2 Yr Old Sucking Thumb

Not that this is unusual for a 2 year old, but if you want to try stopping it, there's that stuff called Thumz. Tastes terrible. You brush it on, and when the child tastes it, it's yucky enough that they keep their thumb out of their mouth and ultimately, with luck, the cycle is broken. CVS should have it. Any drug store should carry it.

My son saw the red spot on his thumb and asked us one day if it would bleed. Seeing opportunity, we told him yes it would if he kept sucking it. Gradually, he sucked it less and less (with some gentle reminders from us). He was finished with it by about 3.5 I think.

Now I have a 2 yo with a pacifier...wish me luck!

~L.

Nothing your gonna like but you can try hot sauce you can try oils that atste bitter. But the bottom line is she needs to grow out of it. My sisterinlaw tried everything and her 5 year old still sucks his thumb when he sleeps and waken up. My pediatrician also told me theres no remedy they just need to grown out of it.

A.,

My oldest son was a thumb-sucker. I never made a big deal about it, in fact I never said ANYTHING about it at all. When he was 5 and in Kindergarten we were having a casual chat about it when I was tucking him in one night. I just mentioned to him what a big boy he was now and what did he think about that thumb-sucking habit? After a little discussion (very low-key) he decided that maybe he didn't need to suck it anymore. He gave it up on his own, and it's never been an issue since.

I really think the trick is NOT making it an issue, and NOT putting any pressure on them. Thats just my opinion. I hope this was helpful.

My daughter sucks her thumb. She is 3 and a half. I have tried several things. I sucked my fingers until I was 10 and my mom put something on them and I never sucked them again. But she can't remember what it was she used. I have tried "thumb" stuff, it didn't wrong. Over the last year we tried not saying anything about it. That didn't work. I tried painting her nails and telling her that she could suck her thumb after. That didn't work either. So then we have her wash her hands anytime we see her with it in her mouth during the day. Over the last 6 months we have just asked her to take it out during the day. She now only uses it during sleep time. That is what has prevented the soars from coming.
Our ped told us to use Aquaphor. It works great. We apply it a couple of times a day.
I just bought a thumb guard from One step ahead. We are going to start using it soon. Hopefully that will help. Our dentist said not to worry until she was 4-5. But I see the upper jaw caving in, so I am going to start now. I know she is doing it to soothe herself. So we are going to help her find a new way to soothe herself to sleep once we put the guard on. We have been able to get her to fall asleep without sucking....but it happens during the night too.
Good Luck.

My lil sister was a thumb sucker... Well, until a family friend accidentally slammed her favorite thumb in a door... (which I am NOT recomending!)

Every little girl LOVES getting her nails done... Get some of that no bite nail polish and have a girls spa day... No need to tell her why its nasty tasting... BUT you do need to figure out a different way for her to soothe or comfort herself. If she is an external soother she will move on to something else and it may be more annoying than thumb sucking...
If her finger was hurting she'd stop...

Guess its one of those pick your battles...

My daughter just turned 2 and also sucks her thumb. I asked the doctor if there was anything I could do to get her to stop and I was pretty much told that until she is a little older (maybe 3 yrs old) and can understand what I am saying about stopping it probably won't work to get her to stop. I will still continue to tell her she needs to stop but I decided that I won't stress out about it for now. Luckily for me she only sucks her thumb if she has her blanket so it isn't all the time and I can always try to take the blanket away and see if that works. Good Luck!!

If you remember sucking your thumb, it was probably well past the age of 2.

Some children suck for comfort and others do not. There is probably a genetic link, but for now it's just a fact of life.

Whenever the issue is about something the child is doing to soothe herself, it's never helpful to look at the behaviour that's soothing, but the underlying need that requires the soothing in the first place. Falling asleep is anxiety time for most small children, as they're losing conscious control of what is happening to them, and, I think, getting younger and younger (developmentally) making them respond like much younger children by the time they're nearly asleep.

If you hope to eliminate the need for thumb sucking (without, I'm assuming, replacing it with something else you'd like to eliminate before she's ready next year--like a pacifier or a cuddle buddy) you need to help her feel secure and relaxed going into sleep. For small children who cannot be reasoned with about fears, that pretty much means being with her, patiently and calmly, throughout the falling asleep period. Yes, every night. As an estimate, probably for the next 2 years, maybe less.

Essentially, you get to choose: self-soothing (in whatever way the child finds) or parent-soothing. None of the above is not an option, because if you're not right there for them, you're also not there to stop them sucking things, pulling things, banging things, rocking...whatever they find to allay their anxiety with.

Regarding healing the chapped skin on her thumb, I would recommend using the same lanolin products used for breastfeeding soreness. It moisturizes the area but is still safe to leave on when she is sucking her thumb.

My 6 year old daughter finally is no longer sucking her thumb when on road trips or watching TV, but that getting to sleep habit is so hard to break. You might need to wait it out until she grows out of it but in the meantime try to find a substitute like a snuggly lovey. Just watch that it doesn't increase to times other than getting to sleep.

Most kids will outgrow the need to suck around age 3 or 4. My guess is that her thumb sucking will gradual reduce in frequency as she gets older until she doesn't do it anymore.

It makes sense since the average age for weaning from nursing world wide is 3.5yrs old :-D

I sucked my thumb until I was about 8. Not during the day...but at night. My parent's tried everything to get me to stop. Finally I just stopped. My thumb did get blistered...but it healed and you cannot tell now. My teeth were not affect.

It is probably a comfort to her. I wouldn't make a big deal out of it.