painful thumbsucking

[Cass]

My son, aged 15 months, has been a thumbsucker almost since birth. Just in the last couple of days, however, he's started sucking so vigorously that his thumb is now sore, red and rough, and covered in cuts (possibly because he's got new teeth). It's really painful for him to suck, but he's addicted and can't sleep without it. The thumb never gets time to heal because it's in his mouth so much. Any ideas what I can do to help it heal or to stop him?

Cass, maybe now would be a good time to try and break the addiction - I speak as someone who thumb sucked until the age of 14 (years, that is, not months!). As he's so young, could you bandage his hand impressively so that he can't suck his thumb, then let him stay up late til he's really tired, whisk him off to bed and try the best way to get him off to sleep with minimum distress. With my youngest, it was to hold him against my chest and walk round the room, he fell asleep with his head on my shoulder. Putting him in bed was NO good, he just screamed with amazing energy. Within 3 days, he had the habit of falling asleep with no sucking, and even preferred this way when he woke in the night. Might be a good idea to start it on a Friday though.

Thanks Sml - out of interest, how old was your son when you tried to break the habit?

15 months, the same age as yours - good luck if you pursue this route.

Cass, something to help heal his thumb in the meantime might be Nelson's Hypercal cream (from Boots etc, homoeopathic remedy for cuts and sores), or Kamillosan, which is also recommended for sore nipples in breastfeeding mums, and which is presumably safe for little people to ingest (bet it tastes horrible though). We find both of these effective for all sorts of little sore bits!

My son, who is nearly two, has always sucked his thumb, particularly when he is tired. My dentist has told me I should try and stop it, but I find it virtually impossible.

I have been reading 'Toddler Taming' by Dr Christopher Green, in which he says that thumb sucking should be ignored below the age of 4, since it is easier to tackle after this age. He also says that most children will stop after 3+ and that not to worry about harming permanent teeth before the age of 6.

My son has also made his thumb really sore in the past. I mentioned it in passing to my doctor, who said there was nothing much that could be done, and that it was self-limiting, since it will begin to hurt so much that they will automatically stop sucking it for a while, which I have found to be true - although it doesn't seem to stop it permanently!