Article: TURN TO RULES OF THUMB TO STOP WIDESPREAD KIDS' HABIT BY LISA GUTIERREZ KNIGHT RIDDER.(LIFE-FAMILY)

That giant sucking sound heard 'round the world recently as Sen. John Edwards met the media with running mate John Kerry? It was 4-year-old Jack Edwards, front-and-center in his dad's photo op, sucking his thumb.

That's cute for now, but it might not be so charming in, oh, say a year, when he goes off to school. Should your dad be vice president, Democrat or Republican, ``the editorial cartoonists will have a field day with it,'' says Lenexa, Kan., dentist Kelly Bridenstine.

And yet thumb-sucking is normal for kids, whatever their political affiliation. Most generally stop between ages 2 and 4, according to the American Dental Association. So even ...

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