Joice Mom

I sucked my thumb until I was 9. My mom tried everything to get me to stop. She finally told me I couldn't get my ears pierced until I stopped. I guess I wanted that more than sucking my thumb and stopped, but I was 9 remember. Kids will stop when they are ready but if you can't wait for that there are habit breaking appliances a pediatric dentist could have made for her. BTW I'm a dental assistant in a pediatric clinic and there really isn't too much damage to be done yet, I would be more concerned once her adult teeth start to come in. Good luck!

If you KNOW it has been doing damage, this is not for you...but I sucked my thumb until I was five, to my mother's absolute horror. She figured the shame factor would kick in in kindergarten, which it did. I have never had braces, and have good teeth. I think perhaps some children are more prone to dental problems with thumb sucking than others?

My siblings and I all sucked our thumbs or fingers. My mother would not let us have pacifiers and it was the only thing to comfort and soothe us. I sucked until i was 7 yrs old or so. I needed braces but my other thumb sucking siblings did not. I don't think the sucking causes damage, I think it's just more genetic. If your daughter's sucking bothers you that much, try transitioning her to use something else for comfort. You can't just take her out of her comfort zone cold turkey....try a toy. If not, they make products out there to discourage the sucking, but I would never discourage a child to do something that soothes them.

I encourage you to replace the habit with another acceptable one. Perhaps she can choose a special toy or blanket out of her existing collection or brand new? Can you think of other habits that could potentially replace thumb-sucking?

I was a thumb sucker until I was in fifth grade! I could not fall asleep unless I sucked my thumb. I only sucked it to fall asleep. My mom tried the nail polish, bribes, shame, whatever because she was concerned about my teeth. Nothing helped. I simply gave it up when I was ready. Often a child will persist in a behavior to unconsciously prove that you can not make them do anything and thumbsucking and nailbiting are very common behaviors used to this effect. Thumbsucking and nailbiting can also can signify anxiety. (I was a nail biter until my twenties as well. Finally I became mindful of my anxiety and developed strategies to avoid biting my nails). It will be critical to maintain a friendly, calm, even nonchalant attitude to diffuse the power struggle that could so easily erupt or already be present, although subtly. Interestingly, your daughter is like first born in that the next oldest child is 11. Thumbsucking is also common among first borns, which pyschologically your daughter may be like a first born somewhat... first borns tend to feel lots of responsibility for younger children and may be anxious about their place in the family and tend to be performers and achievers...they also tend to be more anxious than others. So, whatever strategy you choose will likely need to address her anxiety and need for comfort to be successful... P.S., dentist's say I have beautiful teeth. I do have a slight overbite, but so does one of my sisters. Neither of us had braces. My third sister had braces but never sucked her thumb so go figure.

We got this advice from our dentist and it worked for us: take one of daddy's tube socks (long enough that it's stretches up her arm) and pin it to her jammies/shirt up by her shoulder. That way she can't suck her thumb, but she's not wearing something as hot and constricting as a glove.

Well, I sucked my thumb till I was 7 and the doctor asked me if I ever had braces, my teeth we so perfect, I hadn't. Of course that's just me.
Homeschool Mom and mamasource business owner.
S.

Hi M.,
There are products out there that can be put on the thumb to discourage this, such as the Thumbguard.
Is there something else you could give her to help self-calm?
Like maybe a chewy tube?

K.

I can tell you that I sucked my thumb until I was 12 or 13. My dad tried everything from reminding me to stop, rewards, tobasco sauce and other gross tastes... I stopped only when I was ready. I actually remember the day that I stopped too. I felt like it was my dicision and I was becoming independent.... I don't know it that helps, but that is what I got.

My first suggestion is to stop worrying. My daughter is 3.5, and has been a thumb sucker since she was 2 months old. Her baby teeth are straight. She sucks her thumb to fall asleep, but once she's asleep, the thumb falls out of her mouth. So we're talking maybe 20 minutes of her total day is spent sucking her thumb. She also sucks her thumb to comfort herself when she gets hurt. I would not take away my child's source of comfort for the world. Trying to get them to quit can actually be upsetting enough to make them crave the comfort of the thumb even more. Putting bitter nail polish on her thumb might work briefly, but if she needs the comfort, she'll suck her thumb in spite of the nasty taste. Some kids even decide they like it.

As far as doing dental damage, I don't believe you can know what effect, if any, thumb sucking will have on a child's need for braces. Between my family and my husband's family, 4 out of 5 of us needed braces, and none were thumb suckers. It was just genetics.

I apologize in advance....
I have no clue how to stop this behavior. I never let my kids use paicifiers, because i knew 5 year olds who still had to have them to get to sleep at night. It drove me crazy, so whenever the in-laws would stick one in my kids mouths I would immediately throw it in the trash.

Now, my doctor said that it could lead to thumb sucking, and it did, but my kids stopped on their own.

My cousin still sucks her thumb in her sleep, and she is in her 30's.
it really affects her to have someone tell her that.

I would try nail biting nail polish... it tastes nasty, so it could help.

Other than that i have no clue. I just know that you need to be really careful to not hurt her self-asteem. It is one of those touchy things that could make her think that she is bad if she can't just stop.

It is a habit, so replacing it with another habit is a good way to go.

I work for an orthodontist, so I have seen the damage that thumb sucking can do to a childs teeth. Usually the kids we see are around 7+ years old, though. A lot of it depends on how often and for how long they suck their thumb. I know that if kids continue to suck their thumbs when the permanent teeth start to erupt that is when you need to be concerned, because it can change their bite. I'm not going to tell you what to do, but if it were my child I would try to encourage to stop the habit sooner than later. There is many products out their to help, I have seen bad tasting liquids you paint on, a cover for the thumb, some people put a mitten or sock on the hand, I know sometimes prizes and things like that work too. It is a hard habit to stop so have lots of patience, good luck!