Thumb Sucking - Hillsborough,NC

This is a fool-proof solution. My daughter refused to stop sucking her thumb - until she was 10 - and we tried everything. Then an orthdontist said to get an oversize, long sleeve T shirt & sew up the end of the sleeves where she couldn't get to her thumb. She had a couple of restless nights but then she was fine, never sucked the thumb again.
I have to disagree with the don't worry attitude. She still had to have braces - I watched those teeth get crooked because of the thumb sucking. Her orthdontist said she might not have had to have them, if she'd stopped sooner.
Good luck!

My daughter was the world's worst thumbsucker. i even have ultrasounds of her doing it in utero! I was very concerned how I was going to stop this. Right around her 2nd birthday she wanted her fingernails painted. I told her if I painted them she could not suck her thumb or it would all come off. It worked. She loved having her nails painted and wanted to keep it pretty to show Grandma that weekend. She is 4 now. Occasionally, I will catch her doing it in her sleep but that is it. Good luck.

Well theirs allways Lemon juice!It has worked on a few I know!Just dip both of her thumbs in it or apply it and take a pic of the adorably memory!! lol No seriously it has benn one of the oldest remedies..good luck but keep showing initiative

Not to embarass anyone.. but I have a sister that sucked her thumb in the same manner as you described your child doing.

She did this until she was 15 years old. AND She is the only one of us that didn't end up wearing braces.

Listen to your doctors, and do what you can. But don't panic yourself over it.

My son sucked his thumb until he was about to start kindergarten. Here's what worked:

1) He and I went online and we found a site that showed what teeth look like when you suck your thumb - not pretty. They also showed a pic of the metal device he would have to get if he couldn't quit himself. He and I agreed it was time. He also didn't like the idea of sucking his thumb in kindergarten with all the big kids.

2) We sent his blankie (thumb-sucking and lovies go hand-in-hand) to a little baby who doesn't have his own blankie. (Actually went to my parents in case but we never needed it again.) My son and I put the blankie in the envelope together. He got to pick out a little something from Toys R Us for being such a strong boy.

3) We created a "robot thumb." I wrapped duct tape around his wrist and thumb (with kleenex underneath so it didn't get sticky stuff on his skin). I was lucky bc my son thought this was cool and never had an issue with it. I took it off during the day when he wasn't sleeping (usually). But he didn't mind it. We kept this up for several weeks.

Come up with something that your daughter would think is cool. Like, it's a Hannah Montana microphone or something.

4) No more thumb sucking! Totally worked like a charm.

The key is to "sell it." Get her involved and make the whole thing sound like a big girl thing to do. If you force it, the result probably won't be positive.

My niece sucked her thumb and the dentist told her to put a band aid on her thumb and she would stop. It worked.

Have you tried talking to her about it? Maybe suggest something else to do thats comforting to her when shes tired.
Maybe have her doing something with her hands right before bed, like sewing or latch hook rugs, or coloring, or writing, etc....
Hope this helps
Michele

Hi C., I am 28 years old today and I still have problems with sucking my thumb. Your daughter sound like me, I only suck it when I get tired. When I was younger my mother tried everything on me (666 medicine, black pepper and one day my uncle tried to spit on it), but nothing worked. I know that you may want her to stop, but what you don't know is thumb sucking is like a security to her. My advice to you is that you not be forceful or pressuring her to stop sucking her thumb. Not using this an excuse, but it seem the more pressure I got the more thumb sucking I done.

Good Luck with Thumb Sucker,
T. E.

I saw some other posts about the hot sauce. I was a victim of this act and I stopped putting my hands anywhere near my face immediately. If your child likes hot sauce then thats another problem. The only problem now is I don't eat any spicy foods-I cant handle anything. I would seek other methods though because I would hate for the child to forget and stick their hands in their eye. I think the smell hits you before you can think about it but still...

C.,
I don't have any advice on how to get her to stop, but I can tell you that I am 38 years old and sucked my thumb until I was 12. I was particularly stubborn in this area and the more people teased me and harped on me to stop the more I did it. I was old enough to know I was making a conscious decision to do so. Once everyone laid off, I quit.

I'm not saying that is what is going on or will happen with your daughter. My point is that it did not affect my oral structure. I have fairly decent teeth and have never needed orthodontics. My dentist always comments on how nice my teeth are when I go in. Make sure she's brushing and flossing.

THe stuff you put on the nails - either the paint or cayenne pepper or bandaids or whatever, are only an annoyance not really a deterrent (at least they were for me.

Good luck. This too shall pass!

