View Single Post
Old 06-05-2006, 04:08 AM   #2 (permalink)
maleficent
Junkie
 
Moderator Emeritus
Location: Chicago
Doing a quick google on some mental health sites, thumb sucking as well as aggressive behavior (which you've mentioned in a previous post) could be a response to a disruption of world, which had previously been secure. (kids notice way more than people think...) Your divorce could possibly be that disruption.

Abandonment is a major fear in this age group, and children who have lost family members and even pets or toys will need special reassurance.

Googling further (using the terms "aggressive behavior", "Thumb sucking" sleep and children brought up this:
http://www.unm.edu/~shc1/sexual-abuse.html
Quote:
Watch for extreme symptoms or a combination of the following: a change in school performance such as an inability to concentrate; a drop in grades or skipping school; a change in personality such as the development of insecurities and needing more reassurance; not wanting to be left alone; irritability or crankiness; a reluctance to go to a certain place or be with a certain person; a lack of trust; a sudden loss or increase in appetite; sleep disturbances; overly compliant behavior; aggressive behavior; exhibiting sexual knowledge beyond the usual for the child's age; inappropriate sexual play with peers, toys or themselves; signs of regressions like thumb-sucking, bedwetting, or acting like an infant; and signs of severe depressions such as withdrawal, sadness, listlessness and suicidal feelings.
Note the website also points out:
Quote:
These signs or symptoms do NOT mean for certain that a child has been sexually abused, but they do warrant concern and the need to get more information
Thumb sucking is perfectly normal activity (though dentists will tell you that pacifiers are preferred) children at that age require at least 12 hours of sleep, some need more, he might not just be getting enough sleep, the sleep problems could be related to a growth spurt that he could be going thru.

I would talk to his pediatrician listing all the symptoms as well as your living situation and see what he/she recommends.
__________________
Free your heart from hatred. Free your mind from worries. Live simply. Give more. Expect less.

Last edited by maleficent; 06-05-2006 at 10:23 AM..
maleficent is offline  
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360