To strap a thumb guard onto my 6 year old?

[SingingSamosa]

I have a thumb sucker, she generally only does so when she's tired and holding her blankie but recently she seems to have been doing it more during the daytime, and without her blankie. The dentist has said it's affecting her teeth - her two bottom ones were pushed inwards quite a lot and she's getting a slight overbite on her top teeth too. She lost her first tooth recently (one of the bottom ones) and so I'm keen to try and get this habit broken (if possible) before her adult teeth are through properly.

I've just seen some plastic contraction from Dr Thumb (sounds like a really awful comic book baddie!) that goes on the thumb/hand and lets them still put their thumb in their mouth but they can't create the suction. It's £25, which is a lot of money for what it is but if it works then I'm willing to buy it! I was wondering if it would be considered really bad to strap such a thing onto her? Has anyone else tried these? Or similar? I did find a pattern for a fabric one a while ago but I think it would end up getting disgustingly smelly!

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ONE-1-X-DR-THUMB-THUMB-GUARD-STOP-THUMB-SUCKING-AID-TREATMENT-KIT-BABY-CHILD-/281151617576?var=&hash=item4175f13a28

My dc's baby teeth are beautifully straight an spaced, but his front teeth are bucked. He doesn't have a dummy and has never sucked his thumb. If his adult teeth come in this way he will probably end up with a brace. My husband was the same but has an odd shaped mouth. He had braces they did naff all due to the extent of the problem. Who is to say what dental problems will crop up in the future and for what reason. If it's preventable and the little one doesn't get distressed then try any method you can. Just see how it goes and try not to worry too much about what could be.

Well - DD's thumb guards are now off day and night and I haven't caught her sucking her thumbs at all - even at night or when she's in the car or watching tv, which were all triggers for her previously. In our experience I'd say they work.

DD was a thumb sucker, started in SCBU!!! and they said she was too prem for the suck reflex!!!

She got to about 7 when she started to get annoyed with herself - dentist mentioned it and we had several chats about it and she decided to try not doing it - she also had a blankie and she herself worked out that this was her trigger so she put it under her pillow for dire sleep emergencies and I think in three years the first few months I would find her asleep with it in and just popped it out, but then it just stopped aged around 8.

She does have trouble getting off to sleep but I think that is a whole other story. She also haas teeth that will need a brace later, but then so did I and my mother and we are all alike