Thumb Sucking 4 Yr Old

I was a thumb sicker until I was in 4th grade. The only reason I stopped was that my parents bribed me. My brother also sucked his finger. He was bribed with a skate board and I was bribed by being promised that I could get my ears pierced once I stopped for 3 months. Both my brother and I stopped and never went back. Is there anything that she really wants that you could bribe her with?

Maybe if you offer to paint her fingernails every day that she does not suck her thumb. Get some pretty colors, and put a new color on every night if she has had a good day. I don't know if it will do the trick, but if she is a girly girl it just might give her a little incentive to be a big girl.

Hi My Name is C. I am married with 4 kids all teenagers the oldest is gonna be 20 in Dec and my youngest is gonna be 16 I have 2 special needs children andy and grace my little angels. my Daughter grace used to suck her thumb when she would watch T.V or when she was tired i never did anything about it because it made her feel safe and sucure. so i didn't want to take that away from her she finally stopped i sucked my thumb for a long time because my mom tried everything to make me stop. what ever she did i would want to suck my thumb more just let her suck her thumb .Like everyday tell her that she would be a big girl if she didn,t suck her thumb she will grow out of it my gracie is't needing her thumb anymore just be patient she will be fine. good luck if you need anything else to talk about or ask just e-mail me ____@____.com .I love to help other moms because i have been through it all lol good luck ~C.~

Baby Steps: Thumbs Up!
Breaking a thumb-sucking habit
By Anita Sethi, Ph.D.

Q My 4-month-old baby girl likes to suck her thumb. I have tried giving her different pacifiers, but she doesn't like them. I tried mittens, but now she knows how to take them off, and when she can't remove them, she will suck the mittens. Please, do you have any suggestions on how to make her stop this bad habit?

A At 4 months, thumb sucking is not a bad habit — in fact, it's the opposite — and there's no need to try to stop your daughter from doing it.

As you may know, babies are born with a sucking reflex. Your daughter's capacity to bring her hand to her mouth is a product of the Babkin reflex, which can even be seen in utero. I know many new mothers who first saw their thumb-sucking baby through the grainy haze of a sonogram in their obstetrician's office.

Some babies have a stronger need to suck than others — like all areas of infant development, there is wide variation in what is normal. Just because your friend's baby doesn't take a pacifier or suck her thumb, or just because your neighbor managed to stop her baby from sucking her thumb by using mittens, that doesn't mean your little one will be the same, and you should not expect her to be.

The importance of sucking for infant self-soothing has been demonstrated in a variety of studies. For example, pacifier use or thumb sucking is often offered as a way for babies to tolerate the pain of needle punctures or other painful medical procedures. Nonnutritive sucking has been found to help the development of preterm babies, and in all babies, thumb or pacifier sucking is associated with self-calming. Thumb sucking may increase when your baby is tired or unhappy, as well as when she is unwell or teething. The thumb, therefore, provides your baby with a way of calming herself down — providing her with important experience in managing her emotions. In addition, a baby who is not distressed can then devote her energies to exploration, to eating, and to the many other challenges of development.

Research also suggests that thumb sucking that stops by the age of 2 will have little to no effect on growing teeth. Some studies indicate that any tooth misalignment that occurs among children who suck their thumb for even longer will self-correct if it discontinues by 5 years of age or so.

If you're worried that your baby will become "addicted" to her thumb, you may have a legitimate concern. But most children stop by the time they finish the toddler years, and one researcher suggests that more than half stop by 7 months. So there is good reason to believe that your daughter will stop on her own eventually. Some children stop sucking during the day, but nighttime habits linger for a little longer; this also wanes with time or, if necessary, with interventions like the awful-tasting liquids you may have seen in stores, which are not to be used on children of this young age.

You can also find a compromise between total indulgence of the habit and complete prohibition. For example, you can let her suck her thumb to soothe herself when she's cranky, but once she has calmed down (if she's not asleep), you can offer her some exciting toys so that she's motivated to use her hands for other purposes. If she falls asleep with her thumb in her mouth, you can try to remove it so that she doesn't become accustomed to sleeping that way. Such methods can help thumb sucking become just one aspect of a repertoire of self-soothing skills.

Babytalk, April 2004

Source: www.parenting.com

Ask Dr. Sears: Stop Thumb Sucking
By William Sears, M.D.

Q My 2-year-old is sucking her thumb, and I can see that her teeth are starting to protrude from it. Can you suggest any remedies to break a toddler from this habit?