How old is the child?

you may want to try an extract (as in the baking kind). my friend used lemon extract 1st but her child liked it so she switched to anise and orange.
hope that helps!

gosh, i feel u on this one. my daughter is almost 9 and still sucks her thumb. we've taken away her blanket, anything that gives her a reason to suck her thumb--but nothing works...she has to get braces soon...so im thinking thats gonna be the end of the sucking-i hope! now i know that the dentist/orthodontist can put a device in her mouth-it goes in the roof of the mouth-and keeps the temptation away--i had to get one when i was 13! just ask the dentist about it-and that may be some help...honestly, i think that thumb-suckers never, EVER stop 100%-its just something that the child has to realize when they start getting older-when they get more embarrased about things. K.

I'd ask your dentist and/or pediatrician for advice on the best way to handle it. Not sure how old she is, so she may just stop on her own. I've heard of using stars on a chart or a gift to works towards as a reward for discontinuing the habit. Good luck!

Hi C.. Good to hear from you. As a former thumb sucker myself I remember EVERYONE trying different things to get me to stop but simple fact of the matter was it didn't matter what they said, put on my fingers or anything else I didn't quit until "it was time for me to" whatever that means in child terms. All 3 of my children are thumb suckers and my 9 year old just quit on her own with the occasional very tierd thumb sucking when she was 5 or 6. My 5 year old son still sucks his thumb at night like your daughter and my 1 year old is of course still all in. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that no more than your child sucks her thumb just let her quit in her own time. It troubles me to see us stop our children from doing these things because it is "unacceptable" in our society of fixers and you can go to 10 different dentists and get 10 different opinions about the teeth. My 9 year old's permanent teeth have come in COMPLETELY STRAIGHT and properly spaced so who can say whether your daughter will have teeth problems. Okay I will get off of my soap box now but I just encourage you not to rush her- she will quit completely when she is ready. Hope this helps.

T. A.

It is hard to advise you without knowing how old your little girl is, but it sounds to me like she isn't doing it long enough to cause any damage and is weening herself of it gradually. Really, if she only does it when she is tired and she stops once she is asleep, it doesn't seem harmful. It's an issue if they do it for extended periods of time, but that's not long at all. Sounds like nothing to worry about to me.

Hi C.,
Just a suggestion: Does your little one have a favorite show they watch or blanket/toy they are really attached to? You might try transferring the "comfort" to one of these items. Ex: if they stop sucking their thumb, they can watch their fav. show.
OR one neighbor told her son if he stopped sucking his thumb (allot for timeframe for him to get over it), she purchased him a "hugh" toy.
Hope this helps.
L. F.-M'boro, TN

Try someting HOT-food of some sort. It will help.Make sure it is clear so she don't see it. It will work eventually. Try saying no! and removing it several times.Keep this up and if she don't listen-she knows what no means! then try some sort of hot clear liquid food.

My daughter sucked her thumb until she was in the first grade. I didn't do anything to try and stop her because it was such a comfort to her. SHE made the decision to stop. This was right before she started losing her teeth. Her permanent teeth came in pretty straight (no buck teeth). She did have to wear brackets on her teeth for other reasons for about a year. The dentist assured me that her sucking her thumb was not the reason for her very minor dental issues.

Hi C., I think that you needn't worry yourself with this. Honestly!!! It's not like she has her thumb in her mouth at all times, and when she does it sounds like it must be for a very short period of time. I doubt much "damage" is being done to her teeth, and who's to say that she wasn't going to need spacers anyway. I worked for a pediatric dentist who would have pressured you into getting her to quit thumbsucking too. Keep in mind that many doctors are only thinking academically and not thinking of the stress and heartache involved in putting an end to certain behaviors. Who is she hurting by sucking her thumb? I say let her suck and don't worry!

Hi C.,
Dont worry so. I am living proof that thumb sucking does not ruin the teeth as dentists claim. I sucked my thumb until I was about 12...yes my parents tried all sorts of crazy remedies. I have absolutely perfect teeth. Dentists will try anything to get a buck, so dont let them scare you. Just look up some info on how to get her to change her habit without pressure. There are lots of sites on the web to help.

If she's only doing it at night it sounds like she is able to control the urge herself and is well on her way to stopping. Depending on how old she is you could either let it go a while longer or if she is at sleepover age you may want to try the sewn-sleeve method. My niece wanted to stop so badly at age 8 that she herself taped a broken emery board to her thumb every night so she wouldn't suck unconsciously. That finally worked.

My daughter is 7 1/2 and is still trying to stop. We have tried everything, including the $50 ThumbGuard and chuck e cheese reward mentioned in previous posts. Even the ThumbGuard package says the key to success is the child wanting to stop, but in my experience, this is a strong desire that often overwhelms their conscious thought. We tried the ThumbGuard over the summer with limited success, but stopped when school got back in session because it is quite noticeable. We currently put a sock on her hand at night and that helps. The fear of being teased at school is probably what stops her there, but instead she plays with her mouth a lot. It's truly some oral psychological need, and at this point we can't even do bandaids because that causes embarrassment with her peers.

