Thumb sucking/dental problems/speech problems

[Chluro]

I think my title covers it all! I have a 3 year old thumb sucker, he does it when anxious and tired and until recently it didn't appear to be a problem but I have increasingly noticed his top front teeth are starting to buck outwards and a slight arch too as well as him having a pronounced speech problems, what we called a lisp when we were young but am sure there is a more PC term for it now!!! His S sound has a definite TH sounds and lots of his R rounds are W.

He is coming up 3.5 years and we never see GP or HV any more as he is quite a healthy chap and altho he has been to the dentist since birth, the dentist is yet to get more than a cursory look in there while his mouth is open as he screams in fright!

Do I need to ask about SALT help yet? And does anyone have a surefire way to stop thumb sucking. I am loathed to in my heart as it is his only comforter and he seems so small to give it up yet, but my DDs had dummies til 4 and the dental problems were not this apparent even then.
Thanks.

Hi Chluro, my DS1 is also a thumb sucker and is now 4. Our dentist has said that there shouldnt be any damage to his adult teeth. Apparently it also depends on how hard they suck their thumb - some kids suck quite hard and others, like my DS, kind of rest it in their mouths.

My DS used to suck his thumb quite a bit but he is definetly not sucking it nearly as much. Just a few minutes before he goes to sleep in the evenings. He hardly ever sucks it during the day anymore. It looks like most kids out grow it eventually.

I am sure once he starts school this Sept he won't want to suck his thumb in front of his new friends!

HTHs

Gemma

My dd1 sucked hard until about seven. She had created a gap so she could stick her tongue out while her teeth were closed. She has had braces and speech therapy for a lisp....Her brother stopped earlier and has had no problems.

Thanks both. My son has a conjoined septum between his top from teeth, so he has always had a large gap anyway, but I do think it is enlarging somewhat. He does kind of rest his thumb in his mouth. He is at school nursery every afternoon but this doesn't seem to stop him sucking LOL He does have a pronounced lisp which sounds cute now, but probably won't as he gets older.

Will have to see how he is towards the end of the year when he turns four and think about stopping it!

Many thanks.

My 3 and half year old was a thumbsucker until recently. I asked the dentist at his last checkup if his teeth were affected by it. She said they were slightly splayed but he was too young to worry about it.

I've never told him not to suck his thumb (like you I felt that it was a comfort for him) and he'd got down to only doing it when going to sleep or watching TV. About a month ago, he announced that he wasn't going to do it anymore and he hasn't. I thought he wouldn't really stop because it was such a habit, but he has. Possibly someone said something about thumb-sucking at nursery to put him off it, but I don't know why he stopped.

Haven't read the rest of the thread but the BEST way to stop thumb sucking is a Thumb Guard. Not cheap, but seem to be almost 100% effective. I used one for my DS when he was less than 2, when it's supposed to be less likely to work. He wore it for about 3-4 weeks, although by about 2 weeks I'm sure he was already over the habit.

BTW, he also has splayed, sticking out teeth (which have got slightly better over hte last year or so) and his Rs are definitely Ws. He is 4.4.

Goodness, I've just looked at the site I linked to. It's £50 now! It was about £25 or £30 I think when we bought it.

I've also checked back, and DS was 2.8 when we started.

Don't worry about the speech, yet. What you describe is very common - both my elder two had either or both of them. It started 'clearing up' when they went to school. Learnign about spelling helped them to clarify their speech.

Ds1, 7, still lisps, and I'm thinking it may be time to look at this, as it's the only speech variation of his that hasn't shown any sign of clearing up.

As for the thumbsucking, if he doesn't do it all the time then it is unlikely to be affecting his speech. Both ds1 and dd sucked bits of their anatomy. Ds1 gave up daytime sucking at about 3.5, when the dentist persuaded him to do so, but continued sucking to sleep and at night when he was 6. He had a scratch that wouldn't heal, and was sore because it was exactly where his teeth touched his fingers. This helped him to stop - together with promise of a reward at the end of the month.

Dd was a constant sucker, and it was affecting both her teeth and the bones of her jaw. Her smile was crooked and she could niether bite nor chew properly. (Didn't stop her eating though! ) We used the Thumbguard on her last summer, together with promise of a reward as well of course. It worked well, though her thumb does still occasionally slip back in in the middle of the night. Within a month of stopping sucking you could see the difference in her mouth, and now, 8 or so months on, she is begining to develop a bite and can chew vastly better.

But the Thumbguard will only work if the child is co-operative. A child desperate to suck will be able to take it off.

That's my experience. IMO if he is only sucking when he needs it, rather than all the time, you shouldn't try to stop it yet.

DD is 11 and still sucks her thumb, we have tried everything to get her to stop
the stop sucking stuff (she washed it off or if realllyd esperate sucked it off)
Bribery never worked
Dentist telling her about braces (she wants them as they are a fashion accesory now)

What we do now is to be strigent with telling her to take it our of her mouth if we see her sucking it. It s not likewe can cut it off ar anything.

We are at the dentists in a week and we are hoping that he will give her braces and that may stop her doing it

DD terrible thumb sucker, told to stop by orthodontist at age 9 as he could not start treatment and braces until she stopped (she had severe overbite). Ortho explained to her very clearly what the problems were, and she agreed that she needed to do something. (Sorry Saggybagpuss, braces dont stop thumb sucking - the sucking counteracts work of the brace)

She wore sellotape on thumb whilst asleep, it worked!

Ds also thumb sucker, but his teeth OK so far

Ds had some mild speech issues similar to yours - slight lisp and R/W confusion. I personally think 3 is way too young to start thinking about SALT though I know a lot of parents do. I reluctantly agreed to SALT for very brief course at age 5 and felt justified when SALT assured he was not hard case and it was largely maturity.

We have tried the selotape on her thumb, she still sucked it, we found the soggy bit in her bed the next morning.

We are hoping that if the dentist tells her that thats it she is having a brace that will be the catalist to her stopping.

Other than chopping her thumb off we don't know what else to do.

Good luck with the dentist SaggyOldbagpuss - stern talk from ours (he explained what would happen to her teeth if not) did do the trick. More than nagging from me. He emphasised that impetus really had to come from child.

Took 6 months - at first just did daytime stopping (2 months) and then once she'd got that voluntarily under control we then did night time sellotape. We tried other things but sellotape worked for us - used an awful lot of it. Yuk.

Thanks everyone for helpful replies ) I had looked out Thumbguards but have to admit the price did put me off, it is worth thinking about when he gets much older maybe.

He definitely only sucks when he is tired, I have never seen him with his thumb in at preschool or nursery, so am hoping the teeth and speech will sort themselves out

My eldest who is 14.5 had a dummy til she was 4 and very arched teeth, but her adult teeth were perfect. She does have fixed braces due to decay as a preschooler and overcrowding, not anything to do with dummy. They are painful tho at times, and have caused her a lot of grief in the year since she had them fitted, Saggy, so maybe mention that to your DD
Thanks all!