Weaning from the Thumb

My daughter is now almost 4 and sucks her thumb as you described- only to sleep, watch TV and in the car. I took her to the dentist at age 3 and he said there were no problems, not to worry about it. It's better than keeping track of a pacifier- like my 2nd child has!

MyThuy, your child is not plagued with an addiction. I have images of my daughter sucking her thumb in the ultrasound images. It is a natural thing for some babies. My daughter is now 3 years old and she still sucks her thumb whem she is tired. I just kindly remind her to remove her thum and sometimes tell her to hold my hand and she does. No need to demand she remove her thumb, she is at an age where you can talk to her and remind her she is suppose to stop doing that because she is a big girl. She does it less and less.

Okay, so here's what we did with my Godson per his dentist and pediatrician. I used to watch him and noticed that he was doing much like your little one, when he was nervous or bored. So, we were advised to redirect his behavior to other things. Like if he was doing it when we were watching TV just move it away from his mouth and hand him a cup with water. The key was to catch it before he started, so as to not disrupt the act but to show him there were other things he could do for comfort.

Over a few weeks he did it less and less...but, also my friend started talking to him about sucking his thumb and why he needed to do it. This is a transition time, and will probably disrupt her sleep since she uses this to self soothe. Just be gentle and encouraging. Try not to make it about being a 'big girl' or that it's wrong but that it's time to move onto something new and exciting!

Maybe find a transition object she can use to cuddle with while watching TV or sleeping or in the car. A character she loves and can take with her wherever she goes that she can be responsible for loving and taking care of...it's worth a shot.

I wish you the best of luck! If your little girl is seeing a dentist you may also want to ask he/she or the pedi for tips and advice they have given others.

Hi,

My son is 22 months and still sucks his thumb. I know how you feel regarding wanting her to stop. It's a "social" thing and you have every right to be concerned about her teeth. The dentist told us that there really will not be any damage until after 5 years old when the permanent teeth come in. I have noticed my son does it at the same times as your daughter does it...not as much as he used to do. Our ped told us about this stuff called "mavala stop", which is used to stop nail biting and thumb sucking . You can look it up on-line and read all the reviews from other mom's in our situation. It seems to work. The real reason I would like my son to stop is because when he's not sucking he's talks and communicates with us a lot more.

For those on this site that tell you that it should have been "nipped in the bud" when she was a newborn obviously have never truly been in this situation. Every child is different and will suck his/her thumb whether we like it or not. My daughter sucked her thumb and then realized she liked the pacifier better and then gave up the pacifier when she was 15 months old. My son never liked the pacifier, he would just play with it...he liked his thumb and you know what he's has always been a great sleeper.

I hope I helped.

K.

Hi MyThuy, The thumb sucking is already a habit. Sweetie this should had been nipped in the bud at 4 months, my first baby used to suck is fist as a new born and I would always remove it, after a couple weeks he just stopped, but I never let it become habit forming, at this poit all's you can do is tell her to take her thumb out of her mouth, and be firm, I got to tell you, doing something for almost 3 years is an addiction, not really any different from nail biting or smoking, if you do something long enough it becomes a habit. Her teeth are not the only issue, sucking her thumb can cause scar tissue on her thumb, I have a fried who's thumb looks like it is scared from being burned, she said it was cause her mom let her suck her thumb and the saliva made her thumb so raw it is permanitly scared. J. L.

First of all thumb sucking does not do anything to the teeth. THink how much effort it is to straighten teeth with braces. Crooked teeth and overbites are HEREDITARY. Why do parents make such an issue of it? It is comforting to her and generally children outgrow thumb sucking. I would not make an issue of it unless it goes past age five. By the time most kids start preschool or kindergarten. If it really bothers you talk to your pediatrician. But please don't do the hot sauce, the bad tasting stuff, etc, unless your child asks for assistance in stopping because of ridicule at school. Yes, I was the mother of a thumb sucker and I choose to ignore it until he got an infection. Treatment for the infection was awful but he eventually stopped on his own when he started preschool. Sleep related thumb sucking lasted till about 3 months later and then just disappeared. Until we got the nasty infection, I didn't make an issue of it. I decided from my child hood experience that I choose my battles carefully and they should be very important (not smoking, not drinking, etc). On the scale of the universe, thumb sucking is not going to hurt her.

I am not much help when it comes to weening (sorry) but I will say that in my experience you should definitely do something about it sooner then later. I was a thumb sucker and by my mother's own admission she loves a thumb sucking baby. "they're so good and quiet" well, I might have been quiet but I am not so quiet now after years of braces and somewhat low self esteem from the buck teeth I had through school. I went on sucking my thumb until I was in Jr High (secretly of course) and I really wish my mother would never have allowed me to do it and refused to allow my daughter to even think about it from birth.

It is not to young for a trip to the dentist, they would be able to see the damage (if any) and also help with ideas to change the habit.

I actually sucked my thumb until I was 11. So did my best friend. We may be unusual, but neither of us wound up with braces (although our non-thumb-sucking siblings did!). I saw my daughter sucking her thumb in ultrasounds and she continued until she was five. I just started talking to her about the fact that it would probably be bad for her teeth, and she weaned herself off it over a couple of months time. I don't think a 22 month old is going to understand the logic of misaligned teeth. I'd let her use her thumb to self-soothe and then talk to her about it when she's older. By then she'll also have seen more children wearing braces and can also listen to the dentist better.

She'll most likely need braces anyway, so let her comfort herself and enjoy her thumb!

why would you want to wean her from the thumb.......it is a great way of self soothing and self regulation. She will probably give it up on her own.

therapist to special needs children

There is nothing wrong with your child sucking her thumb. My son sucked his thumb with his "blankie" until he was seven to go to sleep and in the car. He will be 12 next month and has no long term dental problems. Be lucky that your daughter is a self soother and cherish your sleep. She will give it up when "she" is ready. Don't let anyone else tell you when she should stop sucking her thumb. Every child is different. You do what you feel in right for "your" child.

Good luck!