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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

When did you try to stop thumb sucking?

25 replies

tortilla · 19/03/2011 12:41

DS is 3 next week. He is a big thumbsucker He sucks his thumb a lot for comfort - so always at bedtime, often when tired during the day, and when he has had a fall or got upset. He also twiddles his hair at the same time with the other hand.

I'm not too bothered about it at the moment as he still seems so little and it is great that he can self-soothe, but I have been wondering if I should be as I know most people have weaned babies off dummies by now. So I wondered if I should be starting to get him to cut back on his thumb sucking. Added complication is 6mo DD is a big thumbsucker too so I can envisage him asking why she still gets to suck her thumb if I'm trying to stop him. Any thoughts/experiences?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

TrinityIsABunnyMunchingRhino · 19/03/2011 12:46

I haven't and wont be

Cant imagine how you would even if I wanted to

evolucy7 · 19/03/2011 14:14

My 2 DDs who will be 4 and 5 in May were both bif thumb suckers. I was not terribly concerned about it until a year ago when we moved house and dentist. The new dentist was clearly from the school of thought that thumb sucking needed stopping sooner rather than later. He said they needed to stop, at the time they were coming up to 3 and 4. Next visit 6 months later and I hadn't really done much about it at night, but daytime thumb sucking was banned, and DDs were pretty good, the dentist shocked me into doing something as he said 3 year old would almost certainly need a brace he could see how her teeth had moved in 6 months! But the 4 year old has a tendency to a reverse bite so it had not had any effect so far.

Anyway I decided to go for it, I bought some nail biting stuff from Superdrug that you just stick the thumb in and turn around, we did this every night and if then they would get 50p in the morning for not sucking their thumbs. It worked cause it tastes disgusting. So that was that they stopped, that was in November. DD1 never sucks her thumb now, but DD2 has started again in the last few weeks at night sometimes, she has been ill I think this is why, but I am considering using the nail biting stuff again.

That's my experience anyway

ChasingSquirrels · 19/03/2011 14:15

about 17 (mostly)

ChishAndFips · 19/03/2011 14:22

Slightly different situation here in that DD1 didn't start sucking her thumb until 4, having given up dummies a long time before, so maybe this makes it harder to stop, I don't know. But she still sucks now at 19, is my answer. I tried the disgusting tasting nail varnish - she washed it off, I tried bribes - thumb was by far a better bribe than chocolate etc, tried telling her (once older) she looked silly, other kids were laughing - she just did it in private.

So we gave up a few years ago, she only does it in private/with us family. And in case you're worrying about front teeth sticking out, she has had braces for a totally unrelated reason and the orthodontist couldn't see any evidence that she was a thumb-sucker, so it hasn't affected her teeth.

Sorry I can't be more helpful!

HattiFattner · 19/03/2011 14:23

DD sucked her thumb until 6yo, we bought some nice plasters and stuck them on her thumbs, "to remind you not to suck" - the decision to stop was down to her.

DS1 sucked his until he was nearly 8 - all the time. He would come homefrom Rgby absolutely black from head to toe with mud....except for a shiney pink thumb.

We did the same for him when he decided to stop sucking his thumb - ut we used the furry cloth like plasters for a week or so.

We tried various lotions before hand, but none worked

SoupDragon · 19/03/2011 14:27

In my experience you can't unless the child wants to. [weary sigh]

DS1 (12) is 4 years into private orthodontic treatment to correct the damage caused to his teeth and jaws (and what a fabulous job it has done). The only thing that stopped him was when the brace he wore eventually stopped him being able to get his thumb in.

Wormshuffler · 19/03/2011 14:29

I was thumb sucker until I was about 15, and then I just stopped overnight when it dawned on me that boys would'nt like it. I have perfectly straight teeth and have never needed a brace. Not that I am arguing with your dentist evolucy.
I remember once my DF putting some bitter tasting stuff on it, but I just licked it off. The taste was far nicer than the thought of trying to sleep without my thumb!

SoupDragon · 19/03/2011 14:32

As an aside, thumb sucking causes more problems than just sticky out front teeth. It can cause the lower jaw to be pushed back amongst other things - it's only by looking at the photos taken of DSs profile by the orthodontist that I can see the damage and how it has changed. I now sit in the car at his school waiting for him to come out spotting children who have similar uncorrected, damage.

Also, my teeth are OK and DSs orthodontist could tell without looking in my mouth that I had been a thumbsucker which was interesting.

Actually, one tip he gave was to put long socks on both arms at night time, taped at the top of the arm.

Original poster

tortilla · 19/03/2011 19:27

Interesting. I have sort of resigned myself to expensive orthodontic treatment with both of them, but haven't planned to stop it as it is too useful at the moment, and I'm vainly hoping that that theory that breastfeeding helps the palate develop better counters some of the thumbsucking damage :) I think it has come to my mind because DS is 3 next week and his one remaining dummy using friend is having her dummy taken by the dummy fairy on her birthday, so it struck me that we won't be able to do that. Not planning to try anything yet as he is still really little, but given me some food for thought. I sort of had in my head it was something to tackle if he is still thumbsucking a lot during the day when he is ready to start school.