A Thumb sucking is a natural instinct. When I look at ultrasounds, I see many babies sucking their thumbs in the womb. Sucking soothes sore gums during teething, and is often a baby's first way to self-calm. During the first year, smart infants figure out that non-nutritive sucking (sucking without feeding) settles upset tummies by activating the flow of saliva.

Because infants associate sucking with pleasure, they continue the habit throughout toddlerhood, and revert to it especially during times of stress. This need to suck usually diminishes sometime during the first year. Some toddlers, however, retain thumb or finger sucking as a normal method of using their body parts for pleasure or relaxation.

The good news is that by the time a child is old enough that thumb sucking might harm her teeth, she should also be old enough to understand how it is harmful. Be sure your child has regular dental check-ups every six months to a year, and try these five tricks to keep her habit from becoming a problem:

Keep little thumbs busy. Bored little thumbs and fingers often find their way into the mouth. The time-honored way of breaking any annoying or harmful habit is "distract and substitute." As soon as you see the thumb going toward the mouth, quickly distract your child into a hands-on activity or insert a toy into both hands.

Offer a sub. Tell your daughter: "When you feel like sucking your thumb, squeeze your thumb instead of sucking it." Or play the game of hide the thumb: "As soon as you feel like sucking your thumb, wrap your fingers around your thumb and hide it." Giving your child something else to do with her hands can change a harmful habit into a harmless one.

Track the trigger. Try to identify which situations set off her thumb sucking. Is she tired, bored, or stressed? Eliminate as many triggers as possible and quickly intervene with a play activity to ward off the thumb sucking.

Play show and tell. In front of a mirror, have your child run her index finger over the protruding upper teeth and put her fingertip in the gap between the upper and lower teeth while she bites. Put on a big smile and protrude your own upper teeth outward, saying something like: "You could develop Bugs Bunny teeth if your thumb keeps pulling on your upper teeth. But, if you don't suck your thumb so often and pull on them so hard, you'll have pretty teeth and a pretty smile." And then put on your pretty smile.

Let the thumb rest at night. In my pediatric practice experience, the most severe cases of overbite occur in those who strongly suck their thumbs throughout the night. Discourage her from going to sleep when sucking her thumb, as she will tend to revert back to this comfortable sucking habit when she wakes up. Some other tips:

• Give her a teddy bear that's so big she'll have to wrap her hands around it.

• Put her to bed with her hands occupied with a book or toy.

• Set up alternative sleep-inducing props, such as lullabies and music. Make a medley of you singing your child's favorite sleep-inducing lullabies, and let it continuously play throughout the night. If your child is comfortable going to bed with this music, she is more likely to resettle with the music rather than her thumb when she wakes up

Ask Dr. Sears: Putting an End to Thumb Sucking
By William Sears, M.D.
Q. My kindergartner still sucks her thumb. Will this cause problems, and, if so, how can I get her to stop this habit?

A. Thumb sucking by a baby or young child is a source of comfort and gratification, and it's generally considered a sign of emotional health. But habitual thumb sucking beyond age 4 can cause an overbite and other dental misalignments that may require costly visits to the orthodontist down the road. Also, the skin on the thumb can crack, bleed, and become infected. And an older child will more than likely be teased by other kids about still being a baby.

To help her nix the habit:

Don't nag. Doing so may make your child rebel and suck her thumb even more.

Keep her hands busy. As soon as you see her thumb on its way toward her mouth, distract her. For instance, pull out crayons and a favorite coloring book or encourage her to help you set the table.

Show her that thumb sucking isn't pretty. If she doesn't already have an overbite, imitate a bucked-tooth appearance, such as Bugs Bunny's, so she can see what could happen later on. If she does have an overbite, have her run her finger over the protruding upper teeth so she understands that she's doing herself harm.

Track what triggers the habit. Is it hunger, boredom, tiredness, or stress? Once you've figured it out, do what you can to sidestep the situation. For example, if your child sucks her thumb in the late afternoon when she's hungry, make sure she gets a snack earlier in the day. Or if it happens when she's bored, keep toys or books on hand for times when she has to, say, wait in line.

As a last resort, get a dental appliance. Your dentist can provide one that will help discourage your child from putting her thumb in her mouth and will prevent further damage to her teeth.

Thumb sucking among young kids is a very common habit — one that is considerably easier to break the sooner you try to do so.

Parenting, October 2002

dont be discouraged by this...i have an 8 year old that still sucks his fingers! its a way of soothing and i find there's nothign wrong with it unless the doctor tells you otherwise. it's all natural and eventually as she gets older, she will realize she wont need to suck her thumb anymore. hope this helps.
~C.~

Hi C.-

There's this device called the Thumbguard that's sold through Leaps and Bounds you could try. Check it out at www.leapsandbounds.com These people think of everything....good luck!

