Thumb Sucking Woes

Try putting Vanilla Extract on the tip of her thumbs and fingers at the tip of her nails. Supposedly although the vanilla extract smells good and flavors things when good well just tasting it is very bitter. i recently read this tip in a Womans Day magazine. Hope this helps.

My daughter sucked her thumb until the summer before kindergarten, right before she turned 6. We tried to stop her before, it was fruitless and frustrating for us all. We decided to wait until she was ready, because everything I read told me to try before then was to pretty much guarantee failure.
She decided, with the help of the dentist :), that she wanted to quit. We got a handaid http://www.yourhandaid.com/

It worked wonders! She wore it 24/7 for 6 weeks, we took it off for swimming, bathing, and for a couple of special occasions because she was embarrassed by it; but other than that she wore it all the time. By the end of the 6 weeks she was no longer a thumb sucker and hasn't sucked it since, almost a year later. We liked it because it was non-invasive - unlike the metal mouth brackets - she couldn't take it off, and it was comfortable and didn't interfere with her use of the thumb & hand.

I've never seen a senior graduate with her thumb in her mouth! :) Don't sweat it. She will give it up when she's ready. You've already been given a lot of good advice. Hope it makes you know you're not alone and encourages you.

Blessings!
L.

I wouldn't worry too much. My (now 7 year old) daughter went through the same thing. Because we moved twice in a short amount of time during her 3rd year I didn't really worry about it until she was a little past her 4th birthday. What worked well for us was what another mom suggested below. You're a big girl now, so you can only suck your thumb in your room . . . that helped break a lot of the "habit" sucking but she could still soothe herself. Once we got that down we moved to only her bed. I'm going to tell you, she sucked her thumb at night for a while but I think she needed it, and now she hasn't for a couple of years. But she always had the option to go sit in her bed if she needed to self-soothe. Again, it was mostly about breaking the habit, so if I caught her I would calmly remind her she had to go to her bed and most of the time she chose to stop. Good luck!

Our son is the same age and is also a thumb sucker.

He only does it now at bed time or when he's really tired. I know you'll receive advice on different things to put on their thumbs to prevent them from being able to suck it.

Our pediatrician gave us good advice: it's a self-soothing mechanism. It helps them to relax in stressful situations, and you certainly can't take it off, so your best option is to encourage them to only do it at appropriate times.

Most kids will naturally stop by the time they get into kindergarten - if not, the pressure they get from other kids will likely be reinforcement to find another coping mechanism.

Good luck. At this time, we're not trying to encourage him to stop.

Put bandaids on her thumbs, or paint her nails with the nail polish they make for people to stop biting their nails. The polish worked for my boys and the bandaids worked for my nephew

clean her hands with hand sanitizer. IT will clean her hands but if she sticks her thumb in her mouth, it tastes terrible.

Hi J., First of all, yes, thumb sucking is a self-soothing thing. More people than you know suck their thumbs well into their teen and adult years and it may never affect her speech. NEVER put gross stuff on her thumb. Your best defence is a very low-key, calm approach. Do not start the "battle of the thumb" or nag...you will loose and she will just do it longer! You should engage the help and encouragement of a great ped's dentist (now is a great time to start with the 6 month dentist visits if you haven't already). Do encourage her to only suck her thumb in limited areas (start with only at home then move on to only in her room). This is not an easy habit to end, not for her and not for you. She should, in time, on her own stop...if she continues to suck her thumb and it affects her bite an orthodontist can install a "cage" when she gets older to help her end the habit and help her bite...most insurance covers at least 50% of this expence before the age of 13 or 14. I know it's seems crazy, but I speak from personal experience....I sucked my thumb well beyond the age of reason and my oldest went through using a cage (for her bite but ending the thumb sucking was a great side-effect that's when I found out about the insurance coverage!) . Not to scare you, but if you don't handle this one well, she will always have "hand to mouth" issues...yes, I smoke cigarettes and I really do think it's because of the hand to mouth thing! Thank goodness my daughter hasn't gone down that path! Be consistant, be calm and supportive and it should all work out well. Best wishes.

Two of my three children sucked their thumbs. I got my oldest to stop when she was 4. In the weeks leading up to her birthday we told her four-year olds don't suck their thumbs and sure enough she stopped on her birthday! Only to go back to the habit when her little sister was born 5 months later, and it took a couple of more years before she consciously dropped the habit during the day, but it took even longer at night (tape did the trick, but I don't recommend that for your daughter because of her age). With my second child, she consciously made the decision to quit when she was about 5-6 years old, then made herself a chart (Chuck E. Cheese!) and gave herself a sticker when she was successful and then of course was rewarded with free tokens at CEC!.

So in my ramblings I think my point is your daughter has to want to quit. If she isn't at that point yet, then don't force it. It is a comfort item, and to force her from it before she's ready will cause you both some stress. Neither of my daughters has any speech issues. And yes, both my girls had braces, although only my oldest's was partly because of thumb-sucking (mostly hereditary because she had teeth like mine!).

Very few children suck their thumbs after they enter school. My oldest sucked his thumb. He had a huge callouses on it that would bleed and look really gross. I left him alone. When school started we talked about not doing that in school, and he didn't but he would come home and grab his woobie (pillow) and go at it! Personally I LOVE to see babies sucking their thumb. I know after 3 it gets kinda old. But the more you pressure them the worse it gets.
Talk to your baby about growing up and being big. That when she is big she will have to give up her thumb. You can be creative on the "WHY" because she will ask!! But DON"T make her feel bad about it! There are private times when it is okay, and then there are public times when it is not acceptable. She'll get it.
My oldest didn't quit until he was 12! And then it was mainly in his sleep. He didn't even realize he was doing it. He is almost 20 now. He didn't get the bad protruded teeth but his teeth are crooked.
Good Luck and GOD BLESS!

Both my girls -- now adults -- sucked their thumbs. Perhaps there were some tooth alignment problems since they both had braces -- but who knows if it was the thumbsucking that "caused" it. They both could soothe themselves anywhere, anytime and they eventually stopped when they were ready to -- I assume; I haven't noticed them doing it since they got their masters degrees!

I wouldn't worry too much. I sucked my thumb until the summer before 8th grade. Then I made a choice to stop. I never had speech problems and I have almost perfect teeth having never required braces. Actually, the one problem with my teeth is that the front two tilt IN just a bit. If it doesn't bother you or your hubby, then it's none of anyone else's business.