Thumb Sucking...

My son is 4 1/2 and still sucking his thumb, although mainly when he's tired or sick now. I hear the best advice it to let them grow out of it??? Although if you find any great advice, I'd love to hear it. Thank you.

Dear J.,

If your child is having difficulty giving up sucking, its an indication of a need for a good reason. How about trying to get your child interested in sucking from a straw often.

Sucking is basic to developing that begins in infancy. It develops binocular vision & tracking of the eye's, bladder & bowel control. Its the core stage to development & growth of the body.

Some children need to suck more to support development that may be lagging. If your interested, you can learn more information with regards to benefits with using a straw from this link: HANDLE.org

Anyone can find benefits to using a straw.

Good Luck!

I sucked my fingers until I was 11. My parents attempted to get me to stop but they were unsuccessful. I stopped when I was ready. Two of my kids sucked their thumbs (my youngest is now 20) and they stopped on their own. I would suggest that you don't make an issue out of it and allow them to continue. I can almost guarantee that they will stop before they turn 20!!!!

i've heard that kids can stop all on their own or that you can talk them out of it (really?) but i think it just depends on the child. i was a super-stubborn kid and my parents tried everything. tabasco sauce, sock over thumb at night, nasty nail-biting polish. i'm sure they tried reasoning with me too. i just couldn't/wouldn't quit, i was an addict. i was only able to stop after i got braces and they stuck the thing on the roof of my mouth that made it not fit right. obviously i didn't need it by that point but i just couldn't stop by myself.

i've heard going to school helps with a lot of things. your son may decide it's not cool to do anymore or at least stop it there. it may be that the bigger deal you make of it, the more he will resist. it all depends on your son's personality. just don't beat yourself up if you can't get your son to quit. there's always braces..

My friend is going through this with her son. She decided to allow him to chew sugarless gum during the day under two conditions....1)He couldn't have his thumb in his mouth and 2)He had to keep the gum in his mouth. It seems to be helping him get out of the habit of sucking his thumb.

I used to work in an orthodontic office and the doctor would tell people that for the most part, kids will grow out of sucking their thumb, mostly because of peer pressure. A general guideline, is that kids should be seen for an evaluation when they are about 7 years old. If it becomes imperative that they need to stop, the orthodontist should be able to suggest some possible methods before an actual orthodontic appliance. But keep in mind, that just as in everything else, what one doctor will tell you, another might tell you something different. So find what you feel comfortable with. It becomes more important for them to stop as their permanent teeth are coming in. Good Luck!

Hi J.. I was a BIG time thumb sucker as a child. My parents didn't pressure me too much to quit. My mom asked me one day when I was going to quit and I said "When I'm 9." I know that sounds like a LONG time and it was, but it was my decision and I stopped at 9 with no problem. I also have perfectly straight teeth, never needed braces, etc. I think I was only sucking it at night though so not walking around in public sucking my thumb, etc. I honestly wouldn't worry too much about it at this point.

-B.

I "convinced" my daughter to quit right before she turned four. First we talked about why she needed to stop. She was starting preschool and I didn't want her to get sick from picking up germs. I told her that as long she stopped sucking during the day for two weeks, I would give her a quarter everyday. At the end, she could take her money to the store to buy any toy she wanted. (within reason, of course) I told her she could still suck her thumb at night in her own bed. It worked! She quit sucking her thumb and even stopped at night after the third day. She hasn't sucked since. When we went to pick out her toy we made a very big deal of how she earned it and let her show her new doll and tell people that she earned from not sucking her thumb getting praise.

I will mention, however, the only downside to prepare yourself for is that with her, sucking went with cuddling. So when she stopped sucking, she didn't cuddle in the same way anymore. That was very hard for me, but that's what happens when they grow up. She's still my baby, though.

Good luck!

I don't know how compulsive your kid's thumb sucking is. With my kids I just instituted a rule that the only place they were allowed to suck their thumb was on their bed. So if they wanted to be on their bed while sucking, they could, but if they wanted to be doing other things, they needed to exercise their own self-control. It wasn't an instant fix but avoided major control battles. Eventually at age 7 my son decided he was ready to stop and trained himself to stop at night.

