My 11 year old Sucks his Thumb and Still has his Baby blanket that he sniffs

[Andrea1292]

I have a son that is turning 12 years old. He has a white blanket that he rubs and smells every night while sucking his thumb. His breath smells bad because of his thumb sucking. His blanket smells like saliva. He has Anxiety and ADHD which he struggles to cope with. He always carries his blanket around and sucks his thumb every minute he gets. He cannot fall asleep without sniffing his blanket. He says he does not do it in school but when I was walking in I saw him doing it in front of the class while watching a film. I make sure he does not bring his blanket, which he is okay with. He seems to be really stressed because of school. He feels safe with his blanket over his nose and sniffing it while sucking his thumb. He drags his blanket all over the house, but he is not allowed to bring it out of the house. The blanket is surprisingly not that beat up besides some rips. He calls it “blankey”. What should I do t9 help him stop?

I would put your foot down with the blanket washing tbh. Or just take it. His anxiety is no excuse to be unhygienic.

Has he been medicated for any of these things? Has

He has already had braces and isn’t yet 12? That’s very odd that orthodontic treatment be finished before a child is 12! Are you in the U.K.?
Thumb sucking can have a huge impact on the roof of the mouth and you should definitely seek further advice from a specialist.

He doesn't bring it out of the house, you said, so you have lots of opportunities to wash it.

Does he also have ASD? It wouldn't surprise me, bless him. He's obviously finding school very difficult poor thing and this is his way of coping. He really needs help with his anxiety but you'd probably have to pay privately for it as the NHS waiting list is probably 100 years long. I definitely would not take the blanket away until he is ready (if ever). You could try his school though and see if he could get any counselling there for his anxiety. You need to focus on helping him with his anxiety though rather than focusing on the thumb sucking or blanket IMO.

My NT sister is 42 and still occasionally sucks her thumb if she's tired.

Is he in mainstream school? I can’t imagine school wouldn’t have contacted you if he’s using a blanket in class