Thumbsucking - Oceanside,CA

Been there, done that! My son had that problem too. I bought a plastic device to go over the thumb. I believe it was called thumb guard. I bought it from a website...not sure which one. Here I found one on Amazon.... see below. Had great success.
http://www.amazon.com/Thumb-Sucking-Guard-Hands-Medium/dp...
My dentist told me privately, that his teeth were not moving from the sucking, which was great, but I wanted him to stop. So check with your dentist if they see her teeth moving. My peds doctor said they will grow out of it, it is a was to pacify themselves, which is good. That is what I know. Hope that helps.

I am considering this for my son. http://www.parenthacks.com/2009/03/handmade-thumb-guard-h...

There is also a plastic version, but it looks uncomfortable.

They make nail polish for nail bitters, it works for thumbsuckers too, it tastes horrible. I have twin 4 year olds that I tried it on. It worked the first time for Eli, but I had to reapply it to AJ's thumb 4 or 5 times before he'd stop.

There is this nasty tasting stuff you can get at Walgreens for kids who chew their nails. Put that on her thumb and she'll stop.

This sounds exactly like my 6 year old boy! Belly button and all. I've asked his pediatrician and dentist if I should be concerned or what I can do and they both suggest allowing them to grow out of it. His dentist wasn't concerned he said if he was going to need braces in the future it would be genetic more than a thumb. His ped said that the more I made a big deal about getting him to stop, the more I cause him to suck his thumb because of the stress of it.

He doesn't suck his thumb at school, but he does at home and while in the car. The rule is that he can only suck his thumb when he's about ready for bed. So if I catch him sucking his thumb, he goes straight to bed. This has helped along with positive reinforcement. I noticed he would suck his thumb when he is tired or hungry.

It's tough. I know this sounds weird, but I equate it to people trying to quit smoking (without the nicotine, of course). They just don't know what to do with their hands. It's so automatic to place it in their mouth. Although I don't want a teen still sucking his thumb (in light of what teens can get into, is sucking their thumb so bad?;) I don't expect an overnight success. I'm happy with monthly improvements.

If she's motivated to stop, I don't think that you need to do anything dramatic at first. It's become a habit - she does it without thinking about it. A Band-Aid around the thumb is a good start for a gentle reminder - it won't feel right when it goes in her mouth, and she'll remember to take it out. If that doesn't work, you can move up to a thumb guard, but I always figure start small : ) You can also give her something else to do with her hands while she's watching TV - a small etch a sketch, silly putty, etc. Good luck. I'm going to be going through this with my daughter in 2 weeks (we gave her til 5 y.o. to stop sucking her thumb, and it's fast approaching.)

My handmade thumb sucking covers can help him stop. I sucked my thumb until I was 11. My girls stopped when I made them these thumb sucking covers when they were 6 1/2 and almost 5!!! It took them 3 months - but they were hard core and didn't want to stop!!! I've already heard back from many of my buyers, that their child quit in 2 weeks!

You can check them out in my shop: http://kidgiddy.etsy.com and you can view and download a "two thumbs up for me" chart to help in the habit breaking process!

http://kidgiddy.blogspot.com/2010/02/kid-giddy-helps-to-e...

Good Luck! - K. (Kid Giddy)