Thumbsucking - I have an idea - some opinions please....

[Mistiek]

My DS is now 2.8 and is still sucking his thumb. He has been sucking it from the word go. It only happens at night now and when he needs the comfort or is feeling sad or unwell. His teeth are getting damaged and being pushed forward and his thumbe seems to be slightly larger than his other...

My DD is now 6 months old and from the start a let her have a dummy to prevent from having another thumb sucker (Dummies are easier to stop apparently).

So I have a theory.... Here goes....

Although I hate the dummy and he looks rediculous with one in I was wandering if it would be a good idea to let him have a dummy and get him used to it to forget his thumb. When I think the thumb is forgotten then I can aske him to put it in a little bag in the tree for the Dummy Fairy's to come and collect (saw this on Supernanny).

Does anyone think this would work? All opinions welcome... I am open to all suggestions... PLEASE!

I'm not trying to make you feel guilty - but why don't you ask the dentist whether his teeth really are being damaged by his habit? Particularly if it's only at night? Are you absolutely sure that there isn't a genetic predisposition to an overbite that affects both yous sister and your son? It just seems a shame to have to spend time dealing with a "problem" that actually might not be a problem at all? For what it's worth, I think it would be very difficult to persuade him to have a dummy instead and I have to say, I think that the bad tasting stuff seems a bit - harsh - for someone so young. It will be hard for him to find that something which gives him such comfort is suddenly horrible. Just my opinion,sorry. You did ask for opinions in your OP!

I hated dummies and so didn't let my dd2 have one, sometimes I wish I had but I still think they look ridiculous tbh - she has just stopped sucking her thumb after the orthodontist told her off for it basically, he said he wouldn't fit a brace to correct her teeth until she had stopped as the thumbsucking would negate the effects of the brace and leave her with teeth loose in their gums. His point was that the thumb sucking hadn't done that much damage (and that was at 10) as her teeth were a mess anyway but prolonged thumbsucking would cause problems if she carried it on.

I don't think at 2.8 it would do too much damage as long as he stops at some point soonish - most children tend to stop when they go to school and then just do it at night. The hardest thing we found was controlling it at night so I started painting her thumbs with stop'n'grow.

It is far too late to introduce a dummy to him now, it wouldn't give him the comfort he is used to.

I tried this with d (3.5) after her paediatrician told me that the roof of her mouth is thumb-shaped. She also is developing an overbite.

What happened? She developed an addiction for them both. When she didn't have a dummy, she sucked her thumb. It made no difference whatsoever!

DS1 (8) is a thumbsucker. We are now 4 months into him wearing braces on his teeth to correct the "damage" done to his jaw/teeth. it will cost £4000.

Those of you who think thumbsucking hasn't affected you: I sucked my thumb until I was 9 or so, I can't remember. My teeth are fine, they weren't affected by my thumb habit, I was the only one out of my brothers and I who did not require orthodontic treatment and extractions. The dentist doing my son's braces took one look at me without looking in my mouth at all and said "you used to suck your thumb didn't you?". It affects more than your teeth, it affects how the jaw develops since when your thumb is in, your mouth is hanging open.

If you can train your children to keep their mouth closed it'll help a lot wrt jaws and teeth.

i wasnt trying to make anybody feel bad fgs. iw as honestly trying to stand up for the 2yo and his comfort habit. i gave my opinion. public forum and all that.

im not holding a gun to anyones head and insisting you listen to me. sheesh.

Soupdragon - if the damage is so bad it's presenting a physical problem and needs doing - ie. not cosmetic; why are you paying for it?

Just wondering as this seems to be a postcode thing - my friend was told she would have to pay for her son' orthodontic treatment recently even though his gap is 7mm, anything over 4mm is deemed bad enough to be free supposedly.
She has had to fight to get it done for free but has achieved it. I live 10 miles away but in a different county and there was no mention of us having to pay or wait 2 years.

Thumbsucking definitely does cause jaw and teeth damage, it may not be obvious, but it does happen. A thumb (or finger) causes constant pressure on the teeth and jaw when being sucked

People without damage are lucky but many more are damaged

I think it is worth a try to stop the thumb habit with a dummy. A young child doesn't need to suck for comfort (a baby does) it is purely a habit.

Wish I had taken a step to stop my daughter younger, she wouldn't be faced with major orthodontic work now

If your son is a thumbsucker, dummies will be a poor replacement...I know from experience.

I have read that thumbsucking is not a worry in terms of mouth development unless the child is thumbsucking past the age of 5 (I'm talking LT damage to permanant teeth, etc).

I wasn't worried about DS's thumbsucking and only was looking to change to a dummy was that he only sucked his right thumb, and all he developed a skin irritatation near the cuticle of the left thumb which then made it painful to suck on it. I tried a dummy, and he chewed on it, but didn't really "get" it. He simply stopped sucking his thumb, and has never re-started to thumb-suck again. His skin irritation happened when he was 2 years and 11 months, and now he is almost 4. He shows no signs of interest in thumb-sucking.

I was told to leave him alone and that he would stop when he was ready. I guess it was true in DS's case.

Sorry about the garbled message..wrote it at two different times, as was interrupted by the aforementioned DS, so message is not in coherent English!

Wisteria, because this isn't orthodontics, it's orthotropics. It's not available on the NHS. By correcting the position and growth of the jaw now, he won't need extractions and the traditional train tracks which force the teeth into a straight position. They'll be able to grow that way naturally (provided he can be trained to keep his mouth shut and not sit slack jawed! You should try it, it's bloody difficult actually!) By doing this, his tongue will be ion the correct position inside his mouth and this also helps the teeth grow in the right position.

