Thumb Sucking 8Yr Old

Is the thumb sucking messing up his teeth or is he being teased at school? If not, then I wouldn't worry about when he stops sucking his thumb. I stopped sucking my thumb (I only sucked my thumb at night to go to sleep) when I was nine and my parents tried for years to get me to stop. I stopped when I was ready to stop. If it isn't causing him any problems with his mouth or at school then I don't think it is a big deal. Sucking my thumb did not mess up my teeth (it messed up my husband's as a child). Hope this helps

My husband had the appliance put in his mouth when he was little and although his mother says it did stop the sucking, she regretted doing it. The doctors made her feel like a bad mother if she didn't do it, but she thinks it traumatized him because that was his coping mechanism. If he only does it at night and it is not causing social problems, he will most likely grow out of it on his own.

Hi! I worked for an Orthodontist for over 5 years, and these things do work, but they are not fun. They are cemented in around the molars (big back teeth) and connected by a big wire and/or piece of acrylic. It's this creates a blockage a little behind the teeth in the mouth, so when he tries to stick the thumb in, it won't go in far enough for comfort. I never had this done and I sucked my thumb until I was 9 years old. I just stopped one day. But I ruined my mouth arch/shape and had to wear braces for years. Don't be afraid of the appliance, because it works, but it won't be comfortable for him. He will not be happy because he can't do what soothes him anymore. I hope this helps you!

A., I have a friend that used to suck her thumb until she was about your son's age and her mom took her to a hypnotist and she never did it again. She is now in her early thirties and has two children and very well adjusted. I don't know how you view hypnotism but it will probably be more expensive than soap or hot sauce and less than that appliance which I think could be more tramatizing than sucking your thumb. i'm sure you search on the net a professional with refrences.

My sister had one of these at 6 and she stopped sucking her thumb right away. It makes it so they can't get any suction. My son is two and sucks his thumb all the time and I think in a couple of years we will probably have to try this. Good luck.

I am a dental assistant & I have seen this many times before. They are very effective. Depending on your child's personality, depends whether it will work. If he is a passive, quiet, go with the flow kind of kid, it will work. If he has a strong will, determined, stubborn kid, probably not. I tried putting soap under my sons fingernail one time & he never did it again. Use a natural soap like ivory.

There is something that you can try. I know it will sound crazy but try fingernail polish remover. It is the nastiest tasting thing, put it on his finger and fingernails and under them. Let him get the taste of it a couple of times and he will keep his hands outta his mouth. I was having trouble stopping the habit of biting my nails and a friend of mine's grandma told me to try it, she said it works on thumb sucking and biting your nails. I can only say it worked on the biting of nails - but try it on the thumb sucking. Lets us know if it works out and good luck.

I have a soon to be 8 yr old who sucks his thumb also.
Who is your dentist? The dentists we have been to tell me kids stop when they are ready. I am interested in the device.

My daughter sucked her thumb in my belly on the ultrasounds. We tried everything to get her to stop, hot sauce on the thumb, bandaids and rewards. She is 8 now and she stopped sucking it on her own. She decided she was too old and only did it when she needed that comfort at night. Now she does not at all. She too was told to use that appliance in the mouth but I thought that was too drastic,it actually can cut their mouth and thumb. I sucked my thumb til 7th grade when I got braces, I turned out just fine. Boys mature slower than girls, talk about his boyhood and how proud you are of him if he just stops a little at a time. Good luck, I would think twice about the appliance, I am sure it works but it is a huge step.

A. R, I have a son who is now 14 years old and still sucks his thumb on occasion especially when he is tired at night. He has finally become conscience of this and is trying his best to quit. We have sought professional guidance with his orthodontist which has cost us $5,000 and 5 years later for braces and in trying to resolving the thumbsucking problem. the more you say something to them about the more they want to do it. My suggestion is to allow the dentist to assist you with something and see if it does help if not just keep trying eventually he/she will grow out of it. Good Luck

When my daughter used to chew her finger nails I used this stuff that I painted on her nails and it tasted hot and horrible!! I think it was called Thumb and I got it at one of those Mom and Pop type drug stores. Or here are some links of things you can put on his thumb too. I haven't tried any of them but they are sure a lot cheaper than $400!! Good luck to you guys!!

http://stopthumbsucking.net/?gclid=CLmc7MPbyo8CFQcNgQodY0...

And I can't find it but One Step Ahead/Leaps And Bounds used to sell something very similiar too.

S.

i had this done at the same age and it worked. i am 30 now and have perfectly straight teeth. good luck and let me know if this helps you out any. my orthondist was dr. hunt on wade hampton.

