Mothers Who Had Thumbsuckers

i have 9 year old twins how suck their thumbs. if you find something that works let me know!!!!

M.

There was another parent a few days ago with the same complaint on a youger child. My daughter and grandaughter both sucked their thumb they will out grow it. Dont make fun oof or put things on the thumb it only makes them feel depressed like they are an odd ball. They do and will outgrow in their time. It is not harming anything.
Good luck

I had a friend that her daughter was a thumbsucker at 8. She took her to I think a dentist or dr office. They gave her something that fit on their thumb and could not be removed unless cut off. Kind of costly I think like $200. She only wore it 1wk and no longer thumb sucks. Also there is an office I believe on North Rock road that specializes in I am not sure how to say this but oral fixations. I met a women that used to work in the office but those were some of the issues they had delt with. Goodluck.

Unfortunately it seems to have to be self motivated to get someone to stop. My daughter sucked her thumb until she was 7 and we tried everything to get her to stop. We tried offering money and toys, we painted gross tasting stuff on her thumb nail, we put a mitten on her hand before she went to sleep...nothing helped! My dad is an orthodontist and he said it was not worth putting a crib on her (this is the appliance that goes in the roof of the mouth) because a child who wants to suck that badly will just wiggle it loose over time. What finally worked for us? The first week of second grade my daughter went to school and there was a boy in her class who sucked his thumb. She came home and said that he looked like a baby sucking his thumb...did she look like that? When we said yes she said "I am NOT doing that anymore". We printed out a two month calendar and said we will check off the days that you do not suck your thumb...when you get to 30 days we'll buy you "x" (can't remember what it was). That night we put away her blankets that she slept with, because that seemed to be a part of the nighttime sucking. Within three days she was no longer sucking. She easily got to 30 days and we celebrated! Couldn't believe it was that easy after all we tried! So maybe try videotaping your son while he is sucking his thumb (if you can catch him in the act) and show him how it looks. Maybe then he'll realize that he doesn't want to look like that in third grade!

Hi I have a daughter who sucked her thumb until age 4. We asked her if we would buy her a hamster would she quit sucking her thumb? She said yes. So we went to the local pet store and visited with the hamsters and got all excited about having one and then that night she slept with her hand under her butt. She slipped a little here and there but then 3 weeks later we had a hamster. Then of course later on braces because teeth formed around thumb.
W.
A little about me I have 2 daughters 17 & 14 now. I live and work in Holt, MO

Hi I can tell you that I was a thumb sucker even past your child's age and I can tell you my parents tried everything and I do mean everything and they couldn't get me to stop. It's a security thing like a blankie, and the more you bother him, the longer it will be before he gives it up. Anyone who tells you to push him doesn't understand what it is.

I have twin boys who both sucked their thumbs. They wanted to stop but couldn't help themselves. They had asked for help, so we ordered Mavala Stop, a clear finger nail polish made in Switzerland. It has a bitter taste and discourages nail biting and thumb sucking. I got it online from some beauty place (google it). I only used it twice on them and they were over it (after doing it for 3 years)! Recently one of the twins started sucking another finger and asked if he could have the polish again. So far, he hasn't gone back. Hope it works for your son.

You know there could be a lot worse things he could be having trouble with. Just think how hard habits are to change for adults. Leave it be! He'll quit when it gets on his own nerves. Don't be embarrassed for him and if your relatives or friends say anything about it tell them to mind their own business. There are so many stresses in life these days, this should not be a cause for stress. It will resolve itself. You just love your boy and the heck with the rest.