Thumbsucking isn't the only cause of it, DS2 never sucked and he has overcrowding (but not the thumb shaped gap between upper and lower front teeth). They've said that if he can remember to keep his mouth shut he should be fine though (great advice for life I think )

Anyway, the point of my post was that, even if you think your teeth and jaws haven't been affected, I bet they have. It's something to do with how the bones of the face/jaw grow to compensate for what is, in effect, posture. As I said, the dentist could tell from looking at my face (something to do with the chin and also the cheekbone/eye position.) I'm not 100% sure as I have a teeth/dentist phobia and couldn't watch the DVD they sent me! The bits I did see about facial development were fascinating

I've never heard of it! Sounds very complicated, but anything which stops them needing the painful orthodontic work is good I suppose - we wouldn't be able to afford it in a million years though so will have to stick with the good old NHS I'm afraid!

Keep nagging your children to keep their mouth closed all the time. It apparently makes a big difference.

I told DS that, since a lot depends on him making an effort, if it doesn't work, he will be paying for the treatment

Mistiek, wot NG said. Your OP said you were open to all suggestions. I took it as meaning ALL suggestions - you clearly meant "only suggestions I want to hear".

Mistiek - it is unreasonable to ask for opinions then get angry with MNetters for giving them, fair enough to say you aren't interested in that opinion for the reason you gave but to be angry that people have expressed it seems ridiculous.

It appears that most orthodontist's only consider thumb sucking a problem past the age of 5 this is one example, I found loads more, and the consensus seems that thumb sucking is emotional and you should not shame them into stopping, but rather bargain with them.

Both dentists I've seen told me I should have taken steps to stop DS1 when he turned 1.

Im sorry to all those who thought I was getting angry with their opinions. I asked for advice and opinions on if my idea could work. If people don't think it will work thats fine too...

I just did not appreciate being made to feel guilty for trying to stop him sucking his thumb - especially if I feel I am doing the right thing for his benefit...

Sorry if I upset anyone

I wasn't, as I said, trying to make you feel guilty. I felt that you may be mistaken in your basic premise, and wondered whether you had taken expert advice, that's all. Maybe you should have indicated which bits you wanted opinions on and which bits were untouchable!

I suspect that dentists opinions vary. ds has a crocked tooth, which is almost certainly caused by thumbsucking (he is 8, and a night time with comforter sucker) becasue of the way it's angled. The dentist didn't even mention it, she just said that he should brush them better. Interestingly I think it has actually improved over the last year, even though he still sucks his thumb. He is entirely unbothered about the "big boy thing" I said that other children his age might tease him, and he told me he was sure that other children in his class have special toys and comforters at home too (very insightfull at time, ds!). My mother was apparently told that I should have a brace when I was a little girl because I have a gap between my front teeth and am an ex-thumb sucker. She refused (she was of the opinion that the dentist was after her money). I think I have a pretty good set of teeth, and interestingly dd (who has never sucked anything) has exactly the same gap, so it's obviously genetic. I suspect that the jury is out on the impact of thumb sucking vs genetics and other factors in jaw/teeth development, and that's why different dentists have different opinions. It's probably also to do with what people consider to be "perfect" when it comes to teeth. I suspect that as people are more bothered about appearances, more and more treatment will become considered as neccessary when once it would have been thought as cosmetic. I don't think that this can be a good trend because self esteem shouldn't be so tied up on appearances.

This is an interesting thread as I am helping my DS (age 6) to stop sucking his thumb at the mo. He has sucked it since he was 4 - 5 weeks old, so it's a pretty deep seated habit, plus he has always been a very oral child (testing things with his mouth first, chewing nails, chewing anything, actually). I was happy for him to continue sucking (I sucked 2 fingers until I was 12 or 13) but have noticed his new, middle top teeth look slightly askew. Now, this could be just his mouth, but I'm worried that it is affecting his teeth alignment. I looked at the thumbguard www.thumbguard.co.uk/ but was horrified by the price. Luckily have an OT friend and we fashioned something ourselves out of splinting material.
My son is delighted - he was really keen to stop, but the "habit" just overwhelmed him. He felt he just couldn't stop the thumb heading for his mouth. We are on about day 5 now - he asks for the splint before going to bed and he only struggled to get to sleep on the first night.

Good luck!

Isn't it interesting how on one thread someone is saying she wants her 6 month old to stop using the dummy and was hoping he would use his hands to self soothe?

Why would anyone WANT to get their child to suck their thumb or fingers? You can't stop them doing that ...
But you CAN get rid of a dummy!

DD had dummies until a month ago when she turned 3 and a half. She is a very oral child and was desperate to suck. I had to get up a lot in the early days to give her her dummy back in the night when she lost it but at 9 months she would find it herself. She was a magic sleeper from then on, she slept with one in her mouth and one in each hand.

I never let her have in the day time when she was playing.

So fast forward to the beginning of August. I had weaned her down to only one at night and she never lost it or always found it. One night I 'lost'it just before bedtime. We told her she was a big girl and would be fine. She slept all night, got all sort os big claps and hugs for being such a big girl etc.
But, some time the next morning she found it in the kitchen (I stupidly forgot to throw it away). She looked at me, laughed and said, "But I don't need it mummy do I?" and threw it in the bin herself.

Piece of cake.

I don't think you'll get him to take a dummy since he's a confirmed thumb sucker now. I tried that soon after DD1 was born since she sucked her thumb from birth, but she hated the dummy & I wound up with problems breaking her habit until recently (see my comments on this thread). DS (my 1st child) sucked a dummy & it was easy to break that habit, which I did before he was 1 yo.

I know the Thumbguard is expensive but it's definitely worth it.

I meant to add to my previous message, that a friend of mine's son used a dummy. At age 3 he /they stopped using it.....BUT he was quite ill a few months later.....and started sucking his thumb for comfort.....now she's stuck!!! So......once a sucker, always a sucker??