Thumb Sucking - Canton,OH

My son use to suck his thumb, also for a long time, but he only did it when he played with the tags on his stuffed animals, or pillows. I know this sounds cold but i cut all the tags off and he stopped. It was some sort of association thing he had going on. He is now 34 years old and has two daughters of his own. I was wondering if there was something in her bed that she either hangs onto or keeps close to her that she has some sort of association with that makes her suck her thumb?

If you hear of a something that works, let me know! I've tried EVERYTHING... hot sauce, bandaids, punishment, rewards, thumbguards, nailpolish (thinking she wouldn't want to screw it up, yeah right!) and a half a dozen other things... and not one of them have worked. Her pediatrician recommended the thumbguard... it was like $60!! What a waste! I was a thumbsucker myself, and according to my father, on my 6th birthday he said he'd give me a dollar if I quit, and I did (LOL!)... My daughter is not so easily won over. GOOD LUCK! I hope this isn't a lasting battle as it has been for me!

My mom sucked her thumb until the dentist himself told her that while she hadn't hurt her teeth yet, she needed to stop so that she didn't need braces. Somehow hearing it from the dentist and not mom or dad made a difference.

Also, my husband's step-mom told me about how she got her daughter to quit sucking her thumb but she was a little older than your daughter. They sewed something to fit over her right hand and arm and the little one got to decorate it, then at night they would pin it to her pajamas so she couldn't get her thumb in her mouth. I think they probably put a string on it to attach to her pjs so she could move her arm around but not get it all the way up to her mouth. That might be too uncomfortable at your daughter's age, but maybe you could put a glove or mitten on her hand when she goes to bed.

Have you tired rubbing something strong tasting on it. I don't like to use hot sauce for fear that they may touch their eyes, but maybe onion or garlic? It's worth a try...

http://www.planetbeauty.com/shopping/displayproduct.asp?p...

I worked for an orthodontist and this is what he tells parents to use. It dries very quickly and lasts for days. I used it to get my 5 year old son to stop sucking his fingers. It worked in two days!

All you can really do is bring her arm down next to her side while she is sleeping and then tuck sheet and blanket snugly around her. This should help hold her hand a little down while she sleeps. I wouldn't be too overly concerned about an overbite if the thumb does find it way back in b/c she is not doing it during the day.

If you come up with any ideas, please let me know...my daughter just turned 7 and still sucks her thumb when she is angry, sleepy, etc...we've all ready had "the talk" about braces and it just doesn't click - her dentist has all ready stated that the overbite is obviously going to be a problem...there is a orthodontist who's recommended a plastic mouth guard for her, and we will be seeing him next week. I'll let you know how that goes. In the meantime, please share your answers!

At 4, your daughter should be involved in breaking this habit. Ask her what she thinks would help her break this habit. If she understands the importance of not sucking her thumb she will be more likely to co-operate in breaking the habit.

Some suggestions are: wear gloves to provide a different texture so that she's aware her thumb is in her mouth. You could provide a soft cloth on which to suck as a transition. Wrap something, such as plastic laciing, around the thumb which will get her attention even when asleep and thus cause her to not keep her thumb in her mouth. I have heard of awful tasting liquids designed for this use. I would not use onion or garlic because they will also irritate the eyes.

A reward chart might help.

Does your daughter go to the dentist yet? My daughter sucked her thumb until 5. She went to the dentist and her dentist must have told her something that stopped it immediately. It was amazing. And, they gave her a prize when she filled up a chart with every day that she went without sucking her thumb. A year later, her bite is back to normal according to the dentist. 4 is still pretty young to stress out about it.

Also, from experience,I sucked my thumb as a little toddler/kid and then hid my thumb sucking until I was 9 years old and I never had braces and my upper teeth are perfectly straight and the bottoms are just a little crowded.

Oh girl! I have two brothers that are twins and they have been sucking their fingers for years! it's a very hard habit to break them from. We tried hot sauce, glue, all types of things but they suck right through it.

What I did notice is that Walgreens has some thing that is supposed to help stop thumb sucking. It's in a little yellow bottle and I assume it just tastes nasty but won't hurt them.

There is a product called Malava apparently and this but I dont know how affective it is. http://www.thumbuddytolove.com

Good luck!!

We had a book about thumb sucking that was really helpful. I wish I could remember the name. It was about a little boy named David and how he learned not to suck his thumb. Ask at your local library, they should be able to help. Also, ask friends with older kids that have braces for a referral to a good orthodontist. We made an appointed (free of charge!) to see our local ortho and they were happy to talk to her about why she needed to stop, and gave us some good tips on how to help her. They were also the one's to recommend the book. When my daughter had gone one month without sucking her thumb we gave her a stuffed animal (that she had picked ahead of time as a reward) and the ortho put braces on it! Super cute and very effective. She really wanted that turtle with braces and was willing to work on stopping her thumb habit to get it. She's now 13 and still has the turtle!

D., the 10th was my daughter's birthday and she was my thumb sucker so is her 5 year old son. As a Naturopathic Doctor, I get asked this question often. The child can stop during their waking hours but during the night it is an unconscious act and pulling it out will not help. The truth is your child may have an overbite even if they were not a thumb sucker - I can attest to that. What we did to help our child break the habit was to have her dentist put in a small cage in the roof of her mouth that prevented her from sucking her thumb. It did not interfere with eating, breathing, drinking, etc but it did stop the thumb sucking. We left it in for about 6 months and no more thumb sucking. She was 5 at the time. This helped bring the unconscious to the conscious level. That was 30 years ago and they may have something different or better now. I would see a pediatric dentist about this. Or you can just leave it alone and I guarantee they will not get married with it in their mouth. Hope that helps.

My parents tried everything to get me to stop sucking my thumb as a child, everything! Punishment, rewards, putting bad tasting stuff on my thumb, on and on the list goes. To tell you the truth nothing worked. I remember how upset it would make me because even though I was a good kid I felt like I was always in trouble for doing something bad. After a while I hid it from my parents which is such a sad thing for a kid to do. I don't know why I sucked my thumb. Maybe comfort maybe habit. Regardless, it was usually just at night or unless I felt insecure about something, was hurt, etc. Again, I stopped when I was ready which for me was around 10 or so. I do not have any teeth problems and never wore braces. Very straight healthy teeth :)