My 4 year old daughter has to suck on her pointer finger, and pull fuzzys out of her blanket. All day long. I tried just gently removing her hand reminding her. I told her I would give her a special treat if she could keep it out all day. I tried hot sauce whcih she she sucked it off or washes it. I even tried that thum stuff to help. She sucked it off then goes back to sucking. That stuff is nasty. They say take away things that cause to do it if she is tired so I took blanket away except naps. She does it when she is not. Any suggestions to help her to stop. Its becoming a problem cause of it messing her teeth up the dentist and could change her bone structure in her mouth.
I would like to thank you for all your responses. I am still going to try to encourage her to stop. I wouldn't worry about it if it wasn't for her finger having calluses on it and you can tell that she is hurting her mouth and the position of her teeth. I know they are baby teeth. Her dentist said the same if she doesn't stop she can casue damage on her bone structure. That worries me. I can see it taken effect already. I don't think she can wait two more years before she is in school to stop. The damage could be there before then.
I say let her continue to suck her finger. I sucked my finger until I was 10. My teeth are perfectly straight and I've never needed braces. This is comfort for her and I don't understand taking it away. She'll eventually grow out of this, and she's going to loose her baby teeth anyway. Let her be little.
Find a new dentist, it won't do anything to her bone structure. My daughter sucked the same finger till she was five. The calluses used to crack and bleed and she would still do it. Tried everything. There was a round gap in her teeth where she sucked on the finger. The more I bugged her about it the more she did it because it made her self consious. It was when I left her alone that she stopped. As her baby teeth fell out the adult ones came in perfectly.
Notice that the people who told you to let it go have either gone through this or had a child that has gone through it.
i also say let her do it. it's a comfort thing and obviously for some reason she feels she needs comforting. i sucked my thumb until i was in school (peer pressure made me stop) and i always get complimented on how straight my teeth are - no braces ever. i think that making your teeth crooked is an old wives' tale. my son now sucks this thumb and i consider it a blessing that when he gets upset he can console himself. he is two now, but has slept through the night since about two months old with no issues whatsoever! i think people make too big of a deal of finger/thumb sucking. eventually peer pressure will make her stop doing it in public, then stop doing it all together. pushing her and hounding her about it will only make it worse, in my opinion. she's not hurting anyone. good luck!
Hey T.,
My sister sucked her thumb until she was 12 and finally my parents took her to the dentist and had this special thing cemented to the roof of her mouth. It was metal and had prongs that stuck down. It didn't hurt her to eat but she couldn't put her thumb in her mouth and suck it comfortably it would poke her thumb. Also, Onestepahead.com sales this thing that is plastic that goes over the finger to prevent sucking. I would check into those two things. The dental thing is removable once the habit it broken. I think my sister wore her's for two years.
Hope this helps.
I went through the same thinjg 30 years ago with two of them. I learned to let it be. They will out grow it. They tell me now the harder I tried to make them stop the morethey did it for security reasons. They wont do it in front of people once they have been teased by other kids. So dont fret just let it run its course.....( I did tell them things like germs on there fingers would cause them to get really siock and made them always wash their hands.)
Try giving her times she is allowed to suck on her fingers. Start out with for example..when she wakes up, after breakfast, after lunch (nap..if she takes one), late afternoon, after dinner, bedtime. Give he about 10min except at nap/bedtime. After a week of this going okay take away time slot. Keep doing this. Bedtime being the last. Hope this works for you. It worked for my 4yr old. A phycologist told me of this tecnique to use. The hot sauce trick did work on her to finally break the bedtime cycle. I couldn't stop that one. She would do great until she would go to sleep. To this day,now 8, she LOVES hot sauce!!! Funny thing was she never put her thumb in her mouth. She just looked at it and threw a fit. She use to be such a princess back then. :-) She's now out to prove she's not!!!
Again...Good luck to you. She'll get it. You just have to set the rules down. Be sure not to tell her NOT to do suck, but reminder her it's not time to suck yet...she has to wait till....
Hi T., We're going through this with our 5 year old. We waited until she lost teeth and now has her first 2 big teeth coming in (she wasn't having any trouble with the bone structure). First of all we had the dentist tell her she had to stop because her new teeth are being pushed back (I guess because he is someone diffrent she listens to him better). And she to would wash the thumb sucking stuff off her thumb and go right back to it. But since the dentist told her she had to stop and told her they would put an appliance in her mouth so she couldn't she's more willing to use the anit-thumb sucking stuff. She prefers tape on her thumb. We bought some bandage type tape (they have in on a roll just like scotch tape) and we wrap some of that around her thumb and becuase of the texture she won't suck it. Dosen't work as well with tape on it. We do have an appointment with the orthodontist in a couple of weeks to see about putting the thing in her mouth to keep her from sucking. Gook luck!!