I had a "rake" put in the roof of my mouth when I was ten to stop me from sucking my two fingers. It was immediately effective, but it did not solve the root problem. I, like your son, had an oral fixation. It often happens to children who have the bottle or breast taken from them prematurely without having fully satisfied their instinct to suckle. Within a year of having the rake prevent me from sucking my fingers, I replaced the object of my fixation with cigarettes at the tender age of 11. I know that's a sad and crazy age to be smoking (which I no longer do) but it's true. If I were you, I would read up on oral fixations. I suspect that what you will find is the advice to let your son's instinct to suck run its course as it inevitably will.

I have a 5 year old girl who also sucks her thumb. I have not heard of that device. Have you tried a reward system to curb the thumb sucking? If you have any advice to help on this matter, i would love to hear it. My daughter does not want to give up the thumb either.

A.
I am the mommie of 2 beautiful girls ages 7 and 5.

I've had 2 children out of 6 (one is a step daughter that visited) that had this problem. 1 sucked his thumb till he was 7 or 8 and the girl sucked her finger till she was 10 or 11.You can try bribes and such, but even with an appliance if they want it they will find a way to get the comfort they want....why stress or pay out such money-- Just talk to them about not doing it in public or wherever it bothers YOU. When they start going places with friends and spending the night-they will probably stop on their own. Don't we all have our little comfort things??
Also--everyone of my children had braces...there was NO differnce with whether they "sucked" or not. Be Happy and enjoy your child!

Im with victoria. i use the same method to keep me from biting my nails.It stops u cold u taste that nasty stuff,and it drys,rubbing alcohol does the same.he wont consume enough to hurt him and it keeps ur fingers out ur mouth.Its very unattractive to see a child that age sucking a thumb,especially if they walk around like that.At that age youd think u could pop their hand and tell him u'll reward him if he stops.My 15 month old sucks his thumb but only at night and he takes it out once he falls asleeps and i dont see him do it during the day.so i think ill get lucky enough to avoid this issue.

i had a problem with thumbsucking as a kid, especially when i went to sleep. i just slept with socks on my hands and that helped me to break it.

Hey A.,
I have to say that if he is sucking his thumb at night it is out of habit. I was a big time thumb sucker and I sucked mine at night not knowing I was doing it until I was in middle school. I then had braces and with the braces they put an appliance in the roof of my mouth and I will attest that it does work. He will no longer suck his thumb because they will leave it there for about 9 months or so and once it is removed then it will seem awkward for him to have his thumb in his mouth. Hope this info helps. Just make sure if you pay to have it put in that you make sure it is in place for at least 9 months because that is how long it takes somebody to break a habit.

Have him wear gloves at night. He's old enough to know that this needs to be fixed, so he should be able to resist the urge to take the gloves off. The gloves make the sucking less desirable, and eventually he should stop. That's the theory, at least, and my MIL swears it worked for her. Good luck!

I don't know about other people, but I had this appliance in my mouth when i was a kid because I wouldn't stop sucking my thumb either. It didn't make me stop sucking my thumb as a kid, i just found a way to put my thumb in my mouth around it so I could still suck on my thumb. With me, it was just a thing that I had to grow out of. I know I drove my parents crazy with it.

I know this sounds stupid, but he will stop when he is ready to stop. Some kids just have a rought time giving it up. I sucked my thumb until I liked my first boy. My parents tried everything and then finally gave up. I know it is hard, but maybe you should teach him when it is ok to suck his thumb and when it is not. Instead of making him stop altogether, just give him boundries like you do with a pacifier. I really do think he will stop when he is ready. Good Luck!

I had the appliance put in my mouth when I had my braces put on when I was 13. They put it in my mouth because my thumb sucking caused the roof of my mouth to form to the shape of my thumb. They device has to be turned so it spreads the roof of your mouth back to its orginal shape. I had to learn how to swallow with the appliance in my mouth and i lost about 20 pounds. It did stop me from sucking my thumb though. But I would do it for my children if they needed it. I was not traumatized by it at all but it was painful when I had to turn it everyday.

I'd make sure and read the ingredients before putting chemicals on your kid's finger that will go into his mouth.
What worked for me?
I was innocently sucking my thumb and my grandmother says very causually, "you know, there are worms in your finger and you are sucking them into your mouth".
She didn't tell me to stop, the visual was enough. My thumb was no longer appetizing.
I would also try rewards, a calendar with stars for not sucking the thumb. Start during the day and then into going to sleep. Let him have a reward at the end of the week if he gets all stars.He just has a habit and it's comforting to him and habits are best broken slowly.

