My Son Is 8 Yrs Old and Sucks His Thumb

Have you tried that finger nail biting stuff? Its a clear polish used on nail biters and it tastes awful!! You might try it and see if it helps.

When I was little, my parents tried everything. They wrapped my hands in gauze, put gloves on my hands, put bitter or spicy paint on my fingers, but nothing worked until I was ready to give it up. I needed the comfort to get to sleep. What finally motivated me around age seven or eight was:

1) I was embarrassed for my friends to know I still sucked my finger (sleep overs).

2) My dentist (who was very friendly and gentle) explained that I may end up with buck teeth and it would cost lots of money, cause me lots of extra dentist visits and would probably make me get braces which would be uncomfortable, painful and get food stuck in them.
He was very kind and respectful, but also very persuasive that this was not a good thing to keep doing. He told me that it was up to me and he believed I could do it if I wanted to and challenged me that if I quit sucking my finger completely, for ten days straight and came back to show him, he would give me a gift certificate to McDonald's of my very own, along with a certificate showing I had quit.

My own motivation to stop because of embarrassment and to prove to myself I could do it, mixed with the extra motivation of my dentist's challenge(I wanted to please him and wanted the McDonald's gift certificate) was enough to motivate me.

I had to have my older sister help to make sure I didn't suck my finger in my sleep, and it took a few nights of trying before I made it through the night without sucking my finger at all, but that was the end of it. I was very proud to go back after a few weeks to report to the dentist that I had quit. I was very excited when he gave me a "certificate of achievement" showing I was successful and then gave me the real treat (for a seven year old), a trip to McDonald's where I could pick whatever I wanted and pay by myself with my own gift certificate! I never did end up needing braces or a retainer despite sucking my finger that long.

As a former thumb sucker I can tell you there was nothing anyone could do to make me stop. I did it on my own when I was ready. Good Luck!

As a former thumb sucker (till I was 12) and the mother of a thumb sucker I'd like to tell you he'll out grow it and not to worry about it. That's the approach my mother took and that's what I'm taking with my soon to be 5 year old thumb sucker. But if he's doing it all the time then you may need to do more about it. Does he do it at school or is it only at home (by the time I was 8 I only did it at home and as I got older it was only when overly tired or sick) You could also try putting something on his hands at night. That's what I had to do to stop my own habit. My daughter I'm not going to worry about till kindergarten. My dentist and doctor said to wait till she starts school. And I was told to not worry about her teeth right now (baby teeth). But I never had to wear braces and I have straight teeth. I get asked all the time who did my braces and I get to say that my teeth are complements of God. Good luck, try putting socks or gloves on his hads at night. It's a habit and at night he's not aware of what he's doing.

You don't mention when your son sucks his thumb. My daughter sucked her thumb only at night when she was about six. First we talked about whether or not she wanted to stop and she did. So, we started with us lying in be together at night. I asked her to try to keep her thumb out of her mouth for as long as she could and I would count in my head. I forget the details, but let's say she kept it out for 50 counts. The next night, I told her I would hold her hand until I counted to 60 in my head, then we upped the number until she fell asleep before she got her thumb in her mouth. That was it!

I sucked my finger and had a blanket I had to rub, till I was 10. My teeth are perfectly straight. What made me stop, was I was going to a slumber party and I didn't want the other girls to see me sucking my finger. Kids suck their thumbs for security reasons. My father traveled all the time and was rarely home, so I'm sure I did it because I felt more secure since he was gone all the time. You may want to consider quiting your job, or cutting back on the hours some to spend more time w/ him, so he'll feel more secure.

not to sound cruel but tobasco sauce is pretty effective, that's what we used on my neice before she'd finally quit. they have a medicine (? for lack of a better term) that can be painted directly on the thumb too that tastes nasty. good luck!

Hi, M.. My brother still sucked his thumb at this age too, and my parents went to the dentist, and they put some sort of thumb guard behind his teeth, so his thumb would not fit comfortably in his mouth anymore. It worked, but I don't know how long it took. Maybe there is another comfort measure you can find for him instead of his thumb- something special to sleep with? Is he worried about it or what his friends might think? Maybe he could invite a friend to spend the night when the thumb sucking stops. He may not be bothered by it at all, because it is probably just a habit to him. I would think the dentist would have some good suggestions. Good Luck!

i think it's important to allow children to "self sooth" this is a skill they need for life. it will stop on it's own... in his time. now i will say i came to this conclusion the hard way, of course. he won't get braces 'til later, anyway. now maybe if he' older and still doing it, then you might try to stop it. at this point, i think discouraging it unless he's in his room. that's my 2 "sense."

from a former thumb sucker :)

my first thought was this must be a sensitive little boy...i was sooo shy so i actually remember sucking my thumb, i don't think i quit till i was 6 or 7...and then it was because i was embarrassed because "big kids" don't suck their thumb. (yes, i actually remember feeling this way) has anything happened recently that might be causing him stress? my little brother was also a thumb sucker, and quit around 5-6 but started again when my folks divorced. it went away again on it's own. most kids quit on their own around this age. he's old enough that you could talk to him about it and explain, yes that big kids don't do that, but also that it will hurt his teeth and make them all crooked and goofy looking. (i wouldn't tell him it would make him "ugly"..) tell him that braces are very expensive and you don't want to have to spend a lot of money on his teeth if he's going to keep sucking his thumb and make them all crooked again. but keep in mind too that he won't be ready for braces for several years and by then it's very unlikely he'll still be doing it. an 8 year old should be able to understand these things, at least on some level. good luck!

I sucked my thumb until I was like 11 or 12. I have straight teeth- never needed braces. When I started having sleepovers with my friends, I was embarassed to suck my thumb. So, I decided on my own to stop. My parents had tried all kinds of stuff- bandaging my thumb, tobasco sauce on my thumb, bribing me with money or new clothes, etc... Nothing worked until I really wanted to quit. You didn't mention how often he's sucking his thumb- is it only at night or is it all the time?

It is a bit too late for this one but I told my daughter that she could suck her thumb all she wanted to until she lost her first tooth, then it was over. We talked about this for months. And the night it fell out, she stopped - just like that.
Maybe you could set a date, like the start of next school year. And try this approach. It worked remarkably well for us!