My 13-month-old daughter found her thumb at four months and hasn't let up since. She is great about using it to comfort herself, to soothe herself to sleep and to signal that she is thirsty, tired, hungry, or otherwise bored. I just noticed in the last couple of days, though, that her poor thumb is very dry and starting to crack. I can't just put lotion or a topical medication on to soothe and heal it because she sucks on it so much and would freak out if I bandaged it. How can I help get her thumb healed without taking away her only self-soothing tool? I'm not ready to try to ween her from the thumb - we'll give it maybe another year and hope that she hasn't completely ruined her teeth.
Thank you to all you great moms out there - you gave some helpful advice. I know that thumb-sucking is one of the worst habits a child can start this young, so we are working on subtly removing her thumb when she starts sucking and it's not naptime/bedtime. We'll work on knocking out the thumb-sucking altogether very gradually - it will definitely take time. Her thumb is actually healing a bit on its own without anything topical, so we'll pray it continues :) Thanks again.
Hi N.;
I'm a mother of 8 and grandmother of 16. My advice for you is to get a rubber thumb from an office supply store
cut to size and try it. Good luck
B.
Hi, N. - I sure loved all the responses you have received. I am new to this site. I am a retired La Leche League Leader and a midwife and an herbalist with a health food store, and also a home school mother. Pfew! My only suggestion not addressed is why is she needing her thumb so much? What emotional stress or trauma might she be going through? Daddy and mommy fighting? New baby sitter? New sibling? Was she weaned suddenly from breast or bottle? Perhaps it is the sub teaching you do and you suddenly being gone from her? You might try and figure out what and help her with stress, then when she's ready, she'll more easily stop. I had one child of my 5 who sucked his thumb, and my sister did too. My child did not suck his thumb in such a way that it caused his mouth and teeth to be malformed, yet my sister did. I sucked my thumb too, and had only a slight impact on my teeth's forming. Hope some of this helps. And: What does SAHM stand for? D. in Gooding
I don't know how well your daughter understands (or cares to listen would probably be a better description!) when you explain things to her, but maybe you could help her slow down a bit on her thumb-sucking now (without completely weaning) by explaining that she needs to do it a little less so her owwie will go away. That sucking on it all the time is hurting her thumb. Maybe give her certain times that it's okay, such as nap- and bed-time.
I'm actually a supporter of thumb-sucking. My first did, and he was so happy because he could soothe himself. He hardly ever woke me up in the middle of the night. With my second, my pig-headed husband (now estranged for said pig-headedness) insisted that I not let the baby suck his thumb, and I've regretting it ever since. But she'll have to stop some time, and helping her find other ways to soothe herself is something you can start right now!
First let me say dont feel guilty or that you are doing something wrong here! Its a thing alot of kids do. I do have an all natural product that can heal and soothe her thumb and its safe to ingest...my daughter found my jar once. It doesnt tast good at all, and may help her stop, but it will help her thumb too. double duty action...if you are interested let me know id love for you to try it out!
Hehe, my four month old found her thumb less than five minutes after she was born and is still going strong. The best advice I can give you is Mothers Love Nipple Cream. You can buy it at Bussom Buddies or Vitamin Cottage. Now I know it sounds a little strange to put nipple cream on your baby's little finger but it is safe to ingest, USDA certified organic and does wonders on chapped cracked skin wherever it may be. Also works great on early diaper rash and lips :P Best of luck to your daughters thumb!
Our son has built up a callouse and that has helped. I will go in at night after he is in a deep sleep and put a bit of Gentle Naturals Eczema Cream on any sore spots. It heals pretty quickly since he doesn't seem to suck much once asleep. Another good cream that I haven't used as much for this purpose, but for others is Vanicream. You have to ask for it at the pharmacy, but it is OTC. Something that was recommended for our son's eczema is a 10-15 minutes bath each night to rehydrate the skin. I wonder if that would help, but my guess is too much moisture is the problem. If it's any encouragement, I think it was around 15 months that we saw a significant decrease in thumbsucking. At that point it went to when he was in bed or had his blanket. I'm like you, we're hoping the thumb takes care of itself before he's too old. He's already older than what I'd like, but I know 19 mos. isn't unreasonable. GL
Just wrap it up and put some aqua phor on it. Maybe try to get her to use her other thumb until her owie gets better.
Can I say that now is a great time to wean her though. The longer you wait it will get harder. It is already causing dental damage as their mouth is forming and her upper jaw will conform to her sucking. It also will cause problems with the teeth coming in over the next year. Not to mention every time she puts her hand in her mouth she is becoming suseptible to a million germs everywhere you go. Maybe wrap it up, explain she has an owie that has to get better, take her to pick out a lovey blankie or a great new stuffed friend she can use for comfort. My kids picked a jammie shirt of all things for one lovey and my son took to an old baby blanket that was my daughters. It is great for them to have soothers but thumb sucking is by far the hardest to break and can lead to a lot of damage to their teeth, upper roof of their mouth and be a constant source of germ exposure.
Having it not heal from cracking can lead to infection too. So you need to just do it and find another source of comfort for her...aqua phor is a great way to heal and moisturize cracked skin.
I know you said you aren't ready to ween her from her thumb but have you tried to introduce the pacifier? I don't know if it would be too late to try but if you give her the pacifier when you notice her sucking on her thumb, she might suck on it more which would cause less damage to her skin... and it would be better for her teeth too.
Girl, Let me tell u curb that quick I sucked my thumb till I was 11 my gosh it is horrible my teeth are bad because of it and crooked like u can't believe. Talk to ur DR. I was not stopped and I would not want anyone to have to deal with what I have had to with, my teeth, I am working on dentures right now I am 38 this year and have fought the problem my whole life. good luck to ya and let me know if u find a solution.
Take care, S.
(Brigam City, UT.)
