Advice on How to Stop Thumb-sucking

I have a 2 year old boy and lucky he never went through the pacifer or thumbsucking stage, but I did see in a catalog a device used for kids to help them stop sucking their thumbs or even fingers. It was in the One Step Ahead catalog. Their website is onestepahead.com I hope that helps!!

My first piece of advise is not to make this a power struggle, because it is something that your four year old controls. You will un-doubtedly fail. It has to be her idea to stop. I would recommend working a way to replace this habit with something else, like a doll or blanket or special book time. I would steer clear of telling her that she might be teased or ridiculed for this habit. It will only make her want to do it more. This has to be her choice and when she feels secure to move on, she will. When you worry less, she will worry less. I hope.

Hi E., my youngest child who's 4 (just turned 4 in Aug.)sucks on a pacifier, looks kind of stupid but he's the youngest of 6 so I just let him do it cause it makes my life easier. That's pretty sad huh.;) But my step-daughter who is 8 sucked on her thumb All of the time and she didn't just suck on it, she hacked up some mucus in her palm and smeared it on her mouth and nose area when she was going to suck her thumb. I stepped into the picture when she was 2 1/2 yrs. old so this habbit was well established, her dad didn't even know she did that because she was so good at it. I made her stop the mucus thing because it was plain unsanitary and gross. I slowly figured out when she was most likely to need it( when she was tired or upset) and we talked about doing it only at those times. It was very hard to do. But her hands were so dirty that I had to keep on her about it plus she was trying to run around with the big brothers and sister with her thumb in her mouth and it was kind of dangerous for her. Distraction was the best solution for us. Preschool helped and then kindergarten and then finally when she was about to turn 6, she and I made a deal that on her 6th birthday she was going to be a BIG GIRL and that it wasn't necessary to suck her thumb during the day AT ALL and that it was Entirely Up To Her to not suck her thumb. Lo and Behold she actually did it. She still does it occasionally when she sleeps at night but it's a ton better and she's proud of herself. The teeth thing is true, it does mess up their front teeth but that is fixable. I am an ex dental assistant with 11yrs. experience and schooling. Plus I've seen it happen with a couple of my own kids. I'm better at taking away the pacifier but the thumb is alot harder so my best wishes are with you. Good luck to you!
M.
Mom of 6 working at the stay at home job.

some people say tabasco sauce??? don't know I have just told my kids that that is what baby s' do and they usualy quit or they are doing it for attention or they are insecure it makes them feel better I don't know just don't make a big deal out of it and maybe she will quit

Neither of my kids or grandson sucked their thumb, but my grandson had a bad nail biting problem last year at 2 1/2-3, (his life was in a bit of turmoil at the time and his parents were not together) so we just gently reminded him that his fingers get dirty when he plays and it would also make his fingers sore...and you could mention that she is growing up and maybe tell her it's not aloud in school and she will be going there soon. we had to do that to get our grandson potty trained...it was true in his case...he goes to the YMCA and to be in the Big Kids group he had to be potty trained or he had to go with the 2 and under and he didn't like that one bit so he tried harder. Positive praise always helps. Here is a link that might help also:
http://www.myparentime.com/articles/monthly/tcc/tcc7.shtml
Good luck.

I've never personally had to break the habit, but when we were kids my brother was a thumb sucker. My mom would put socks on his hands at bedtime and put tape around the sock at the wrist to keep them on. During the day she just made sure to remind him not to suck his thumb if she caught him doing it. Good luck! My son was a pacifier kid and my MIL told him we lost it, which you unfortunately can not do with a thumb!

There used to by some extremely bad tasting stuff that you could put on fingernails to stop nail biting. I bet that work great keeping the thumb out of the mouth as well.

I would go to a drug store and ask them!

I have a 7 year old who still sucks her thumb (and so does at least one other child in her class). She only sucks her thumb when she is tired and at home or in the car. She does not suck her thumb in public. We had talked about if she did she might get teased.

Anyway, our dentist said not to worry about the thumb sucking as it doesn't cause any problems. He said his kids all sucked their thumbs, too, and were fine.

I do understand why you don't your child to suck her thumb as I would prefer my daughter didn't. I've some friends who were thumb suckers as kids and they all said they outgrew it as they got older.

Good Luck!

Well, my 6 year old was in the same boat. We started out with this - no sucking your thumb unless you are going to sleep - and just stuck with it. My little girl is very girly, so we also played up the whole "your going to make your teeth grow in ugly" thing. We told her when she lost her first tooth, her big girl teeth would come in and if she kept sucking her thumb she would get teeth like a horse. Sounds mean, but hey it worked! She still sucks her thumb a little (mostly when she's really tired). Sometimes when she does and I tell her to stop, she cries but you just have to let them cry. She'll eventually grow out of it. Good luck! :)

Just to let you know, I sucked my thumb till i was 14 yrs old. Everyone tried to get me to stop. Come to find out, my dentist told my parents that because I sucked my thumb so long, I am the only one in the family that doesn't need braces. It kept all my teeth growing in straight.

Her sucking her thumb to be honest with you is a security issue. Something is making her feel insecure. Maybe this will help.

Good Luck.

E.? is that you?

I wouldn't worry about it so much. I was a thumb sucker from the womb (my parents actually got to watch me start to suck my thumb on the first ultrashound!!). My daughter is also a thumbsucker from a very young age (6 months or so)...maybe it is genetic in our case.
Anyway, I grew out of it. Mostly I quit on my own once I got to school b/c I realized the other kids didn't do it and I would get teased. I remember being in kindergarden or 1st grade and wanting to stop, even when I sleep. So my mom gave me a special stuffed dog for me to hug when I slept. I evently just replaced the habit. Also, my teeth are very striaght and I have never needed braces. For the most part I would just keep her hands occupied when she is awake, and not worry about it too much. More than likely she will stop on her own once she hits school.