Problem is, my two children look so darn cute when lying next to each other sucking their thumbs :)

OP posts:

Chundle · 19/03/2011 20:16

I had a nightmare with dd1 and her thumb! Dentist told me when she was 6 that it was bad and will need a brace later on I tried nail biting stuff, plasters on thumbs everything but nothing worked! In the end I had to put surgical tape on thumb during day and at night I had to sew pieces of material onto ends of pj top to fully enclose her hand as she was subconsciously taking the tape off!! Nightmare! Paed told me its all sensory to do with her ADHD and he finally stopped after a year! But does relapse when she's stressed or worried

bigTillyMint · 19/03/2011 20:19

DH tried to stop DD from the age of about 5, wiht no success whatsoever!

She is now at sec school and on Friday after school (while we were having a treat in a local cafe), told me that as soon as she got in she was going to snuggle up with a blanket and her thumb as she was very tired! She doesn't suck it at school or infront of her school friends.

I was the same - I think I properly stopped when I was about 25

Meglet · 19/03/2011 20:21

DS is 4.5 and still does it. His baby teeth are all pushed forward and I want to crack down on it before his adult teeth appear. His dentist said it's not the end of the world while he only has baby teeth but he needs to stop soon-ish.

I have no idea how I'm going to stop him . I've been telling him he needs to keep his thumb for bedtimes but it hasn't made any difference, he even walks down the street doing it sometimes .

rosie1979 · 19/03/2011 21:40

I was a thumb sucker til my teens.

I hated it when I was little and adults used to comment on it.

My teeth are straight, never had a brace. :)

mamacorner · 19/03/2011 23:17

I have two ex- thumb sucking dc's.

We tried all sorts as they grew up, plasters, nail stuff etc, none of it worked, Once they were around 9 years, we offered a substantial reward/bribe..a nintendo ds once theyed stopped for 3 months. It worked for both children.

Incidentally one child is having orthodontic treatment for a thumb sucking related overbite, the other has perfect straight teeth.

TaperJeanGirl · 19/03/2011 23:55

My ds is a thumb sucker, he is 21 months and its about the ages my 2 dds had their dummies taken away so i'm trying to stop him now, I cant stand the way it looks and when he trys to speak around his thumb, and the amount of dribble is ridiculous, so far have only tried to stop him during the day, but may start putting the foul varnish on his thumb at night, hope it works, my brothers girlfriend still sucks her thumb at 25!

Loopymumsy · 20/03/2011 13:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

tortilla · 20/03/2011 13:33

Thanks all. Think we will not worry about it for now, and then think again if it is still a problem when he is school age before adult teeth come through.

OP posts:

Lovethesea · 20/03/2011 15:01

My dentist told me to ignore DD's until she is about 3 and hope she stops by herself. If not he recommended thumbguard. It's a piece of plastic that fits securely over the thumb with a wrist strap so that sucking is ineffective.

Not cheap but apparantly works very well.

CointreauVersial · 20/03/2011 15:07

DS1 was a major thumb-sucker, and used his left hand to twiddle my hair at the same time (or his own, if I was out of reach).

It stopped of its own accord when he was 3-ish; I couldn't even tell you when, just one day I noticed he wasn't doing it any more.

He suffered no ill-effects, but he did have a little curly bit on the back of his hair from all the twiddling!!

DD1 sucked two fingers of her left hand; again, she stopped without any intervention. Sometimes they just find better things to do with their hands!

EmmaNicole · 20/03/2011 16:01

I'm 37 and I still suck my thumb! And twiddle my hair! It's so funny because my 22 month old DD tells me off and pulls my thumb out of my mouth!! Hilarious.

foxinsocks · 20/03/2011 16:11

I thought ds never would. He permanently sucked his thumb. Even when he was 8, we'd go out shopping and he'd get bored and I'd turn around and the thumb would be in. Basically the only time it came out was when he spoke!

Then the nanny took him to the dentist when I was at work and the dentist (who is quite strict and terrifying) told him how bad his mouth and jaw were becoming. He was 9 by now. He apparently told him he would need very extensive work if he carried on sucking his thumb. The nanny said he cried the whole way home :( and I must admit I was furious when I got home but having said that, from that day forwards he never sucked his thumb again! He still happily goes and sees that dentist too though I'm still not convinced of his tactics!

foxinsocks · 20/03/2011 16:13

(ps I concluded, re the dentist, that at 9 ds was old enough to hear the truth and the nanny did say he was doing it in such a way as to say to ds, look you need to realise the implication of what you are doing. Of course, I had told him this myself and it hadn't made a blind bit of difference!)

babybumpx · 21/03/2011 10:37

We are having a similar situation, DSS 2.5 sucks his thumb, so we have bought a dummy which has stopped the thumb sucking, who knows if that is the completely right thing to do but all we know is that is it much more hygienic and less damaging on the teeth, the dummies we bought were designed by dentists so cant be that bad! I personally think thumb sucking is gross, not nice going to hold your son hands and you get covered in saliva, I think for the childrens benefit, especially when they go to school that it needs to be stopped somehow, difficult I know.

iamkirsty · 21/03/2011 14:18

I still suck my thumb and I'm 21! It's not done me any damage, my teeth and jaw are fine. I do it when I'm tired or bored.

Don't worry too much unless you can see that it's having an effect on his teeth.

theanimalswentintwobytwo · 25/03/2011 23:07

I was 16 when I stopped sucking my thumb. I stopped the night before I had my braces put on. Was the hardest thing I had ever done (until pregnancy, childbirth and parenting!!)

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