Thumb Sucking 5 Year Old - Newtonsville,OH

My 5 year old still sucks his thumb at night when he goes to sleep. I have told him that as he gets bigger he has to stop because the bigger he gets the harder he can suck and eventualy his teeth will look like Timmy Turners on Frairly Odd parents. Well he realy dosn't want that, so he is trying to stop, and I just gently remind him when I see him doing it by saying, it is getting time for you to try to stop that you know. Most of the time he tries, but when he is tired he tells me stopping is to hard for a 5 year old and he will stop with he is 8 or 80 (I love 5 year old reasoning) -- I just tell him ok, as long as you try sometimes. He is slowly doing it less and less, and it is on his own terms.

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Well it won't help during the day and if he is stubborn it might not work at all, but our dentist told us to put socks on my daughters hands at night, she's 6 and still sucked her thumb at night, it took about 6 months but the habit is broken. and i have a friend that mixed chili powder into that nail polish that tastes so bad because her daughter sucked through it too and that did the trick, it also made her cry though. good luck.

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J.,

There's a good chance your son will be so busy and preoccupied with friends and school activities that he will soon forget about sucking his thumb.

However, it's not uncommon for a few kindergarten and first grade students to occassionally suck their thumb when they're tired or stressed and feeling anxious, but it usually decreases over time. The K-1 kids usually don't make a big deal out of it or make fun of kids who do it.

I would say not to make a big fuss over it now and see what happens when school starts. You might be adding to his anxiety by telling him he can't do that in school because he's a big boy, etc. He might suck his thumb all day at school the first day, maybe even the first week or two, but if you ask the teacher to let you know if she sees it decreasing over time as your son gets adjusted to school, you will know whether he will stop on his own or if you need to try gluing mittens on him! (Jut kidding!) Good luck.

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Well...I sucked mine until I was 12...sigh. Most kids wont do it around other kids because even at this level its not "socially exceptable". It could be that he does it still so that he can feel like a little boy and still be a big boy. Maybe telling him that big boys dont suck their thumbs doesnt help because he doesnt WANT to be a big boy all the time. :) I think that he will figure it out on his own. Im not an expert but from all the psychology books that I have studied in college basically say the same thing....he will stop when he feels the internal peer pressure to do so. If not...good for him, he is not easly swayed lol! :) I know it can reak havoic on their teeth but theres really no answer short to cutting off the thumb! (just kidding) Hope it works out, let us know!

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My mom said that when my grandma wanted her to stop sucking her thumb, she made her wear mittens at night - she stopped after a couple days because she didn't like the fuzz in her mouth. Don't know if that would work but I thought it was creative!

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the only advice i can really give is to PLEASE don't make a big deal about it. kids need a way of coping with stress(or tiredness or boredom) just like adults do. over time, he will learn other ways to cope with these feelings and it will stop. making him feel like less of a big boy will hurt his feelings and more than likely not make him stop. besides, many of his peers are still doing the same thing or probably won't notice it. so, don't worry about it, and congratulations on getting your first baby into school!

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Hi, My name is J. and I have a little girl who will be 7 in November. She stopped sucking her thumb only 3 months ago! There really is nothing you can do but wait until your little one decides on his own that he wants to quit. It's kind of like quitting smoking, you have to want to or else it won't work. My daughter just finished kindergarten, and was reprimanded a few times by the teacher, and some of the kids made a few comments that weren't exactly nice. She was upset, and needless to say, it broke my heart, but it was the only thing that finally opened her eyes that this was not a good thing for her to be doing. My daughter made the decision on her own to stop sucking her thumb, then came to me to ask for help. I found a nail polish (not like the others which are only sour in tast), that had a very bitter taste, and did not wash off except with polish remover. I even tried it on myself, believe me, it worked. We only had to apply it twice, and she was completely done, even at night. I found it at Meijer, it was called Bite It. The bottle had a red circle around the word with a line through it as if to say "don't bite it." Good luck.

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My sister and I both sucked our thumbs until about 10 yrs old. My mom used a reward system with my sister that worked for her (but not me, so no promises). She made a chart of days and for each day she went without sucking her thumb, she got a star sticker. After 7 days or so, she would reward her by taking her out to eat or getting a new shirt. I have a prize box that I use for my children when they earn a reward for various things. It's mostly toys and books from the dollar store. I use the reward system a lot, like when my daughter would always forget to flush, she got a sticker for each time she remembered to flush. It took one week and she had it down pat.

I haven't been on the site for a while, and didn't read all your responses, but can tell you from my own experiences that it will stop itself in time. I also did it until I was about 6 but only at home around my family! My mother tried it all and nothing worked until I decided myself that I was too old, and it was embarrassing to me! The one thing it did was leave a gap between my two front teeth until I stoped and then they were not quit even, but grow back together once I quit for good. I had always wanted braces, and did that at 38 and it helped fix everything! I've met alot of people over time that sucked their thumbs and for alot longer then I did, I do believe it's pretty common, and will stop when he's ready

I had the same problem with my daughter. When she was 4 years old we told her that from the day she turned 5 years she could only suck her thumb in her room on her bed. We would send her to her room if we caught her sucking it anywhere else. Eventually this broke her of the habit. It took a full year.

My 5-year-old daughter is also a thumb-sucker, but we have tried to limit it to sleep time and it has worked pretty well. If I catch her sucking her thumb, I ask her if she wants to go to bed and 99% of the time she says "NO" and takes her thumb out. The dentist has also told her she needs to cut back on sucking her thumb, so I'll remind her about that too. She also is more likely to suck her thumb when she's holding her favorite doggy, so we usually try to leave him in the bedroom or put him away when she's sucking her thumb. That's just my experience for what it's worth.

J., My son sucked his thumb for a long time; until he was 9. But not in public though. I told him he can only suck his thumb when he goes to bed or is at home watching tv. I really didn't worry about it because that was his way of calming himself down. It was his security. It worked for him. Also when he started 'sleep overs' I told him his friends might say something so you might not want to suck your thumb in front of them. And just for the record, his teeth are straight. Everybody thinks they'll get buck teeth but after he fell asleep his thumb would fall out. It was just not an issue for us. K. L