Hello,
My 15 month old daughter sucks her thumb which is not really a huge concern for me at least at this point, however what is happening to her thumb is becoming an issue and I am worried about it. Her thumb is swollen, red, cracked and was bleeding yesterday :-( I have stopped giving her her "sniggli" blanket except at nap time and bed time and that seems to help as she tends to suck her thumb more when she has that or is tired. But what can I do for her thumb to help it heal. We play a game and put lotion on it but it's in her mouth again so soon after I am worried about her digesting the lotion I just put on. I know it hurts her as she went and got the lotion last night...I am at a loss about what else I can do to make it better for her......UI don't want it getting worse that's for sure.
Thank you for all the great responses....I decided to try the Lanolin as I used that when I was BF and it worked wonders and i know it's safe for her to swallow if she does suck after I put it on. Last night she kept showing me her thumb and when I asked if it hurt she was telling me "yes" poor thing. I am also going to talk to the doctor about it when we go for her check-up next week....
Thanks again fro all your help, I'll let youi know what the lanolin does and doctor says....
Try to limit thumb sucking to bed/nap time (because that is when she really needs it) the rest of the time try to put lotion ( Aquaphor does wonders) on it and put a bandaid on it so it cant get wet/sucked and has a chance to heal. this time of year is terrible on everyones skin and children have it much worse good luck!!!
just wanted to let you know i use the lanolin from my bf too. it works great for my daughter. she is the only of my three to thumb suck, so it's all new to me too!
good luck!
M.
My daughter also sucks her thumbs, acctually both, and they were both red and chapped. We have been putting chapstick on them and it seems to have worked. Good luck. B.
I would try putting neosporin ointment on it and them put a sock on her hand so she can't get to her thumb. Good Luck!
Try lanolin. It's natural and wont make her sick if she gets it in her mouth.
Hi R.,
I would have it checked if it is swollen, or extremely painful, can be just real red from the irritaion but make sure that it is not infected looking. I use olive oil on my daughters thumb and it works pretty good and if she sucks on it, it is not getting gross lotion in her mouth. I also go in and remove her thumb after she falls asleep and rub some on then hoping that she wont roll over and stick her thumb back in for a while :)
Best of luck
Warmly,
C.
Hey R., I have the perfect soloution!! Lansinoh!!! It is used for breastfeeding mothers soar nipples. it is safe for baby to ingest and has awsome healing properties!!! try and apply a few times a day and if you can sneak in when she is asleep (and hopefully does not have her thumb in her mouth)try to apply so she gets a good amout of time without it going in her mouth It's classic for kids thumbs and fingers (those that suck them) to get really chapped this time of year, she's not the only one suffering for sure. good luck and give the lansinoh a try. you can pick it up at any cvs/right aid. L. C.
My daughter is also a thumb sucker, and I use the Lansinoh Lanolin. I use it on everything from her thumb and hands to her cheeks where it is red from drool. It absorbs very quickly, and as others said is not harmful if they lick it.
For her thumb, at this age she may be willing to play a "game" where you put the lanolin on (don't hesitate to make it thick) and cover with a glove and the game is to see how long she can keep the glove on for. Even if it is for a short while, it will help. Good luck!
Make sure she doesn't have a bacterial infection on her thumb. You can try mixing an antibacterial oitment like bacitracin with lanolin. Can you give her a pacifier during the day? I know some people don't believe it in, but pacifiers are easier to give up then the thumb!
I agree with the lanolin - it fixes everything and is safe. Try (gently)taking her thumb out of her mouth after she has fallen asleep - then dry off the thumb and apply the lanolin. Also use a humidifier in her room.
My son did this and always had a huge, gross looking bump on his thumb, but your daughter's situation is much worse even than his. I think you have to be very careful what you put on her thumb because of the risk of ingesting it. For example, Vaseline is a petroleum byproduct - it's not meant to be eaten! The stinging when you apply it is also a problem - for her and it can be a signal that what you're using is not a great idea to get into the blood stream. I would definitely talk to the pediatrician if there is any chance that she will suck her thumb with anything on it.
You could work at healing from within too, with a really outstanding nutritional product. Reliv's "Now for Kids" gets into the individual cells very quickly and boosts the immune system. This is great overall, but it can help with the skin healing. It helps with rashes and eczema too so the skin, as your largest organ, is definitely getting the benefit. There are no warning labels on Reliv so it's all food - you can give her as much as you want. It comes in vanilla and chocolate. I'm happy to share more info.
Good luck!
I second the lanolin. I used it when I was begining breastfeeding and it worked wonders for dry cracked skin. Since then I have used it for diaper rash and other minor cuts on the kids. And it is safe if injested.
When I was little, in the winter my hands would get cracked and red. My mother used to slather Vaseline on my hands when I was ready to go to bed and have me wear cotton gloves to sleep. In the morning, my hands were so much better, if not completely ok. See if you can get some little cotton gloves for your girl and slather her thumb with Vaseline and put a glove on right before she goes to bed. Good luck. (You can also try cutting off a piece of a clean cotton t-shirt, wrapping it loosely around her thumb after applying the vaseline and then putting a cotton sock over her hand.)
Try using raw shea butter or coconut oil on the finger...I use raw shea butter and that's the only ingredient to think about (www.sheabutterhut.com) or organic coconut oil from the health food store - it's solid at room temp, generally and makes a great moisturizer that is totally digestible. =)
I found that if I covered my daughter's thumb at night/nap, she didn't sleep as well since she needed to such her thumb to calm down. Therefore, during the day I put ointment on it and then covered it with a secure band-aid. That really helped after a day or two with the cracking.
A fantastic product that will work great is Renew skin therapy. It uses tea tree oil has the healing agent in it. Which allows it to absorb quickly & wouldn't be harmful if she put it in her mouth after.
I've seen so many have great results with this lotion! It's truly great!
Use the lotions, as suggested by other moms, and wrap her thumb well, the entire thumb, and tape it sealed, whenever possible (ie: when she does not REALLY need to suck) as it'll obviously be a deterant to her sucking. It'll heal quicker if you can limit the amount of time she sucks on it.
R.,
You already have so many great responses, but I just wanted to let you know, my 19 month old has been sucking her thumb since she was a few months old - and in the last 4-5 months she's had a callus on her thumb (she'll only suck the one) and I haven't done much about it. Although she will sit there and pick at it, I make sure she takes extra long baths and soaks it and I put lotion on it after her bath, that's about it. It's been worse and it's been better, but really it'll heal in it's own time and hopefully she'll stop sucking her thumb soon and it will go away.
Best of luck,
L.