This one was tough for us, too! Ours was 8 and in 2nd grade but she has been thumb-free for 6 months now!!! What we learned is SHE HAS TO BUY IN or your efforts will fail. This took about 6 weeks but she doesn't even WANT to suck her thumb now and doesn't understand now why she ever did! Here's our approach:

1. Step One: we helped her see how often she sucked her thumb to show HER there was a problem. Prior to that it was OUR problem as she was only being unintentionally comforted. She learned when and why she was doing it (sadness, fear, boredom, etc.) WE DIDN'T NAG HER OR PUT HER DOWN. We'd stop what we were doing and talk gently with her, hug her and help her see why she was using her thumb and most importantly re-direct her. SHE didn't really realize she was doing it so often before then!

2. Step two. Education. Seriously! We showed her pics of little girls and adults who had sucked their fingers/thumbs with pics from the internet. When we encountered people in daily life we quietly and gently showed her what could happen to her mouth. We took her to the Dentist and they explained the dental side. She got to buy new toothbrushes, pastes, colorless or shimmery lip gloss to bring attention to her pretty mouth.

3. Step Three. Buy In! After we'd taken about two whole weeks preparing her, we took her to the drug store and bought the horrible tasting nail polish and began FOR THE 1ST TIME helping her stop. For the 1st few days we used the polish only at night and weaned her off her thumb. IF SHE WAS REALLY HURT OR SAD we gave her a minute or so to suck her thumb, then sat with her, comforting her and would tell her it was time to stop. THEN we painted her thumb.

At first she argued but within a few days, with reminders of how lovely her new teeth would be when they came in straight and how much healthier she'd be (reduced colds, etc) she began having fewer times when she needed it during the day.

Bedtimes were tough. Let's be real! She initally cried and it took a little longer to find a new sleep routine but we found one that worked for her. We just learned that meant a little more attention at bedtime and comforting!And when she felt she had to suck her thumb she hugged us or a stuffed animal. At times she really was angry, cried but this slowly went away with alot of caring and patience on our part.(REMEMBERE, IN HER CASE SHE'D BEEN DOING THIS FOR 8 YEARS! IT WAS HARD FOR HER)

At first we let her suck her thumb for a few minutes before we painted on the yucky stuff! That time diminished and after a week, she told us she didn't need her "thumb-sucking time!"

Step Four. Finally there had been enough prep work done and we were able to really hit it hard! We did the old reward thing! She chose something BIG to work toward and created a "reward calendar" and we kept it in her room. Each day she didn't suck her thumb she got a sticker. She earned a small gift every week. Then after 2 months of NOT sucking her thumb at all, she earned her GRAND PRIZE! SHE LOVED putting the stickers on the poster! Occasionally she failed and didn't get her sticker but was sooooo ready to try harder the next day!

It was worth the $$ and time spent! She chose to work for something she really wanted and now 6 months later, her thumb-sucking is just a memory!

She constantly tells us how proud she is of herself for achieving SUCH a big goal! Her Dentist is even getting involved and we are going there this week for THEM too give her a special reward for being thumb-free for 6 months!

The bottom line is this is like smoking or losing weight for us. IT IS TOUGH for them. Yelling, nagging and negativism will only make this a tough process for everyone!(Sadly, we tried "forcing" her and got NO WHERE! Give the positive way a try! Be prepared for lots of cuddling and some tears but it will get better. It's ALOT of work but WELL worth it!Promise! L.

This is going to sound really bad but my son had the same problem. The doc recommended this OTC stuff called No Thumb, I think. Your supposed to dab it on the thumb while theyre sleeping so they dont catch on that it can be rinsed off. It sets your mouth on fire, but it broke my son of the habit. Bad things is it burns if it gets rubbed into the eyes. Thumb sucking is a self soothing behavior and you cant stop this sort of behavior without replacing with something thats more acceptable, try a sensory chewy tube because he may need an oral fix. Hope this helps, there werent any chewys like this when my son was going thruough this.

I hate to minimize your concern. But why do want him to stop so badly? I sucked my thumb until I was twelve years old. Because the dentist said it would ruin my teeth, my parents tried everything. Hot sauce, bandaids, ointments that can't be sucked off that taste terrible and nothing worked. I needed that security. (And it never ruined anything about my teeth. Never even had braces!) Eventually it ran it's course and when I went on a camping trip with my friends at 12 I didn't want to be seen doing something so "baby-ish" so I stopped and never started up again. Maybe your son just needs that comfort in his life right now. It's just like having a favorite blankie or stuffed animal. We all have our security blanket in some manner or another. Focus on those things he is doing that you are proud of and just let this run it's course. He'll grow out of it when he doesn't want his friends to see. But for right now, just love your son and support him.