Son Sucking Thumb

I think 2.5 is too young. My son is 5.5 and we are really working on it right now. The dentist kept saying it was ok but you want him to quit before his permanent teeth come in. He suggested the Thumb Guard, it is working he rarely does it but I will catch him every now and then. Its comfort and a 2.5 year old still needs that. Good luck.

At 2.5 he may be a bit young to try and wean the thumb away unless you want to do something drastic. When they are a bit older they will understand a little more through explanation. I wouldn't really worry about it at this age unless it was affecting his speech. Good luck!!

www.leapsandbounds.com They have a device that fits over the thumb. Not sure if it works though.

Honestly? Don't worry about it right now. At his age the thumbsucking is a very important part of his self-soothing process. There is nothing wrong with his sucking his thumb, and he's still young enough that it won't cause any issue with his permanent teeth.

Two of my three daughters sucked their thumbs. My eldest was 4 the first time she quit. We just talked to her in the weeks leading up to her 4th birthday, saying that 4 year olds are big kids and don't need to suck their thumbs. This was done in a very conversational manner -- not demanding or forceful which I think would have stressed her out. And on her 4th b-day she stopped! Unfortunately she started up again about 5-6 months later when her sister was born, but only when she went to bed/was sleeping. That took a little longer to stop, but in the end we just put tape on her thumb and that worked fine (I don't recommend this for a 2 1/2 year old because of possible choking hazard).

My second daughter stopped when she was about 5 or 6 -- kindergarten age. She, too, mostly did it at night at that point.

I just found that it was so much easier to get them to quit when they were involved in the decision vs. being forced to do something before they were ready.

My girls both sucked their thumbs until after they started school. They only did it at night or when they were sick. It was great to know that they could self-soothe if they needed to.

When my son was a little over 2 years old my husband found his childhood Legos. My son really wanted to play with them, but we told him he had to be able to be trusted to not put them in his mouth. We said how he can show us is by not sucking his thumb and not putting other toys in his mouth. It took several months before he decided that he wanted those toys enough to stop, but then he did without a single hassle and with no backtracking. He has never once put his thumb back in his mouth. I think it helped because it was his decision. We made him show us for 1 week that he would not suck his thumb at all. We left the Legos where he would see them from time to time, but not where they were tempting him all the time. I hope this helps!

Let him suck his thumb! The need to suck normally stops at around age 4, and very few kids go to Kindergarten still sucking a thumb or paci. It is not hurting him, only comforting him. In a year or so, you'll be able to start reasoning with him about it to where he can make the choice himself to stop. That is my advice, and I speak from experience.

Let him decide when to quit.

I, too, worried about my son's thumbing sucking, especially with family and social pressure. The more I talked about him stopping and tried to get him to stop, the more he resisted and the more he sucked his thumb. I backed off. My son is now nearly 5, and over the years we have talked about him needing to stop sucking his tumb. He decided when he started Pre-K this year that it was time, and he's doing a good job. He still sucks his tumb, but he's in control so he stops himself saying, "Oh, there I go. I've got to stop that habit." This has been MUCH more positive than me trying to force the issue. It also helped that about 6 months ago we visited a dentist who also stated the importance of him stopping his thumb sucking and related it to him becoming a big boy. So my advice . . . it's one stresser that I'd work on slowly with your son rather than forcing the issue all at once.

I was also going to suggest the sheild that fits over the thumb from leaps snd bounds. Haven't tried it but seems that would work. Hopefully your son couldn't take it off? I would definitely look that up. Good Luck!! My son was a paci baby untill age three!

Leave him Alone! He is doing it for a reason to comfort himself, he will stop when he doesn't need to anymore. I had a hard childhood and I ended up sucking my thumb till I was an adult, then when I felt safe and didn't need to do it anymore I stoped. My parents tried putting stuff on my thumb the more they did the more I would suck my thumb. I had no dental issues from doing this, never had to have braces.

A friend recommended putting socks on my daughter's hands at night when she was about three years old. It is best to do when it is colder so that you can safety pin the socks to pajamas so they won't come off accidentally. My friend said that her children stopped sucking their thumbs in the day, too, when the socks had gotten them out of the habit at night.

Here is what I actually did: I felt bad about taking my daughter's thumb away from her when she was younger. She went to kindergarten still sucking her thumb when she was tired or stressed. Some time before she turned 6, I asked her if she wanted to stop sucking her thumb and she said she did. We began putting socks on her hands at night. She couldn't help herself in the day sometimes, though. She asked me one day if she could get her ears pierced and I told her that she could if she could go without sucking her thumb in the day for two weeks. It took her a few months to be able to do this, but she finally did. She got her ears pierced. The socks were on her hands at night until 6 weeks after that. (Sometimes she would be worried that the socks had fallen off or we had forgotten to put them on and she might suck her thumb.) We finally took them off and she has stopped sucking her thumb at night now! Yay!!! Those socks were probably on her hands at night for three months.

I tell you all this so that you can see that it will probably be much easier to wean your son from his thumb while he is younger if it is something you really want to do. Now that it is over, I don't really mind that my daughter sucked her thumb in kindergarten. However, I used to worry about it a lot!!

As a former thumb sucker, stop it now. I was 8 when I finally broke the habit and have problems with my permant teeth -- severe overbite of the top teeth. This is something I have not allowed my children to do. When I see them trying to suck their thumbs/fingers, I removed the thumb and either gave them something else to chew on (teething ring or cracker) or gave them a toy to hug or play with. You, your spouse, babysitter, parents, in-laws...everyone has to be on the same page with this and do the samething or it probably won't work.

BTW, my parents talked to me until they were blue in the face, punished me, swatted my hands, and put stuff on my thumbs (cried until I sucked it off and then went to sleep)...none of it worked until I was at a slumber party and fell asleep sucking my thumb. Two of the other girls made fun of me, I cried for several days and then stopped.

A Thumbguard. Just google it online and you can order straight from the manufactor

My son did the same thing. I just told him "No Thumb" and pulled it out every time he put it in his mouth. It took about 2 weeks and he stopped even at night. When I would check on him at night and it was in his mouth I pulled it out.
When I started the process he would fuss a little especially when he was tired. It was not like a temper tantrum. Just a light fuss. You just have to be constant with the process. Every time he puts it in you have to tell him No Thumb and pull it out. He will eventually start pulling it out by himself when you say it.
Good luck

My two oldest are thumb suckers. It is slowly resolving itself. They start to realize not to do it in front of other people and use it just at bedtime and over time that has decreased as they require less soothing. I suggest just ignoring it and giving him a lot of hugs and support...it will work itself out. My youngest had a binky and that was MUCH more of a nightmare!