Ideas for Stopping Thumb Sucking

My 6 and 9 year olds still suck their thumbs. If they want/need to do it, there is nothing that will stop them. At only 10 months old, it's still a comfort/sucking need. I would not stop him. He will stop when he is ready

My 9 almost 10 year old still sucks his thumb. We figured he has so much going on in his life that I didn't want to fight the thumb battle too. The doctor said he would quit when he was ready and the dentist said he would need braces whether he stopped or not.

Visit an orthodontist. They can place a device in his mouth that goes across the roof of his mouth that does not allow him to get suction when he puts his thumb in his mouth. It just looks like a zig zag wire and goes from one side to the other. Worked great on my daughter. Unfortunately, I can't remember what it was called.

I am not sure if you want him to stop because you don't like thumb sucking or if you are only worried about the cracked/red/raw.

If you want it to heal only, get some of the lansolin ointments, the stuff used for nipple cracking/healing when breastfeeding, it should help and is ok to ingest.

If you want him to stop, sorry I won't have any advice. I think thumb sucking is such a natural act and won't ever make my children stop (yes, I have a 5 year old that still sucks her finger at night only). This is a comfort thing for them, and I see no reason to take that away. We each have our own ways of dealing with things (mine is chocolate) and unless I am willing to give up that, then I should expect my child to give up something that soothes them. Especially at a young age.

I think most thumb sucking preventatives are going to be a choking hazard at this age. Someone may suggest hot sauce on his thumb, please don't do that, it can burn the skin as well. Soap under the thumb nail may deter him, out kiddo just suffered through it until he got all the soap off. And we tried two different nail biter polishes...non of them worked. And our pediatrician advised against them. He said that stuff can get into food, since toddler eat with their hands. And it could inadvertently cause kids to dislike foods because they taste it in everything.

I know my BIL suggested an ace bandage around the elbow (he is a dentist). The theory is that it makes it uncomfortable to hold the elbow at a bent angle. You have to be careful not to wrap it too tight. ANd I am not sure how you could secure it, so it won't be a choking hazard.

We tried seemingly everything with our thumb sucker. It didn't take us too long to learn that he was determined and we couldn't stop it. We weren't successful at breaking the habit until age 4. Good luck!!

Have you tried a pacifier? That is what I would try personally.

With some kids they just WILL NOT QUIT until they are good and ready.
During preschool they managed to get the kids to save the thumb for nap time and then at home it was ok for bedtime.
Some kids will suck thumbs at least at night till they are almost 7 years old.
At 10 months, his thumb is a source of self comfort.
Most babies have a need to suck on something.
You might be dealing with it for a few years but they don't go off to college still sucking their thumbs.
Relax, be patient and enjoy your baby.
They grow up very quickly!

my younger sucked his thumb until he was about 4. after the age of 2 it was only at night, though. yeah, he had a callous at the base of his thumb.
it went away.
i went through a brief period of painting it with that nasty-tasting stuff, but i got over it pretty quickly. i know some parents are death on thumb-sucking, but it just wasn't that big a deal to us.
khairete
S.

Give him a pacifier. If you take away his thumb you'll need to give him something to suck or he'll find the other hand and start on it.

He needs to suck.

They sell bitter nail polish. My parents tried it with me when I was younger...I just learned to be stubborn and it eventually wore off. It might work for you. :)
Does he have a regular times when he does it? Is there a stretch of time when you can dry it, put some triple anit-biotic and wrap it up for a while? It might help speed the healing up if you can get a hour or two of it out of his mouth.

Does he have a pacifier? They make several different shapes and sizes. Maybe you can get him to take one, then you can work on weaning him off it and eventually use it only for bed time.

Good luck!

I would find a substitute comfort for him... Pacifier, a blanket with the rubber edges, something like that.

If he won't take to a replacement for his thumb, maybe you could get some of those mittens with the strap that connects them so he can't get them off. (Or, get a pair of long socks that come up to his elbow, and sew a strap on them)

I was a thumb sucker, and then I got the chicken pox. While I do not know if the thumb sucking went away after them or not. But, my mom sewed socks to my long sleeves so my hand had no excape. This was done because I had a chicken pox blister on my hand and she did not want me to get them in my mouth.

This might help you to allow it to heal, but really you will be in for a sleepless night. (assuming that one day break will help).

I have a two year old, almost 3 year old who has a paci, we can not get it from her. We went 5 days back in April and I could not take the lack of sleep, and I gave it back to her. They just need to do it sometimes.

Good luck.

You might not like this, but it's what my dad did when I was still sucking my thumb at age 2. He bought a product called "Thum" and painted my thumb with it. He told me not to put it my mouth. He warned me that it would hurt. Of course, I forgot and put it in my mouth anyway. It burned and my mom washed my mouth out. My dad painted my thumb again. I never put that thumb back in my mouth again. That was it.

This would possibly work for your 3 1/2 year old. You can do it with the 10 month old too, but explaining it won't help. And of course, you'd have to wait until the thumb is healed...