Hey there,
Try apple cider vinegar. Let her finger soak in it for 30 seconds or so. She won't be able to suck it off because it will be soaked into the skin. Good Luck!
M.
Dear T.. My daughter sucked her thumb and pulled the "fuzz off her blanket" until she was 8. The blanket only made it until she was 6 and she agreed to exchange it for a new one(without fuzz). I did keep it and saved some of the "fuzz balls" for her someday when she has her own kids. She even got one stuck up her nose! So, yes, the dentist told us the same thing about her teeth and wanted to put in a special device in her mouth for six months(it was several hundred dollars)to prevent her from getting her thumb in her mouth. So, I finally thought that if I could get her to quit for 2 weeks and then 4 weeks you can break the habit(like smoking). My daughter wanted to get her ears pierced and we made an agreement that if she could go a whole month without her thumb than she could get her ears pierced. I asked her teacher for help and put those nasty sticky hospital bandaids on her thumb to help remind her. Each day we celebrated her sucess with stickers. She had a few slip ups but we just reminded her about her "goal". The teacher was really good to help and so were the kids in her class. After being free for the whole month, on her birthday after school we went to the mall and she got her ears pierced! And, there hasn't been any problems since and her permanent teeth are straight! So, hope that helps. Almost any habit can be broken in 2 weeks. Good luck!
I had a similar problem. I had my four year old wear rings and wrap bandaids around her finger so that she realized when she was putting her finger in her mouth. I also painted her fingernails when she went for a day without putting her fingers in her mouth. She loves having pretty pink fingers and toes and it makes her more aware of her fingers. I just remember something else we tried. I let her chew sugarless bubble gum when we went shopping. That way I was always watching her, so I knew she wouldn't play with the gum, but it gave her something to think about while we were shopping, and it kept her from touching stuff in the store and putting her hands in her mouth.
My daughter sucked her thumb and when I tried to get her to quit, nothing worked. I finally talked to my dentist and he said to put popsicle sticks (broke in half) on each side of her thumb and tape them with medical tape. Each morning when she woke up if she had not taken it off, she would get a sticker on her chart for that day. He said it takes 28 days to break a habit, so at the end of the 4 weeks she had stickers on all of her days and she got a special prize and she has NOT sucked her thumb since.
Well let me tell you...I was told all my daughters life not to worry she would outgrow it...but now she is going on 14 and still sucks her 3 middle fingers it is so bad she does it at school she is constantly teased and it causes her to cry daily but she cannot seem to stop no matter how hard she tries, since it is such a habit...Her last dentist appointment was in December and now they are setting her up for braces since it gave her such an overbite...they are also talking about putting a rake in her mouth, which is exactly like it sounds it fits to the top of your mouth and will rake and possibly cut her fingers everytime she puts them in her mouth. It is a very costly thing to let them continue to suck thier fingers...not just financially but emotionally as well...
T.,
For me this problem is way worse than even potty training. This could have a permenant impact. I have an almost six year-old who still sucks her thumb. "I will stop Mommy", bla, bla, bla!!! I talked to our dentist about it who tells me that it is more of an emotional issue than a physical one. An addiction, a bit like a smoker or drinker. They have to decide that they want to stop and until they want to, there is not much we can do about it. When my older daughter told me she was ready to stop sucking her thumb, we would tape a tongue depresser to her thumb every night (we started with bandaids, but that didn't work), cut it so it was just a little longer than her thumb and it didn't poke her on the bottom. Once she had made the decision that she was ready, it only took about a week and we took the depressers off and she hasn't put her thumb in her mouth since. My nearly 6 year-old, says she is ready, but I can just tell she is not, she is just telling me what I want to hear. I hope she really decides soon!!
Good luck!!!!
Hi, T.. I suggest continuing to keep the blanket only for naps, and having her wash her hands everytime she sucks her finger. She may get tired of having to interrupt her playtime to wash over and over again. Also, I would resist talking about it with her all the time. Tell her matter of factly that she will be washing her hands everytime you see her finger in her mouth. Then, drop talking about it, unless you are just telling her to go wash. Kids love to feed off our stress, so she may do it just for your attention. See if this lessons the behavior at all. Good Luck!
