Ideas to Wean 4Yo from Thumb Sucking

I had the same problem when I was a kid. My mom made a "thumb pillow" for me to put on at night. It was essentially just two little pillows bigger than my thumb (and my mouth) that she made out of scrap. She sewed elastic around them so it would just slide around my thumb. Worked like a charm.

Hi M., we are actually going through this with one of my 6 yr old sons. The other one was a pacifier user and was much easier to wean. We still use a bandaid on his thumb because he still sucks his thumb in his sleep if there's not a bandaid on it--and we weaned him a long time ago!! We tried putting a baseball glove on his hand and he thought that was very cool, but his hand got too hot and he took it off--and in went the thumb! LOL!!

So, while it is wasteful, bandaids are what are helping us keep the success going. At least they're really small!

Good luck, and please let us know if you find something else that works!

Don't worry about it. Eventually he'll stop--and anything you could do will add stress & make the thumb-sucking worse.

Try this
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=thumbguard&...

My son sucks his thumb too but he is only 2 1/2 so we will wait to try this.

Hi M.,

I'm sorry that I am not writing with advice, and I will watch your thread, but if you have any ideas that end up working, I'd love to hear them! Our 3 1/2 year old is working on stopping, but that thumb still finds its way into his mouth more than we'd like, and his teeth are moving around because of it. I'm happy to hear the bandaid helps, but I agree that it would be nice to find something that isn't so wasteful. I have heard the bitters on the thumb is NOT actually successful. Please let me know if you find a solution!

Thanks,
A.

Hi M.!

I remember when my sister was young, she LOVED her thumb, too :o) She sucked her thumb until she was in 3rd grade, or something outrageous like that. BUT, when she was entering into kindergarten, my mom told her that because she was a "big girl", it was time to keep her thumb sucking in her bedroom. She related it to being tired. So, when my sister was tired, she began sucking her thumb. My mom would gently say, "It's ok if you want to suck your thumb, but you need to go lay on your bed if you want to do it because it means that you're tired".........

Years later, when I became a mother, my oldest was addicted to his pacifier. I remembered how my mom handled it with my sister. I didn't want to take the "need and security" away, but it was time begin diminishing it's use.

I told my son that sucking his pacifier was only something he could do for sleeping or resting on his bed. It worked. Of course he would go to his room and do it instead of arguing with me, because he was old enough to understand that he really wanted it, like your son :O)

Eventually, it became a thing of the past in the most loving way....when he was ready to "let it go". The same for my sister. Nobody knew she sucked her thumb for so long, except for our family. My mom knew that she had a need for this, more than any of us other kids. Instead of completely taking it away, she allowed her to keep this security, but to only "use it" when it was supposed to be used for.....soothing at bedtime.

I think your son can do it this way. It will take a few days of gentle reminders, but he is old enough to catch on. This way, you don't have to go through as many tears.

I hope that helps you come up with a way of handling your situation.

~N. :o)

I know this probably isn't much consolation, but I sucked my finger at night to fall asleep until I was a teenager and had headgear. There simply wasn't room in my mouth anymore for my finger. The orthodontist said my finger DID NOT cause the need for braces, but I know that thumb suckers sometimes push their teeth out, so it may be different.

Hi M.,
I know it seems like a big deal right now, but this is a small thing. Eventually they will quit. I don't know that teeth misallignment has really been proven to happen with thumb sucking, but that doesn't bother me, either. I pick my battles very carefully because we moms have a limited energy reserve and often give way more than we have in reserve to give, between the kids, the husband, the housework, the outside the home career and the general wear and tear on our bodies and minds from being everything to all people. My 4 year old still sucks her thumb and I don't say a word as long as she only does it when she's napping or in bed at night. She will stop when she stops and most likely I won't even realize it for a while! It makes her happy and doesn't hurt a thing. Now if she had an alcohol problem.....! Just try to put it in perspective and know that our time as mothers of small children is so quickly gone that we can't afford to sweat the small stuff.
God bless.

If the child is willing to quit, try socks on his hands at night. Worked great on my daughter when she was five. Put socks on your hands too when you tuck him in and make it fun with tickles and giggles and hugs! My daughter no longer needed the socks after 1 week. By the way, use his socks, not yours and they will fit fine. Good luck and best wishes. Mittens will work to but some kids will suck right thru them because they still have access to their thumb! :)