Please tell me all your ideas for stopping a 2yr old from finger sucking

[venetianred]

My son, almost 2, sucks his finger (the one next to his thumb) almost 24/7. This obviously shows in his teeth, with an overbite already. I tried to get him interested in a dummy from birth but he always wanted his finger.

As he has been really troubled by teething, I didn't want to do anything until all his teeth were through and he was happier, but they are all through now, so please I beg you, tell me all your ideas and I shall try them all.

He is incredibly strong minded so it may be a really big battle of wills!!!!

Does he have a blanket or soft toy he also uses? I ask because the only way my sister in law and brother got my niece to stop sucking her thumb was to remove her 'green blankey' because she connected the two.

Personally I would leave it - if you make too much of an issue of this it will be horrible for you both - afterall you cannot throw it away it is on his hand (i say this as a life long finger sucker!!!!!)

And my teeth are fine/baby teeth are not an indication of the shape of adult teeth - in all likelihood it will stop on its own when he is ready and making it a battle of wills will only upset him and make him more likely to find comfort in sucking his finger.

tee - he does have his cuddly but I couldn't imagine taking away both his sources of comfort at the same time - but if nothing else works I would try it.

pinky - I was a thumb sucker and the longer I did it, the harder it was to stop. We waited until 3 to take my daughter's dummy away and I really wish I'd done it earlier. Also, his teeth are really not right and I still have misshapen teeth even with 2 years of orthodontic treatment.

I actually agree with pinky, now that I think about it. He's awfully young.

My son uses a dummy and I asked my dentist about that and thumb sucking, as son will suck fingers/thumb if he can't find a dummy. According to my dentist, baby teeth are indeed no indication of adult teeth. His own kids used dummies until they were 3 or 4!

My orthodontist treated my teeth and the damage was done before my adult teeth came through. I sucked so badly that it did indeed move the jaw, not just the teeth.

The other concern is that he is not talking, at all, because he sucks all the time and already he is being referred for speech therapy, but it's very hard to work on it at home when he sucks all the time.

Dummies are soft and not at all like a bony finger that is pressing forward all the time.

My 7 year old dd has to see orthodontist already because of persistent thumb and finger sucking has wrecked he teeth. Nailbiting solution worked for a while however she then started to wash it off! She was bit older than your boy though so may work for him. We then put ultra sticky plasters on her fingers and thumb and persisted with it for about 6 months and it worked. Had to do it night and day though and cost a fortune in plasters!!

Does anyone think that putting something on his hands during the daytime might help, but allowing him to suck at night for a while....or is it best to go for 'cold turkey' - gloves on all night and day for a week or something?

chundle - did she not like sucking if plasters were on? How many plasters did you put on?

DS was a dedicated finger sucker at two. I was prepared to leave him to it, reckoning that if he felt he needed the comfort, who was I to take it away. DH was a more active opponent, and tried bribery, nasty-tasting stuff and nagging.

It hasn't done any damage to his teeth - if anything I think we are about to have to start orthodonic treatment to push them out. But it did him no favours at all socially - other children forund the soggy finger repellent, and he tended to suck and zone out when he was stressed or bored.

He eventually gave up just before his 8th birthday, in response to the bribe of an XBox. DH's idea, not mine. To be honest, I think the bribe helped him to admit he was ready to stop, rather than motivating him before he was ready.

So, if you can persude him to stop, you will be doing him a favour. But don't panic too much if you cannot - he will probably be fine!