How to stop thumb-sucking...any advice?

[Undercovamutha]

My DD is 3.5yo. She sucks her thumb A LOT! We have never really done much to discourage her until recently, as we noticed that her front teeth had started to protrude a bit and also noticed that none of the other kids in her nursery class seem to do it.

However we have just come back from the Dentist, who said that her thumbsucking needs to stop as it is definitely pushing her teeth forward, and could alter her jawline if it continues.

I have always been a bit soft about stopping her, cos I used to suck my thumb when I was little and know how comforting it can be for a LO. However both my DSis and I had to have braces due to sticky-out teeth - which were probably caused by thumb-sucking.

So has anyone got any ideas/experience of how to (kindly) stop thumbsucking. I am usually quite a firm parent, but feel decidedly flaky about this matter ! Need a decent plan, as just keep asking her to stop doesn't seem to be getting us anywhere.

[Jobates]

Our daughter gave up after just 3 weeks wearing a Thumbise. There were such lovely designs and she loved wearing them. www.thumbsie.co.uk

[J790137]

I bought a thumb glove thing from //Www.thumbstoppers.co.uk
They had limited types but we got a spotty one for Ruby. It took about 3 weeks and a lot of work to get her to keep the glove on but we did it!

[J790137]

Hi, I had the thumb sucking problem with my four year old. I made a glove for her and it worked in a week, I have now started selling them on the web to help others. www.kids-thumb-guard.co.uk please let me know what you think...

[nutmegella]

www.lottiebee.co.uk/cottonthumb.html

Handmade thumb covers for £10 plus postage - this type of cover really worked for my daughter as she picked her own design.

[CoonRapids]

Reading this thread with interest as my dd 3.4 has what I think is a worse sucking habit than thumb. She sucks her forearm with a breast feeding latch and has a constant red blister there... I am so keen for her to stop but she refuses to. The more we mention it the more cross she gets. Am worried about her teeth and jaw etc. but also worried about making her feel awful about what is essentially a comfort habit. She does it when bored or tired which means that I feel under pressure the whole time to try and find activities to distract her...

[ppeatfruit]

Soupdragon . I'm trying to say that not ALL thumbsucking leads to bad teeth , jaw development etc.

It might even be the WAY the thumb is sucked I don't know.

Some dentists are in it to make as much money as they can out of whatever. I had a dentist who was like that; does that make my experience one not worth relating??

[Undercovamutha]

Some progress. When DD came out of school this lunchtime, I asked her if her teacher had mentioned about her thumbsucking. DD proudly announced that her teacher hadn't needed to say anything because she hadn't sucked her thumb all morning!

[Nepmom]

The sooner you start to break the habit the better. I have used the Thumbuddy To Love and my daughter loved it. She was so proud when she quit. the web site is www.thumbuddytolove.com

[madhairday]

Well said SoupDragon.

ppeatfruit, you seem to be implying that those of us attempting to help our dcs break this habit are meanly taking away something from them that they get pleasure out of. In my case I am trying to help my dd to stop because, as her orthodontist has explained, she has caused extreme overbite and jaw misalignment. surely it would be so much more cruel to leave her to it and let her grow up just as is?

OP, I would always recommend doing all you can to break this habit.

[SoupDragon]

"Erm soupdragon i think that our different experiences are valuable whether we are 'experts' or not"

relating different experiences and claiming that dentists are wrong are two entirely different things.

"Yes exactly Falafel!! they 'll ignore you 'cos you're not saying what they want to hear.

Erm HELLO. I think your teeth develop genetically any one listening? "

Well, this implies that you are right and everyone else is wrong, including orthodontists who have nothing to gain by lying about the causes of crooked or overcrowded teeth (which are not just restricted to sucking)

I'm not ignoring you because you're not saying what I want to hear, I'm dismissing what you say as nonsense because I've seen the specific damage caused by constant sucking and had the mechanics of crowding and incorrect jaw development explained by a professional/expert.

If teeth develop genetically, why is there clear and visible damage to teeth and jaws caused by thumbsucking to many children?

