Thumb sucking

[MrsMaker83]

Not an aibu, just posting for traffic.

My 10 month old sucks her thumb, mainly when she is tired, and settles herself to sleep by doing so.

She has torn it to shreds by biting and scraping her skin (she has ten teeth ) it is constantly cut in several places, red and very sore looking. She also has a huge blister that she keeps popping, then it comes back, pops again etc... She has not stopped whinging for days while waving her hand about and i think its because her thumb hurts :-(

Im not looking to make her stop, its her comforter, she has no interest in a dummy, or her other thumb. I just want to stop it getting infected and being sore.

Plasters get pulled off, creams get wiped away by sucking, even at night she tends to keep it her mouth so i cant treat it with anything then!

Any ideas to help heal it?

Hmm this is a hard one, I guess the only way to heal it is to stop her sucking it but how you do that is beyond me.

I think the only way you're going to stop it getting sore is to stop the thumb sucking.
thumb guards (or finger guards in ds' case) work really well. Since ds stopped sucking his fingers they have healed up (they used to come up in massive blisters where his teeth rubbed the skin), his nails, which were soft and kept breaking, have improved and the skin around his lips, which was dry, cracked and sore from the dribbling, is much better.

Thanks! I will look at thumb guards

Sorry I've just had a look at another page on their website and it says the smallest size is for children aged 3-4 so might not be best for your dc. We used it on 3yr old ds only 6 months ago.
There might be other products available for babies your dc's age though if you look on Google.

You could try putting a non-toxic antiseptic like tea tree oil (use a good one) on her thumb. This will clear up the infection.
It is likely to stop the sucking as well because tea tree oil, while quite harmless taken internally in small doses, doesn't taste great.

I know that if you stop the sucking you might have other problems but can't help thinking this is the only solution. Good luck.

tea tree oil is considered toxic. I really wouldnt put it on a childs thumb

My 12 mo ds sucks his fingers. Last week caught chicken pox (for the second time!!) and got some on his fingers that burst and turned really red cracked and sore.
He stopped sucking them as they were obviously sore it was awful he was so unhappy he couldntcomfort himself. I took him to go as thought they were infected.

Anyway they gave me some cream fucidin which they said was fine if he put in his mouth and within a couple off days they cleared right up! And he's not sucked them since so broke the habit.

Took him to gp! Stupid auto correct!

Thanks everybody! Great ideas!

Thumb guard used here on a 3 year old, took two weeks of wearing and not sucked it since- she's 8 now!
I trimmed the silicone for comfort, you'll see where it leaves a mark so you'll know where to trim it to make comfy.