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Behaviour/development

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Original poster

Anyone got any great tips on thumb-sucking (and stopping it)?

21 replies

Clary · 07/08/2006 00:07

Am getting desperate.

Actually feel sure I have done this before...but DD is now 5 and just sucks her thumb all the time.

She's not even tired or grumpy, it's just a stupid habit. Even ds2 (3) doesn't do it as much.

How can I stop her? She's going to ruin her teeth (an dher thumb, which is all manky) plus she looks so babyish.
Anyone got any tried and tested methods? I'll try anything!

OP posts:

shebnem · 07/08/2006 00:15

my 5 yrs old dd is doing the same.
me and her father were the same.
i remember myself sucking thumb till age 7, then it went off, and i may say i have nice teeth now.
so, myself i dont worry about it, but mine sucks it only at home, when she is tired-going to sleep.

fattiemumma · 07/08/2006 00:20

this one is controversial but it works.

paint her nails! if she is a real gir;y girl she will love having her nails done (you can get some tinkerbell stuff which is pretty harmless) you can tell her if she sucks her thumb it will come off. when yu catch her putting her thumb in her mouth just say gently "ooh you'll smudge your nails" and she will hopefully stop.

if she isnt quite so taken with the nails looking pretty then get some adult stuff which tastes vile.

either way not being able to suck the thumb for a week or so will break the habbit.

FloatingOnTheMed · 07/08/2006 00:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Chandra · 07/08/2006 00:28

There is a garlic based fingernail paint, it tastes horrible, so it may work.

I know of somebody who place the thumb of a 5 yr old in a pot of chili sauce and told the girl about it, as soon as she forgot... she did remember.

But, don't worry, as soon as peer presure at school intensifies she will stop or will do it in private. Now.... if she is very popular... chances are all the school children end up sucking their thumbs if they think is cool enough.

psychomum5 · 07/08/2006 00:32

As much as it pains me to say this, but I really don't think you can stop this.....assuming that she also sucks at night????

My two eldest both suck their thumbs and arenow 12 and 10. I am currently trying to bribe them out of it by promising them a trip to the nail salon at the end of the hols for a manicure, but no joy so gar.

DH sucked his till he was 16, MIL till 23, and one of my friends still does, and she is in her 30's.

you may be able to lessen it during the day by distraction, but that only works until they get poorly and then starts up all over again.

sorry....but I thought I would warn you that thumb sucking is much harder than a dummy....and we've had those too!(altho, they were easy to go...until thumb went in two weeks later and replaced it[grrrr]

Quootiepie · 07/08/2006 00:43

my 4 month old is starting to suck his abit... im not really sure whether to stop him now.

shebnem · 07/08/2006 00:43

i think i have to add something here.
to mine i never said 'dont suck', bcause i know if i say she will do more.
but i realise it is lessening itself. bfore it was day time too, now nearly only night time when she is going to sleep, or when i cuddle her-(she gets emotional i guess)

Tortington · 07/08/2006 01:11

put that naty tasting stuff on nails that stop n grow stuff

psychomum5 · 07/08/2006 01:23

good morning custy

you could indeed use that taste nasty stuff......altho my daughters are weird and like it[blurhg]....

Tortington · 07/08/2006 02:31

hi psycho - sorry i missed you - i tried to sleep!

my mother said the same of me regading the stop biting stuff.

psychomum5 · 07/08/2006 02:40

tis ok......not at all offended at being ignored by the considered one

humpydumpy · 07/08/2006 03:56

I was a thumb sucker as a child and most of the time I wouldn't even know I was doing it. My mum used to put a plaster on it so that if my thumb slipped in it would remind my I wasn't meant to be sucking it. Worked for me. Also think child has to want to stop as when my mum tried to get me to stop on previous occassions and used things like the nasty tasting stuff, I just got used to the taste because I didn't want to stop. I also remember my friend at the time was a thumb sucker and we stopped together as I neither of us wanted to be the last one still doing it.

BobbyWoo · 07/08/2006 14:09

My DD (2.6) is a real thumb sucker and I can aready see the damage it's done, top teeth pushed forward, bottom teeth pushed back and she's recently developed a lisp! I've spoken to 3 dentists who've all had different opinions on trying to get her to stop but none have given any practical advice. I've used the stop n grow and it worked for a while but she's used to it now, I'm trying a plaster at the moment thanks to this thread but have googled and seen a thumb guard which I'm seriously considering but don't want to waste my money. Has anybody tried this?

glassofwine · 07/08/2006 14:20

DD2 age 4 1/2 and DS1 age 3 1/2 both suck their thumbs. We've told DD that when she starts school in September she might want to think about stopping adn DS tell us its babyish. Other than that I'm not going to put any pressure on them - why should I - it's their way of comforting themselves and who am I to tell them that its wrong. They need to know they might get teased, but that's it. They only get one childhood.