I think I would take a hands off approach to this for the next few weeks/months depending on her stress level. Make sure she washes her hands often and keeps that special thumb clean, but other than that there is not much you can do right now. Thumb sucking is a comfort response for her. She just started headstart which will cause stress for her and she will need that comfort item (her thumb). Also, your constant reminders to her that you don't want her to suck her thumb are stressful, which cause her to need comfort. It is a cycle. Eventually she will decide on her own that she doesn't need it anymore. If you want, you could start trying to introduce a new lovey type of comfort object (like a stuffed animal or doll that she already likes) but you should avoid telling her that she has to use it instead. Just present it to her as an option.

If you want, after letting several weeks lapse with this more relaxed and understanding approach, you could start setting a timer for her when she feels the need to suck and gradually reduce the time.

My 3 and a 1/2 year old sucks his thumb too, particualarly when he's tired. he's so busy at dayc are during the day that he forgets about it and has started to grow out of it. I'm not too worried, except that it has started to push his front teeth out. I hope he's outgrown it by the time his permanent teeth come in! (I have a 19 year old sister in law who still sucks her fingers.,. if it gets to that point, then I'd be worried!!)

I have a three year old little girl who does the same. it isn't constant but enough that I am a little worried. Her pediatrician recommends doing exactly as you already are...telling her it is a bedtime thing and that she is a big girl. He further recommended that I not make a big deal about it. As you probably already know, thumbsucking is a soothing technique...since she is really just adjusting to headstart,trying to curb her sucking now probably won't work.
And finally he said just to give it time. Children are very observant and she will probably notice that not many or none of the other children are doing it.
Personally, my biggest issue with the habit is the germ factor. Believe me, my children get their hands washed but there are always those times when things are hectic and it gets forgotten! Overall, hang in there...I think we'll find our little suckers will kick the habit sooner than we think.

Hi C. My almost 5 yr old son still sucks his thumb. we used to make a big deal out of it but then he would hide when he sucked his thumb or he would be really embarrassed. So we just encourage him to suck his thumb at night and if I see that he is doing it a lot during the day, I offer a hug, suggest that he might like to rest, or offer an activity for him to participate. he has always had wicked tantrums and sucking his thumb is what calms him down, so I stopped fighting it. I know he wont do it forever. Good luck

my 5 year old does the same-- have you brought her to the dentist yet and had them expain the issues of sucking her thumb? Our dentist showed gabby pics of kids who are sucking their thumb and pics of their "buck teeth" he also showed her braces and pics of kids in braces-- this helped for a while because she is a princess of cource and wants a pretty smile lol!! She still sucks her thumb to get to sleep at night but at least its not all day like it was-- kindergarten also helped becasue non of her friends suck their thumbs! -- i just figure that we should start putting money aside for braces!

That is a hard one. My daughter stopped at 9. The only good thing is she only did it to fall asleep. Of course her teeth took a toll so she needs dental work. I dont think that there is an easy anwser. The good thing is she wont be sucking her thumb forever.

i have a 21 year old step daughter who sucked her finger until 12 and she is a happy productive successful adult now. let her be when shes ready to stop she will stop worrying about people think about it

Don't make a big deal of it...when she does it act like you don't see her doing it...as far school go she made need to do it there until she gets to know the people there... it not a safe place yet...it new for her... My sister did the same thing it will stop.... good luck

I'm going to embarass myself here, but oh well. I sucked my thumb until I was 14! No one ever made me stop, and it was very comforting to me. The only reason why I stopped was because I went to a sleepover, fell asleep sucking my thumb, and everyone made fun of me the next morning. It was mean, but it worked. She will give it up when she is good and ready. It's not hurting her, and it gives her comfort, but that's ok. She may need it. I know that the Dr says it can ruin their teeth, but it doesn't. As long as she's happy, I would let it go.

Hi C., I do have a 4 1/2 years old daughter too and I had the same problem what I did was: she LOVES to play princess and all the stuff like that and also she loves to put make up so I bought some nail polishes for kids and I told her that if she wanted me to paint her nails like the princess (Ariel) she will have to stop sucking her thumb !! and it worked !! she still does it at night when she goes to sleep. But I also noticed that she socked her thumb when she was bored and I tryed to keep her busy everytime I see her socking her thomb I put some paper and crayons or tried to play with her and she will stop. Try to keep her busy doing something that she likes. Because I bet she doesn't sock her thomb at school, or she does?

Good luck,