhaps luckily for 

 the father none of his own baby photo- 

 graphs were on hand) we came across 

 one in which she was shown sucking 

 her thumb. By a curious coincidence 

 we had had one taken of our eldest 

 child at about the same age and in the 

 same attitude without knowing of the 

 existence of the mother's photograph. 

 And while we were discussing this, it 

 came up in conversation that the 

 mother's mother had also sucked her 

 thumb, and later the daguerreotype 

 evidence of this was found. ^ 



The evidence seems strong to his 

 parents that it was natural for the boy 

 to suck his thumb and did not come 

 from sheer wilfulness on his part. 



If this is indeed an inherited instinct 

 and not a personally acquired habit, 

 the breaking of it may be a long and 

 difficult task, and we should be very 

 sure that it is indeed injurious before 

 we waste our time and worry our poor 

 little babies trying to do so. 



What a weight would be lifted from 

 the shoulders of thousands of young 

 parents could they with clear consci- 

 ences let their babies suck their thumbs 

 in peace ! 



1 The photographs here published^ with the permission of all three babies, it is under- 

 stood, are of Mabel G. Hubbard (Mrs. Alexander Graham Bell), Marian Hubbard Bell. (Mrs. 

 David Fairchild), and Graham Bell Fairchild; Each of these three babies has its right^thumb 

 in its mouth. .j c. 



