Mom Still Sucking Her Thumb

Am I reading this right, that she's 33?

She's an adult and old enough to decide what works for her and what doesn't. If it's a problem for her then she alone has the opportunity to change it.

It's hard to see the ones that we love exhibiting behavior that we don't feel is in their best interest. But the truth is that we all have consequences to our actions, and we are the only ones with the power to decide by consequence what we wish to have in our lives and what we don't. We cannot put ourselves in a position of judging someone else's behavior and using our own opinions as our basis for judging.

If this is the biggest problem that your sister has, employ an attitude of gratefulness. We all have our quirks, and she must be a very interesting person if she feels comfortable doing that, and not keeping it a secret from you! lol :)

She needs to go and see a psyc to see if there is an underlying problem she just doen't know how to cope with. That is just an ugly thing to do. It is also bad for her finger nail. I watched a little girl such her nail right off her hand because the sucking killed her finger nail.

Totally agree with Laura. I couldn't have said it better myself.

I sucked my thumb (through all kinds of battles with my parents) until I was about 10 when they had an orthodontist insert an appliance that made it impossible. I often wonder if I wouldn't use food as a crutch now, if I had my thumb instead :)

If it helps her cope with stress, I can't see any harm in it at all.

Well, it's a little odd, but let's just remember babies/kids suck their thumbs for comfort. It's sort of a security blanket. For adults it's a coping mechanism. Like smoking or worse. Sure it looks silly at best, but if it works then so be it. Does she do it more when she's stressed or worried. Since it's something that she does not hide from you, it could also be a bit of a silent cry for help. Perhaps, you could have a heart-to-heart with her to find out what's bugging her?
(If sucking my thumb gave me any kind of comfort, I would totaly do it - I'm stressed to the gills)
Best wishes,
Christina

Honestly I struggled with trying to stop sucking my thumb for years. My parents and I tried just about everything. I found it very embarrassing. When I was 16 I had a Thumb guard, orthodontic appliance put in. No one could tell that it was there and within a month I no longer had any urges to suck my thumb. But stopping has to be her decision. I don't believe that it is too expensive to have one put in.

Gods Blessings

At 33, it's definitely her own choice! I will tell you that I wish I had NEVER STOPPED sucking my thumb! I sucked my thumb until I was almost 13 (I only did it at home or at night and never in front of any peers after about age 5), but unfortunately I found several years later that smoking gave me the same calm satisfied feeling that sucking my thumb had given me. I smoked for 15 years and still have some when I drink wine or beer. I'm quite sure it would have been far more healthy if I had just never stopped sucking my thumb. It was a total stress reliever and had an amazing calming and soothing effect on me. If this is her "vice", then just think that things could be FAR worse!

Oh -there is also very little real evidence that sucking thumbs at any age affects teeth. It never affected mine or anyone else's I know who sucked their thumbs. As an adult, her teeth will not be affected since they're her permanent ones and unless she does something cosmetic to change them -they'll stay the way they are now.