Thumb Sucker - Beaufort, SC

If you find a good answer let me know. My little one will be 2 in march and she has been doing the same thing. My oldest had a pacifier and she thru it in the fire but you just can't do that to a thumb. LOL.

My son did this earlier, at about 6 months--he had his hands in his mouth constantly, and they were raw and bleeding. We put vaseline on his hand and covered them with socks. Yes, they still go in the mouth and get disgusting and wet, but it gave his hands time to heal. After awhile, he stopped. Since your daughter is 1 and needs her hands, I would suggest finding some little gloves, so she can still use her fingers.

I don't know if you can find it, but I used this stuff called Thumb on my daughter when she used to chew on her nails when she was little. You paint it on like finger nail polish, but it is clear and no smell, but get it in your mouth and it is the nastiest taste ever!!! I got mine in northern Indiana as one of those mom and pop drug stores. Or there is this from One Step Ahead http://www.onestepahead.com/product/117/984/117.html

Sorry your hubby is in Japan for a year, I've only had to deal with a 6 month deploy of my hubby over there but now we are on Recruiting Duty!! I'd rather he be in Japan for a year!

S.

With my daughter(when she was a year; she's 2 1/2 now)we limited her thumb-sucking to bed/nap times. We just told her that now was not the time. If she still sucked her thumb, we put her in her bed and told her that this was the place for thumb-sucking...she picked up after two times. For bedtimes, we put on waterproof Band-aids...you can use regular ones, but they are easier for them to take off...the waterproof they can't get their nails under...it kills the good feeling they get from sucking...and it doesn't wear off as quickly as the Thum (my daughter would suck and suck on it until she couldn't taste it anymore then be able to go on as if we hadn't even put it on there..) She will eventually stop, especially if you are consistent(that's always the word for parents, isn't it?). Good Luck!

S., I will tell you this, you will NEVER be able to stop her thumb sucking. It is a comfort thing for her, a security, like a blanket. My brother (who is 39 and still sucks his thumb), my 2 nephews, my neice and my oldest son suck their thumbs so we went thru the whole thing about it. I am not sure about the sores though cause they never got the sores. My son didn't care if anyone made fun of him. I do know when she gets old enough they have a mouth piece that they can put in to get her to stop.
S.
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Hey I don't have any thumb sucker,but I have heard about this product that you rub on their thunb and bc of the taste it is supposed to help break the habit. I have seen it in CVS ajnd other drug stores with all the other baby products.

Hello S.,
You can try to put the nail polish on that tastes nasty. It is used to help people stop bitting their nails but it would have the same effect for her since she puts her thumb in her mouth. Also, you can try a little hot sauce(wait till their are no blisters though, the pain would be to much for her). Just put some on her thumb and don't rinse it off, just dab it off to leave the flavoring on. Either she will stop or love the hot sauce like my friends son did! I know she is young, but try to give her special treats when you see that she is not sucking her thumb. I hope this helped a little and good luck!!!

AS a retired thumbsucker I can tell you she'll stop when she's ready... I sucked my thumb(at least at night) up until around 6th grade, it'll be embaraasing for her to do it once she starts school so then it'll transition to something she only does at home and if you keep on her about it then she'll go to just nights while she's sleeping... AS for the blisters I never got them I always had a cut on mine from my teeth being on it. Do NOT put hot sauce on it you cn try the anti-thumbsucking stuff they have in the druhg store but it never worked for me I just stopped when I was ready to stop. To be honest now, I do it every now and then, not often just when I'm stressed and have a hard time sleeping.

Sorry to say I have no advice on this other than to comment on the Thumb stuff. I can remember my parents using stuff on me when I was little. I think it was actually tobasco or something to that effect (HOT is all I remember!). I would just suck it all off & then tell them in the morning that "they burned the baby", then popped my thumb back into my mouth!

The yucky tasting stuff -- there is one called "Thum" is sometimes behind the pharmacy counter. I tried it because my kids were biting their nails. That one has to be applied about twice a day. It wasn't strong enough and I had to get a different product. I think it was called Stop Bite. They hated it and I only had to apply it a couple times. It only has to be applied every few days.

Good luck!

I honestly have no clue..our son had that happen a few times and all the advice I got is the same...and we put hot sauce on all our food..so that wouldnt work. I think for some kids the more you try to get them NOT to, the more they will do it. Our son still sucks his thumb but not often and definatly does it if it is mentioned..
For it to heal, we fought to keep a sock on his hand--he would peal bandades off, etc.