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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

Help, how can I stop DD sucking her thumb

12 replies

Saz73 · 22/08/2006 14:57

My DD is nearly 7 yrs old and is constantly sucking her thumb. We have tried a couple of suggestions from friends but i am now getting desperate for any other suggestions.

OP posts:

CountessDracula · 22/08/2006 14:58

chop it off?

CountessDracula · 22/08/2006 14:58

(sorry)

I don't know if you can tbh, my brother did for years and years and nothing could stop him.

have you tried bribery and painting it with that anti nail biting stuff?

Original poster

Saz73 · 22/08/2006 14:59

Thats one of the things I keep telling her !

OP posts:

TheBlonde · 22/08/2006 14:59

Why do you need her to stop? Are her teeth going wonky?

Original poster

Saz73 · 22/08/2006 15:02

tried bribery, it cost me a Nintendo as she convinced me that much. But soon as she put that down the thumb went in.

tried the nail polish stuff - she kept going to the toilet and washing her hands. Even went to the densist recently thought he might scare her into stopping.

Probably me getting worried as when she goes back to school she will be in yr 2 and don't want other kids taking the mick!

OP posts:

Original poster

Saz73 · 22/08/2006 15:03

Teeth no wonky yet, but she is starting to get a big gap in her teeth through sucking the thumb and years ago having a dummy

OP posts:

coggy · 22/08/2006 15:06

Good luck......I still suck mine every now and agian when I am feeling poorly......I'm 34!!!!

fluffymum · 22/08/2006 16:47

sucked my thumb till my twenties...i don't think anything would have stopped me i just grew out of it, one day!!! I had wonky teeth and now where tramlines at 37 (soon to come off). I think I may have had a genetic disposition to crooked teeth. I don't think you need to worry too much...wonky teeth really aren't such a problem and pretty correctable!

mrspink27 · 22/08/2006 16:55

Coggy, I am so glad its not just me! I am 34 to... and there has been the odd night when dh turns over in bed and is sucking his thumb in his sleep... he is 39 on friday!!!!

LIZS · 22/08/2006 17:02

Has she lost her front teeth yet ? Maybe she could be persuaded to ditch the thumb when she has gaps so she doesn't affect her new ones. dd stopped sucking hers after she saw the Wallace and Gromit Wererabbit film and we suggested her teeth would look similar, this just after the dentist had commented.

pointydog · 22/08/2006 17:05

My dd's nearly 8 and still sucks her thumb A LOT. My worry is that her teeth will go wonky as every so often I read that it's bad for teeth to suck your thumb after 5.

But some of these threads have reassured me.

Dh sucked his thumb and says she won't stop till friends at school start taking the mickey. So let her friends take the p*ss - probably the best that could happen!

(And I luurve gaps in teeth.)

rustybear · 22/08/2006 17:26

DD is 16 and has just stopped sucking her thumb beacause she's got a lip piercing and it hurts! (not that I'm suggesting this for your dd!)Most of her friends (and boyfriends) think its cute.
She did actually stop at 8 because the orthodontist told her to, but she started again at 12, saying it was stress from secondary school. She had train tracks and they have improved her teeth despite the thumb sucking (I never dared tell the orthodontist she still sucked)
BTW I don't think her tooth alignment problems were caused by the thumb sucking as the orthodontist said DS & DD both had exactly the same problem - and so did I- DS stopped sucking at 2 and I never sucked mine. Just luck I think.

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