J.,
I was a thumb sucker for over 7 years. My mother hated it. For me that and my blanket were my security. My mom took away my blanket becuase it was tattered and old. After taking away that part of my security she decided to go after my thumb sucking. We tried bitters that you apply to the thumb, but once I sucked off the yucky bitters, I was happily sucking away. The final straw for her; mind you I say her, was that I needed medical assistance. Here's the physical things that were wrong with thumbsucking. My favorite thumb had a bump on it, which went away after I stopped and I had an overbite which the dentist thought was due to my thumbsucking. My best friend was a thumbsucker and she had the same things. Well, my mom took me to a doctor. What a waste of money. He showed that it wasn't interfering with my swallowing and that it wasn't creating the overbite or interfering with my teeth. Per his suggestion, I went to bed each night with an ace bandage wrapped on my arm in a sling fashion to keep me from bringing my thumb up to my mouth. Needless to say, after about two weeks I was cured. My experience is that this was the worse thing a parent can do to their child. The two things that made me happy, content and secure were taken away from me leaving me insecure. My suggestion is to do nothing. Allow your child/children to give this up on their own even if it continues through their teen years. No lie. Many teens are closet thumbsuckers. It is a security thing and has nothing to do with you, I promise. Neither of my boys sucked their thumbs or had a pacifier. My children have tattered blankies that my oldest, 7 yrs, chews on a sucks on when he is tired or stressed out. My almost 5 year old can't go to bed or watch TV without his which is not chewed on or sucked on and looks brand new. No matter how gross and yucky they get, I will never get rid of them until my boys tell me that they are done. Because of what was done to me, I always look at my childs perspective when I think I should do away with something that makes them happy and feel secure. If the thumbsucking is embarassing you then please look at your child and think of how they feel. Please don't put your kids through what my mother put me through. The child/parent bond and emotional scars aren't worth it. Thanks for listening.

Hi J.

Sorry this was a goof... I didn't mean to hit respond to this.

sorry about that,
LJ

When the children are as old as your youngest two, I've found that making a deal with the kid works. You sit down and decide what works for you, a special toy, a moive out, dinner!
Whatever just make sure its special because its not gonna be easy and set an amount of time that they need to be thumb free before they can cash in....a month is what worked for us.
Other than that I've found that by this age you can put in the rule that it is something they do in private...for the 4yr old only in the house and if its the 7yr old then only in their bed.
Good Luck!

Is this for the 4 year old? I would give him something to look forward to if he stops completely. Maybe a new coveted toy. But he can't get away with it at all, be very stern if you want to succeed.

I have the best solution in the whole world, but it sounds totally disgusting.

I sucked my thumb until I was about 7 or 8 years old. My mom tried everything to make me stop, but I would suck even hot sauce off and keep going. Then one day my brother and I were playing in our tree fort and I got Juniper Berry juice and Juniper pitch on my thumb. My thumbe tasted so bitter for days from it that it cured me.

Juniper trees are all over the east side of Oregon, but a little more difficult to find over here. If you go to Sisters or Bend anytime, grab a branch or two with berries and pitch on them. They are NOT poisonous, in fact they have medicinal purposes, but they do taste absolutely awful and I guarantee it will stop the thumb sucking. :)

I've read before that children will stop sucking their thumb when they're ready, and that the best thing to do is tell them that it's a "bedtime only" thing. That way he can still comfort himself at night, but you can tell him not to do it in public.
Another good opyion is to reward him when he doesn't suck his thumb. Make achart or calendar, and every time he goes all day w/ no thumb, he gets a sticker. Then, have bigger rewards for longer stretches: 5 stickers = one book,10 stickers = a toy, 15 = a movie, etc.
Good luck!

We put athletic tape on my son's thumb. Everytime he would put it to his mouth, he would feel the tape on his lips and stop. We'd leave the tape on for about a week (so it gets yucky looking), then if needed, put a new tape on. It was extemely effective and took a very short time! mj