Hey, can someone help me with this, How can I get my daughter to stop sucking her index finger. Oh yea, she is 16 years old.S he does not care who knows about it. She says oh well mom. I have went as far as to scare her and tell her that if she keeps this up she will have to get her finger cut off. Ya right ,mom try again. So here I am what do you all think?
Hello, everyone thank you, for responding so fast it was a joy to here from you. I will make sure that I will try out some of the ideas you all had. Thanks so much I will keep you up dated on her progress.
As a child i did things to get to my mom just because she said not to - so.....back off of her and leave it alone - i agree ignore it and she will realize that she is not getting her baby attention any more and will stop - just reminder her to wash her hands before she touches things if she has her hand in her mouth.
I dunno if it really matters, but I'm sure it looks pretty odd. Maybe someone will make fun of her for it and she will stop. I suppose you could try taking some pictures of her doing it and maybe seeing what she looks like would make her realize how silly she is.
Sounds like she's trying to annoy you... and it seems to be working. Like others have said, it's too late for you to try and get rid of the habit. I think you should just ignore it. At that age, she knows it's not a good habit. Also, kids can be mean, so she's bound to get picked on at school... maybe that will make her stop?
Take her to a dentist and let them explain the long term damage she is causing and tell her you refuse to pay to put her mouth back together.
T.,
It's obviously a source of comfort to your daughter to suck her finger, and very convenient since she has it nearby at all times. I wonder if you could help her better by telling her that growing up doesn't mean you stop needing comfort, it just means finding different ways of getting it. Even though she told you she doesn't care who thinks what, she maybe privately does. But it's just like any other behavior. You can't just tell them to stop, you have to help them find an acceptable substitute.
How about worry stones - maybe give her one to keep in her purse, and for each coat pocket. Suggest that every time she gets the urge to suck her finger, she try to remind herself to use the worry stones. Another idea might be a silver bangle for her wrist that she can rub and turn when she needs to calm herself.
At least your daughter's coping mechanism is something you can see - so you can help her move to something more appropriate. My daughter was a closet bulemic, something we didn't figure out for a few years!
Good luck!
At 16 it is many years too late for you to change her habit. Are you sure she doesn't do this to push your buttons? Teenagers love to harass parents! Have you mentioned to her that boys may not like the thought of holding hands with someone who has had their finger in their mouth or kissing someone that has had their finger in their mouth. Besides where has that finger been and what kind of germs and bacteria are on it. Also isn't this finger rather ugly. Most sucked fingers are calloused and look disgusting. My daughter stopped at three when I pointed out that she was making her finger ugly.
Sounds like too little too late mom.
I think at this age, she probably won't stop until she decides that she wants to.
I do like the other people's suggestions about giving her something more socially acceptable/less potentially harmful to her teeth (a worry stone etc).......Perhaps you could just suggest those things.
My brother is in his 20's and still sucks his thumb. In school my mom told the teachers not to make an issue of it- but that if he was 'busy' he couldn't suck the thumb.
My mother refused to make him stop...She told us all that she sucked her thumb until she started smoking -- and she figured sucking a thumb was a lesser 'evil' than smoking.
Also, my brothers orthodontist said the way that my brother sucked his thumb did NOT cause problems with his bite....it didn't bother the doc. if he continued to suck his thumb (which he did even with all the appliances in his mouth!)
If she is 16 yrs old it is too late, she will not do it if you ask but might if she receives teasing from her friends. If she has been doing this all her life she probably will not stop until shes ready.
If she has being doing this since she was a baby and there is no long term damage by now, then I don't know if there ever will be. That you will need to talk to a dentist about.
Like you said she doesn't care who sees her and probably doesn't care what they say. Maybe she will just stop someday once someone picks on her pretty hard about it. Tell her to get some hard candy or a sucker to suck on everytime she has the urge to suck on her finger. Good Luck..
This might be a little sneaky, but maybe you could have her dentist tell her she is damaging her teeth and she will porbably need braces if she keeps it up... most teens dread baces and finger sucking can cause that kind of damage. Ohter than that, I don't have clue, teens are stubborn and have their own sense of logic... good luck!
