Thumb Sucking

[belle22]

How can I get my DD4 to stop sucking her thumb? Any ideas?

 

[dislvr74]

Does your DD go to daycare or preschool? My DD was an avid thumbsucker and I noticed that the more she was around other kids at daycare, the less she sucked her thumb. When she went from a private home daycare to a daycare center (more like a preschool) at age 3, she started to suck her thumb only when she was doing quiet activities and sleeping. Later, it was only when she was sleeping, and then, not at all. Honestly, we just didn't make a big deal about it. I knew she wouldn't go to college sucking her thumb!

That said, my sister had to go into therapy when she was 8 or 9 because she was still sucking her thumb constantly. I think her case was a little unusual. Her counselor suggested reward charts, the yucky stuff you paint on that makes fingernails taste bad, and adopting other comforting things (like a stuffed animal at bedtime).

 

[mickeylove2]

My DD is 6 and she STILL sucks her thumb. ALL THE TIME!!! It drives me insane! When she was younger the dr. said don't worry, when she starts school she will stop because the other kids will notice and tease her into stopping. Well she has been in public school since she was 3 (pre-school, pre-k, k and going into 1st) She hasn't slowed down at all. We have tried EVERYTHING, no bite polish, getting manicures with the stipulation that you can't suck your painted thumbs because it'll take the pretties off, yeah didn't work, I bribed, threatened, begged, we put bandaids on, we did gloves, heck, I even taped her thumbs to her hands while she slept. I'm about to throw in the towel, I keep telling her when her teeth look bad, I'm not paying for braces! The thing that really gets to me is that it really doesn't bother her to be the only 1 in her circle that sucks a thumb. People bring it up and tell her she's a big girl now and only babies suck their thumbs, she just shrugs her shoulders.

 

[WDWorBUST]

I would suggest the thumb guards from one step ahead. DD is 5 and her thumb sucking really started messing with her teeth (fortunately still baby teeth). The thumb guards are about $80 but well worth it. DD had completely stopped sucking her thumb in 3 weeks (she was an only when she was tired thumb sucker).....however the last 2 or 3 weeks we have caught her with her thumb in her mouth in her sleep so we started using the guards again. She thought she was ready at 3 weeks and SHE was.....it's that darn in your sleep stage that is getting her. So if your DD sucks her thumb in her sleep I would definitely recommend using the guards for at least 4 full weeks regardless of how she is doing.

 

[dyna]

Yeah I had drs an dentist tell me mine would stop at school age too. NOPE sucking thumb was worth all the teasing. FINALLY at age 18 she stopped. Believe me for years only thing I wanted to go was chop her thumbs off.

We tried everything over the years rewards, the nail biting stuff, hot pepper juice, taking away privilages etc nothing worked till DD herself decided it was time. Beyond age 8 we did make DD go to her room to suck thumb.

BTW when DD was born her thumb was in her mouth already had a callus on it from thumb sucking.

 

[WDWorBUST]

I must say that DD WANTED to quit sucking her thumb, she just needed a little help. I would think the thumb guards would work even if the desire to quit isn't there, though. It would probably require longer use.

 

[mykidslovesdisney]

My dd6 is still sucking her 2 fingers-- pointer and middle finger. She constantly has them in her mouth. Like pp said the drs said they would stop by the time they get to school. She went to prek and k, she does not suck them at school but the moment she is home in they go. She is also stuck to her baby blanket-- she likes how soft it feels on her face. She is getting both
bottom front teeth in and I soo scared they are going to be pushed in from her sucking her fingers. We and the Pedi has talked to her about not sucking them. I truely believe it is a comfort thing. I started to put bandaids on them to keep her from sucking-- it worked about 1/2 a day yesterday but she kept saying they fell off. We have restricted her blanket to her room during the day- can't have it unless she is sleeping. Another thing she has started to do is hit herself w/ the blanket. I told her to stop and she said it felt good We have already talked about her needing braces bc of the sucking. While I am happy that she does not do it at school I can not get her to stop at home. I am going to try medical tape tomorrow w/ her ( thinking it won't fall off so easily). She says that she can't stop but honestly she never really tried to stop. She never napped during K bc I think she would be worried to start sucking her fingers if she fell asleep. I thought about finding another blanket and cutting it up into squares and letting her hold that vs sucking her fingers but worried it will start another addiction.

Oh the pedi suggested if she is still sucking fingers we can go to a hyptonisis ( know I spelt that wrong). We might give it a shot-- though I worry it will disrupt her comforting issues.

Only 1 princess for me

I would love any suggestions.

 

[dwfanatic]

My sister still sucks her thumb...and she is 24 !!! I guess she just does it at night, though.

My DS6 has his security blanket...although it NEVER leaves the house. This morning I asked him if he was going to take it with him when he gets married and he said yes...we also discussed about a month ago about how he wantes in made into a coat when he gets bigger ( I mean like 18 yrs old bigger).

Sorry I have no suggestions for you to STOP the thumb sucking, but I just wanted to let you know you are not alone with a child that has a comfort/security addiction.

