What am I to do? my DS is 5 and still sucks his thumb. All the time! I put Malva Stop on it, but he has decided it doesn't taste that bad. I am trying so hard to not make a big deal about it - I don't want to punish him for something he does without even thinking about. The dentist has already mentioned it and it drives us crazy. What can I do?
Welllll, I'm biased. I sucked my thumb until the 5th grade! In private, of course, but I never needed braces and there was no teeth damage. I say let him do it, as long as it's not causing any social problems for him. If he's doing it in school and being teased, then you may need to talk to him about appropriate times and places. One day he will stop, on his own. I don't think there is any need for either of you to stress about it :)
My advice from someone who sucked her fingers until 3rd grade.....do not make a big deal about it. It makes it worse. He will stop doing it around his classmates...peer pressure at this age is a great thing. And it will slowly gradually be less and less.
Most kids need braces...no matter if they suck a thumb or not. He will not be going to high school sucking his thumb. He is really not that old...give it a while longer.
My daughter sucks finger...only when going to sleep or really relaxing. I don't plan on doing anything about it, she will discover all on her own that it needs to stop, when it needs to stop.
It's pricey, but it works if you follow the instructions. My daughter sucked her thumb till 5. The summer before K we bought a handaid. She wore it all the time (except for baths) for 8 weeks. The teachers at daycare had never seen a guard like it and said it was the only one they had ever seen that truly worked. It's soft, so it doesn't restrict movement, but fits snugly enough to prevent them from sucking the thumb. Her teachers said they had seen multiple kids with t-guards who just sucked around them. When dd was done with hers we gave it to a friend for her daughter, worked great for her too.
Visit your local orthodondist. There is an appliance that they can place on a couple of teeth that goes across the roof of their mouth. It keeps them from being able to create the suction they get when sucking their thumb. We had one done for my daughter and it worked like a charm.
I sucked my finger until I was about 6 or 7. My parents used the nasty stuff.. didn't work. What did work was a bribe for a Cabbage Patch doll if I could go 10 whole days without sucking my finger. They used a reward chart to keep me motivated. When I got my doll, my habit was pretty much kicked. Also, a good idea is help him stop is to give him an idea of another thing he can do instead of sucking his thumb. Dr. Sears is an expert in this field and he has 12 ways to help stop thumbsucking here:
http://askdrsears.com/topics/discipline-behavior/botherso...
my dentist suggested a T-guard. goes on the hand and is supposed to keep child from sucking.
My 5yo still sucks only at bed time. So I may finally bite the bullet and spend the $80 on the T-guard.
Good luck.