My 4 yr old didn't suck a paci or thumb until she was 2...then began to copy her older sister with the thumb and is now sucking more than the older one ever did. We have medical tape on each finger b/c if we taped her thumb she just moved to the next finger. The ThumbGuard was totally ineffective for her, she just sucked on the plastic.

Net - different things work for different kids. Try them all if you'd like but you still have to find a way to be supportive and loving while taking away the thing that is their main source of comfort. Add plenty of hugs and verbal affirmation during this time, whatever method you choose. Good luck!

I have to agree with the moms who say don't pressure her. My very strong-willed daughter will be 8 next month and still sucks her thumb, although a lot less than she used to. I learned when I tried to potty-train her that she is in control of things like that. She didn't potty train until I shut up about it for about 2 months, then when it was her idea, not mine, it went fine. I know the more I harp on her, the more she'll want to suck her thumb. By the way, I never took a passy or sucked my thumb and I wore braces for over 2 years, so go figure.

My now 5 year old boy would not stop sucking his thumb either. When he was about 3, I had enough, b/c I just imagined all the germs that he was putting in his mouth. There was a day when he kept putting it in even though I kept taking it out. So I decided to put tobasco hot sauce on his thumb. I put a couple of drops all over his thumb and it dried but when he finally went to put it in his mouth and tasted that, it was the end. He never put his thumb in his mouth again. Some people might not agree with this technique, but it worked and now I don't have to worry about buck teeth or him placing a dirty thumb in his mouth. Good luck.

keep up the nasty nailpolish! my twins were over 3 years old still sucking their thumbs. they would suck them when they were tired or nervous and almost all night too. we started the NO BITE polish and they stopped after 1-2 nights and haven't done it again since. mind you we had been talking about them stopping for awhile. they wanted to stop but just couldn't by themselves. they knew when they did that they got to go to chuck e cheese. that polish was sooo disgusting...it made me want to throw up! you're supposed to put 2 coats on everyday for 2 weeks. if you keep that up she will more then likely stop b/c it is nauseating! good luck!

Does your daughter use anything else for comfort like a blankie or stuffed animal? My daughter would only suck her thumb when she was snuggling with her lovie & when we finally took it away she stopped sucking her thumb. It was amazing. She cried a bit for the first few days when she went to sleep but has been fine ever since. (This was a year ago.)

When I was a child I sucked my thumb. My parents did the paint stuff, too. Did not work I sucked it off. The only thing that worked was they took tape and taped my thumb to my finger, that way when I went to put my thumb in my mouth i couldn't do it . Eventually, you will stop sucking. All it is, is a habit. It will take probably a month or so , good luck!!!

as long as she is'nt pushing on her teeth she should be fine my 24 y.o. daughter sucked her thumb for many years and she did it like your child only at night leave her alone don't "bug" her about it or let anyone else pressure her she will stop when she is ready. my daughter's teeth are beautiful and straight it is only a comfort thing is will pass

My son didn't stop sucking his thumb until he was 4. He only sucked it to go to sleep and when his 4th birthday came along we explained that he needed to stop and he was fine. It took a lot of patience. He is almost 5 now and still says sometimes that he would like to suck his thumb. It was really pretty easy. We used the stuff on his thumb but had to constantly put it on there because after a few times of him putting his thumb in his mouth by accident it would wear off. I put the stuff over his entire thumb, not just on his nails. Hope this helps! By the way, I sucked my thumb until I was 9 and my permanant teeth couldn't be any straighter.

There is a wonderful product through a company called One Step Ahead just for thumbsucking. It's called a thumb guard and it slips over the thumb and prevents the child from "sucking". You can go to www.Onestepahead.com and look under health i beleive. It's inexpensive and orthandontic approved. Good luck!

When my son was little he was a thumb sucker after we took the "passy" away. He would suck the yucky stuff off his thumb so someone told me to put hot sauce or a hot pepper or something like that on his thumb. I did. You could tell it was hot but he kept sucking. He wasn't going to give in. (to this day he loves hot stuff.)
Anyway..... I ended up doing nothing. Just kept telling him to get his thumb out of his mouth.... It got monotonous but eventually it must have worked.
If it helps any.... he didn't get bucked teeth and he didn't have to have any dental work which they told us that he would need if he kept sucking his thumb. So just because they suck their thumb doens't mean that their teeth will become terrible.
Sorry I couldn't be more help.