 

[WDWorBUST]

My dd6 is still sucking her 2 fingers-- pointer and middle finger. She constantly has them in her mouth. Like pp said the drs said they would stop by the time they get to school. She went to prek and k, she does not suck them at school but the moment she is home in they go. She is also stuck to her baby blanket-- she likes how soft it feels on her face. She is getting both
bottom front teeth in and I soo scared they are going to be pushed in from her sucking her fingers. We and the Pedi has talked to her about not sucking them. I truely believe it is a comfort thing. I started to put bandaids on them to keep her from sucking-- it worked about 1/2 a day yesterday but she kept saying they fell off. We have restricted her blanket to her room during the day- can't have it unless she is sleeping. Another thing she has started to do is hit herself w/ the blanket. I told her to stop and she said it felt good We have already talked about her needing braces bc of the sucking. While I am happy that she does not do it at school I can not get her to stop at home. I am going to try medical tape tomorrow w/ her ( thinking it won't fall off so easily). She says that she can't stop but honestly she never really tried to stop. She never napped during K bc I think she would be worried to start sucking her fingers if she fell asleep. I thought about finding another blanket and cutting it up into squares and letting her hold that vs sucking her fingers but worried it will start another addiction.

Oh the pedi suggested if she is still sucking fingers we can go to a hyptonisis ( know I spelt that wrong). We might give it a shot-- though I worry it will disrupt her comforting issues.

Only 1 princess for me

I would love any suggestions.

One Step Ahead also has finger guards to help them quit......just fyi.

 

[Erica09M]

My mom always tells the story about my oldest sister sucking her tumb/fingers. My mom put a bandaid on my sister's thumb to try to stop her from sucking on it. Worked, she didn't suck her thumb... but she moved to the index finger LOL Eventually my mom had bandaids on all of my sister's fingers and my sister finally gave up trying to suck on them.

That was probably no help for you, but who knows!

 

[Tam1067]

Two of my three kids were thumb suckers. Both stopped during the first half of kindergarten. I never bothered them, but I did tell them periodically that when they were old enough, they'd stop because big kids don't suck their thumbs. And both kids stopped entirely on their own. So my advice--just let her decide when she's ready.

 

[Tam1067]

Two of my three kids were thumb suckers. Both stopped during the first half of kindergarten. I never bothered them, but I did tell them periodically that when they were old enough, they'd stop because big kids don't suck their thumbs. And both kids stopped entirely on their own. So my advice--just let her decide when she's ready.

 

[Kat77]

I would suggest the thumb guards from one step ahead. DD is 5 and her thumb sucking really started messing with her teeth (fortunately still baby teeth). The thumb guards are about $80 but well worth it. DD had completely stopped sucking her thumb in 3 weeks (she was an only when she was tired thumb sucker).....however the last 2 or 3 weeks we have caught her with her thumb in her mouth in her sleep so we started using the guards again. She thought she was ready at 3 weeks and SHE was.....it's that darn in your sleep stage that is getting her. So if your DD sucks her thumb in her sleep I would definitely recommend using the guards for at least 4 full weeks regardless of how she is doing.

My DD sucked her thumb at night long after giving up the daytime sucking also. I eventually "bought" some special jammies to help but really I just sewed closed the sleeve ends on large blanket-sleeper type jammies! It broke the habit after some ungratifying slobbery sleeve nights.

 

[WantToGoNow]

I'm glad my kids all preferred the pacifier - when it was time to get rid of them, I just threw them away. My ds8 has a friend who just had his 10th birthday a few weeks ago - he still sucks his thumb all the time. All of the boys make fun of him but he just doesn't care. I have no suggestions since I haven't been through it but just want to wish you good luck.

 

[*pixie*dust*]

My son has always sucked his thumb. At 20 months old (when he arrived) he actually had a raised callous from it. Gradually it has gotten less and less. Now at 4 he only does it just before he falls asleep for if he isn't feeling well. I didn't make a big deal of it and he has been weaning himself of it.

 

[nrod]

I second the band aids. My neighbor tried that with her daughter and while she hasn't stopped completely, she has cut back A LOT. Another trick, another friend is making her son wash his hands every time she sees him with his thumb in his mouth. She's hoping the aggrivation of having to stop what he's doing and washing his hands will make him stop. Good luck - it's a tough habit to break!

 

[chellewashere]

I second the band aids. My neighbor tried that with her daughter and while she hasn't stopped completely, she has cut back A LOT. Another trick, another friend is making her son wash his hands every time she sees him with his thumb in his mouth. She's hoping the aggrivation of having to stop what he's doing and washing his hands will make him stop. Good luck - it's a tough habit to break!

I wish that would work my DD has OCD loves to wash her hands I do have to try the bandaid trick though tomorrow.
Great to see all the tips

 

[SalandJeff]

My dd is 5 1/2 and also sucks her 2 fingers (pointer & index). It is a self-soothing thing. She does it when she is tired. We take her to a pediatric dentist and he said so far it is not affecting her teeth. He advised that we don't bug her about it, because that won't make her stop. He said that at a some point if she does not stop, we may need to get the mouth guard.

Sometimes when I go in to check on her at night, she is sleeping with the 2 fingers in her mouth - he suggested we gently take them out if she is doing this. Maybe you can try this at night.

 

[katyjeka]

My brother sucked his thumb for years. My parents were beside themselves, and the doctors offered little help. Well he is now 36, happily married father of 2! I asked him a few years ago how he stopped and he didnt even know. He has always had the most beautiful, straight teeth, no braces needed, so much for the theory thumb sucking hurts teeth. My point, my parents worried for years and tried everything under the sun, for nothing. Based on their experience, if any of my children were thumb suckers I would not worry about it.

 

[monorailsilver]

My oldest started sucking her thumb at about age 1. It was shortly after I stopped nursing her.

I finally figured out that it was from her 'dolly's' bow that she would rub so she was only allowed that at night as she would sit with Dolly & suck that thumb. Then I found out she would rub her jammies bow so off the bows came.

I finally bribed her when she was around 3 with a new train for her Thomas set. I did work & she stopped but then I caught her again & she did finally stop.

I also used Thum & put it on both her thumbs, not just the nail.