Original poster

Clary · 08/08/2006 00:03

Thanks for all the great tips girls.

I think that nail polish one is a really good one. I actually have some nail art things somewhere, maybe put one of those on the offending thumb nail (it's only ever the one thumb) as an extra treat.

Had wondered about that nail-biting stuff, but we have tried TCP and mustard and she seems to like the taste! (strange child...)

Chandra lol at her starting a trend at school! She has just finished reception but still does it just as much. We did try "big girls who go to school don't suck their thumbs" this time last year but it made no difference. (sigh)

Also tried a plaster and the minx took it off but said "it will work mummy because I will rmember" of course she didn't.

Psychomum, I hear what you are saying, but we did get ds1 to stop at about 4yo.

DS2 does it too but really only when he is a bit tired or grumpy. I can live with that for a bit. The thing is with DD it can be literally five times in 10 minutes I am telling hr to take it out. grrrrrrr. Will try the nail art thing tomorrow and report back.

OP posts:

salisshe · 16/03/2007 10:39

This topic is very close to my heart. I had a chronic thumb sucker and tried EVERYTHING. It used to drive me crazy cos I could see his teeth were starting to stick out. The problem was he did manage to stop in the day time but night time was a different story. I did the yukky tasting stuff, and socks, and sticker charts, and bribes (I mean incentives :P). I even went online and showed him what would happen to his teeth if he continued. Mean I know but I was desperate. Anyway, in my search online I found this ... www.thumbguard.com.au. It seemed kinda pricey but when I thought about how much I had already spent on stuff to try to stop it, not to mention the emotions both he and I had spent, and I was desperate. I figured it seemed the least traumatic and I could buy it from Australia so I just went ahead and bought it and OMG it worked! He only wore it at night cos day wasn?t a problem, and within a month he didn?t need or want to suck his thumb anymore. Even better I can see a difference in his teeth structure.

Now if only there was something I could buy to get rid of his other annoying habits :P

Good luck!

salisshe · 16/03/2007 11:25

I had a chronic thumb sucker and tried EVERYTHING. It used to drive me crazy cos I could see his teeth were starting to stick out. The problem was he did manage to stop in the day time but night time was a different story. I did the yukky tasting stuff, and socks, and sticker charts, and bribes (I mean incentives :P). I even went online and showed him what would happen to his teeth if he continued. Mean I know but I was desperate. Anyway, in my search online I found this ... www.thumbguard.com.au. It seemed kinda pricey but when I thought about how much I had already spent on stuff to try to stop it, not to mention the emotions both he and I had spent, and I was desperate. I figured it seemed the least traumatic and I could buy it from Australia so I just went ahead and bought it and OMG it worked! He only wore it at night cos day wasn?t a problem, and within a month he didn?t need or want to suck his thumb anymore. Even better I can see a difference in his teeth structure.

Now if only there was something I could buy to get rid of his other annoying habits :P

Good luck!

Jonze · 18/03/2007 22:39

ds was a constant thumb sucker, only the right thumb (I even have a sonogram picture with him sucking his thumb in utero!). I never said anything, or ever tired to stop him until this past Christmas. He sucked so much that he had a slight skin infection on his thumb, making sucking it hurt. I bought a dummy for him as a replacement, and told him to avoid sucking his thumb because of his "boo boo". Well, he never took to the dummy, and just quit sucking his thumb. Cold turkey.

dozydizzy · 19/03/2007 20:39

Clary I totally know where you are coming from. My dd (6) is exactly the same - has it in literally all the time, even when doing other tasks, even bouncing on the trampoline, lol. Her teacher says it is affecting her written work as she can't write and suck her thumb. We have tried everything - nail stuff, plasters, thumbguard (she chewed it to bits, waste of money but may work for those who don't chew it, not strong enough material imo), but nothing has worked. Dentist told us it was effecting her teeth and to stop, but gave no advice as to how. Now we don't make a big deal of it but just give gentle reminders, but obv can't stop it at night. We would be happy if she stopped in the day, but again can't control it at school. It's really difficult, but we've come to the conclusion that we don't want her entire childhood to be blighted with bad feelings about thumbsucking, she'll give up when she is ready and if her teeth are affected dentists can help. Can't think of any other way of looking at it now tbh. Sorry this isn't practical help....if any one has any different suggestions they would be most welcome!

twilight100 · 03/11/2007 12:45

I'm new to the board.

Should I be concerned about my 15th month old thumbsucking a lot? she always has and there doesn't seem to be a pattern to it i.e when she's tired. I guess she just likes the sensation.
I look around at other in group situations and don't see a lot of thumbsuckers and we are always getting comments...

Any thoughts.

ExplosiveScienceT · 03/11/2007 13:41

My DD (5) sucks her 'magic finger', and the only person to have an impact on her is the dentist.

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