Thumb Sucking - Chesterfield, MO

S., My daughter sucked her thumb also. We tried the stuff you paint on her nail (Thumb- I think it's called) and she didn't mind it! Then we tried putting a band aid on it and using a sticker chart- she'd earn a sticker every morning that she kept the band aid on over night. She was done sucking by the end of the month!

S.,
Out of 4 kids, my daughter was the only one who sucked her thumb. I went thru the same thing. The best thing that worked for me is to remind her that it is going to make her teeth stick out when she is older. I would say, "Brett, you really need to work on not doing that if you want your teeth to be straight and pretty." She started getting older (6) and finally started getting embarrassed about it when she was caught. Mostly it was at night, or when she was really tired. It is hard, but don't make her feel like you are mad at her about it. Just try to explain how it will make her mouth look and hopefully she will start to feel funny about it. It is a hard habit to quit! Good luck
J.

There is this wonderful... actually awful stuff they paint on fingernails to get kids to stop biting their nails. I dont remember what its called but my mom made me use it as a kid and the stuff tastes AWFUL!!! Paint your daughter's nails with it and she wont have them in her mouth for long. I cant remember what its called but you can get it in the beauty section where all the nail care products are at any WalMart. Good luck!

My daughter sucked her thumb until she was 4 1/2, and my son just turned 3 and he still sucks his thumb. They both were always thumb suckers. I consulted a physologist on my daughter (was seeing him for other things) and he recommened on breaking my daughter by giving her specific times she was allowed to suck her thumb vs telling her NOT to suck to thumb. (ie when she gets up, after breakfast, nap time, after dinner, bedtime...and give her 15min-30min durning waking hours) Then you slowly take away the waking hour time frames. This worked for my daughter. We went to the exteme for breaking her from the bedtime since nothing else worked. We place hot sauce on her thumb. She just looked at it and got upset, and never sucked her thumb again. We kept telling her we were going to do it, and we finally did. She never put her thumb in her mouth, but to this day she LOVES hotsauce! :-) We haven't had much luck with this routine with my son, but he isn't much of a thumb sucker. He is typically a naptime/bedtime or cuddling with blanket watching TV thumbsucker. I do make a piont to ALWAYS make him remove his thumb when speaking. Hope this helps! Good Luck!

Why is the thumb sucking a problem? My daughter was sucking her thumb en utero. It was her way of self soothing. Her dentist said that until she was getting her permanent teeth, it was not doing her teeth any harm. When the time came, we came up with a strategy that worked for us and she was done. She is still a bit orally fixated, chews on pens, etc., but she is a wonderful, talented young woman about to graduate from college in a few weeks.

My suggestion is to let it go, for at least a couple of months and see what happens. If it stops bugging you, she may stop.

S., while I don't have a problem with kids sucking their thumbs, it can eventually become a problem. When my younger cousin was 3 or 4, the dentist said it was affecting his teeth and that he should stop or he would need braces in the future. They had my aunt buy something at the pharmacy that she would paint on his thumb at night. It tasted horrible, and after about a week or two, he stopped sucking his thumb. I can't remember the name of it, but I think its for nail-biters too. I'm sure the pharmacist would know what it is. If anything, get her to stop before she starts school. I had a little girl in my first grade class one year that still sucked her thumb and the kids teased her about it.

Just another thought, if she's doing it as a security thing, maybe offer her a special blanket or stuffed animal that she can sleep with instead. My 3 year old has her "blankie" that she's had since birth, only now I've had to turn it into a little pillow because the edges were so frayed and tearing.

Why does it drive you crazy? It's her security, just let her do it, she'll grow out of it.

She will stop when she wants to- I had 2 finger/suckers and when I was confident they would never stop- One day the did:)
Pick your battles....

Good Luck

Hi S.,
My strong willed, first born daughter sucked her thumb as well. We tried the numerous tips offered here by other readers to no avail. It was the dentist who finally helped out. I spoke with her prior to my daughters exam about the thumb sucking. She then spoke to my daughter in an encouraging yet serious manner about the damage the thumb sucking was doing to her teeth. She offered her a reward if she had stopped by her next cleaning visit. My husband and I gently reminded her at times about what the dentist said and eventually she stopped. Not all kids suck their thumbs hard enough to cause dental problems but if you have a good relationship with her dentist it might be worth a try.
Good luck to you.
K.

S., kids suck on their thumbs or a paci for security. if she's doing it it means she's insecure about something or needing comfort. taking the paci away probably actually caused it, because it upset her and she didn't have any other way to cope. i don't know why you'd want to start a fight with her about it - it'll just upset her more and make her want it more. trust me she's not doing it because she knows it upsets you. she's doing it because she's upset that you're freaking out. she'll give it up when she's ready, probably when she starts school or makes friends who don't do it because they're too "grown up". don't make a big deal about it, and be grateful she has that outlet for her stress. you'll just cause more problems if you fight her about it. good luck!
-from a former thumb sucker, the sister of a thumb sucker, and the proud mama of an adorable little thumb sucker.

I agree, what's the big deal about her sucking her thumb?

What does noc mean?

Oh those wonderful little thumb suckers!! Mine is 5 and we thought that she would stop in kindergarten - nope! This is a hard battle and one that I'm having trouble with also. But I don't want to because I did it on a regualar basis until I was 6 or 7 and as a comfort thing when sick or really tired until I was 12 (and no problems with my teeth!) and it's hard for me to tell my little one that she can't do it.

But some of the suggestions I was givin was medical tape or bandaids on the thumb, especially at night when they don't know what they are doing. Or there is some stuff you can get at Wal-Mart (or just about any place else) to put on the nail and makes their thumb taste icky. My mom didn't have the icky stuff they have now and tried tobasco sause on my thumb, she said that didn't work. I like the tobasco sauce would suck it off and ask for more - I like spicey food and I haven't bothered trying that with mine because I know she likes spicey food and figure that she'll also like it. I've heard other mom's have the same results with the tobasco.

But I wouldn't worry about it until it is becoming a problem with their teeth (another reason I haven't tried breaking mine). Good luck!!

You can try putting Tabasco sauce on her thumb or some other disgusting flavor?????

All I can think of is, try that nail polish you can buy for nail biters that taste gross?! Good Luck!