Hi J.!
I am a single mom of one son. And I am responding from my own experience with thumb sucking and the results. Luckily my son didn't pick up on my bad habit, he never liked pacifiers either. But, I used to suck my thumb when I was little, but I didn't start until I was probably six or seven because I did what my little brother did. And we both got in trouble for it. But the result was, we both had to have braces on our teeth. Me, I had to have 10 years of braces, retainers, RPE, a device that is glued in to the top of your mouth, and you have to have a key to turn it every night, which tightens it and pulls your teeth where they are supposed to be, very painful, etc. Not fun at all. So I don't know if finding some pictures of people who needed braces on their teeth would work, to show them what could happen if they continue to suck their thumbs. But also too, my mom and dad tried some nasty tasting stuff, they put it on our thumbs so every time we attempted to stick our thumb in our mouth it would taste nasty. Eventually it worked. I know my brother and I had to have a blanket to go along with the thumb sucking as well, and then we got old enough we got them taken away. So that is a possibility to if that is another issue. Not sure if this experience will help. I will continue to pray, cause I know again, it's not fun to have braces for 10 years and be deprived from every thing kids love, like caramel apples from the fair, taffy, bubble gum, any chewy candies or hard sticky candies, all the fun stuff. That might be another way you could reason with them (or him) cause I know kids, they love their candy, sweets etc! Good Luck and God Bless!

Our dentist put a device in one of my son't mouths that made it impossible for him to suck his thumb. My sister sucked her thumb until she was 12 and my parents had the dentist do the same thing. I think insurance covered most of the cost....but even what we had to pay was cheaper than braces would have been in the long run. Best of luck. C.

Our daughter sucked her thumb until she was in the 8th grade. We even took her to a speech therapist, because she was pulling her top front teeth to front, and she was not
swallowing correctly. Finally her orthodontist fitted her
with a device that had little needle sharp projections from the roof of her mouth. We felt cruel, but it had to be done. She had braces so it was fastened tightly and she could not get the device off. Two days was all it took, and she had pricked her thumb a few times. I think it was
a week left on though. She was a strong willed child, but
no one said a word. We tried since 3 months old. There weren't pacifiers then. Good luck! R.

my cousin sucked her thumb as a child and everyone used to yell at her for it. She's a bit sensitive too, so this doesn't help at all. Now she's 24 and still sucks her thumb when really distressed or hurt deeply (emotionally). So I wouldn't yell at him for it, he should grow out of it on his own.

My parents tried everything to get me to quick sucking my thumb! And I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm 19 and still do it on occasion. It's a comfort source for me.

I guess you could try to bribe him (like with the hamster) LOL! My parents put pepper on my thumb and tried all kinds of crazy things, but it just never worked!

J. P
Hello I am a mother of three girls and the first 2 was thumb suckers. The oldest 24 years old has stopped on her own.The middle child is 20 years old and still to this day I have seen her suck her thumb. It is like a security blanket and most of the time when she does it she will have a silk ribbon or something real smooth that she can rub as she is sucking. I had been with alot of different people that was all against it but, neither one of them have braces nor do they need them. My youngest daughter has never sucked her thumb and I had one Denist tell me that she needed braces. Well she does not have them and as she got older her teeth now are strait, and it happened on it's own. I think alot of people jump the gun. Let the little guy be him self and what ever is meant for the guy will happen. Every thing happens for a reason. He will be okay! Just love him and do not let people give him a hard time about it. Take care and God Bless you all Tamara

My daughter will be 13 in March and still occasionally sucks her thumb! My biggest advice is to stop talking about it. The more you talk about it or try to discourage him or make him feel like he is doing something wrong, the more stress he will feel and the more he will cling to his thumb. I found that by not caring about the thumb or the blankie, my daughter has been able to curb her need herself. As realization sets in that she doesn't want her peers to know about her thumbsucking or blankie holding, the less she does it. Every now and then I find her in her room watching television holding and rubbing the blankie while sucking her thumb - it is her way of de-stressing and calming herself down from the hectic world we live in.

I don't have any advice, unfortunately but I can say that my son is 9 1/2 and does the same thing. He has always been a thumb sucker and I joke he will be sucking his thumb when he gets married. But I hope not!! My other two boys are NOT thumb suckers but this one sucked his in the womb! If you get any good responses, send them my way. Thanks!

S. (mom to three boys)

I don't think I would let it be. 9 is way to old to be sucking his thumb. It's going to cause dental and emotional problems.
My niece is constantly putting 2 of her fingers in her mouth and my sister-in-law started carrying around a thing of fragranced lotion in her purse. So whenever she put those fingers in her mouth she would put lotion on her hands, making them taste bad. It seemed to work pretty well. Can't hurt, right? Worst that happens, he has soft hands! :}