[madhairday]

We have tried everything, including the thumbguard, with my dd who is now 9.
Last time we saw her orthodontist she told us dd's overbite was one of the most extreme she'd seen, and told dd she had to stop sucking her thumb. We are seeing her again next week and really have tried, but dd is still sucking her thumb, all the time. We are at our wits end tbh. She chewed the thumbguard to bits (she does chew a lot of things quite extremely, she has dyspraxia and this is apparently quite common), the bitter stuff doesn't put her off, plasters, socks, gloves, bandages, you name it. we've tried softly, we've tried being strict.There have been times she has been determined and made it for a few days. I don't know what to do any more. The orthodontist wants to start her on a brace asap but says she needs to stop the habit first or it will be working against the brace.

Sorry OP not to have any advice, but to just be venting here. But if anyone has any ideas, I would give anything to hear them.

[ppeatfruit]

Erm soupdragon i think that our different experiences are valuable whether we are 'experts' or not.

In fact actually we are experts when it comes to our own DCs.

Falafel and I have not had any negative experiences with thumb sucking. Everyone is different.

[myfirstbump]

I'm another one that would love to know - as a 26 yo thumbsucker!

I had 10 years of braces (from 7 to 17) correcting everything from jaw shape to the massive gap between my front teeth and my tongue not moving properly when I swallowed.

I learnt at around age 5 not to suck during the day or in company, as my whole family stuck a united front to show their disapproval. I think that was probably the most powerful thing for me - and it must be really hard to tell your DD/DGD they have a nasty habit. They had to be very forceful about it - asking me nicely just didn't work OP

A pronounced overbite runs in one side of my maternal family, which was made worse by my thumbsucking as my jaw was developing. Once my jaw and teeth had been set straight by the braces, they haven't really moved with all the years of carrying on with it since, although I know that's little consolation.

Sometimes, I guess people are just made like that. Sorry if that's not really helpful

[Undercovamutha]

MissusRabbit - our dentist seemed to think it may have a lasting effect, even though the big teeth haven't come in yet.

[Undercovamutha]

PrettyCandles - I think we are just going to keep mentioning it in a low-key way, rather than go for any unpleasant techniques at this stage. I mentioned it to DD's teacher today, and we agreed that she would keep mentioning to DD to stop. Teachers seem to have magic powers of persuasion so am hopeful that this may have some effect! Also, DD's best friend keeps telling her to stop apparently so maybe some peer pressure will get us somewhere as well!

[fruitshootsandheaves]

DS 1s 14 and still sucks his thumb alot. I may have to resort to a thumbguard. He is lucky as DD2 had to wear a brace to push her teeth forward (unfortunately the dog ate her brace but that is another story) the dentist said that thumbsucking had probably corrected his teeth but I would rather he'd been told a scary story to help him stop.

[MissusRabbit]

DD is 4.5 and still thumb sucks.....have tried the gloves on her hand but she just took them off. Bought nail bite then read its for 7 and over so didn;t use it.

Anyone know if its only really becomes a problem when their big teeth come in????

[PrettyCandles]

Ds1 stopped by himself. He stopped daytimes (except for naps) at about 3.5y, because our marvelous dentist made such an impression on him. He would ask permission to suck when he wanted to go to sleep! So cute. Then when he was 6 he had a wound on his sucking finger, and managed to stop himself sucking without any influence from us. He stopped before he lost his top teeth, and has shown no ill-effects from it.

Dd, OTOH, was developing a crooked jaw. It was very obvious. She was a heavy-duty thumb-sucker, and nothing would persuade her to stop. It was an unthinking instinct for her. The summer before she started school I bought a Thumbguard and by the end of the summer holidays she had stopped sucking and no longer needed it. She was well-rewarded and praised throughout. Her thumb would still creep into her mouth at night from time to time, and we would replace the thumbguard just during the night when that happened.

Her jaw started straightening out immediately. At her next appointment the dentist was impressed at the change. It took about 2y for her jaw to straighten completely, and she still has some speech quirks as a result of the crooked jaw that need working on.

The thumbguard works wonderfully, and it is not unpleassant like the bitter paint. The child can still put their thumb in their mouth, they just can't make the seal, so there's no suction. But it can only work with their co-operation. A determined child can take it off. Also, if they find the process unpleasant you risk them transfering the sucking comfort onto something else, like nailbiting or ear-twiddling.

Would you be willing to wait another year until she is perhaps old enough to better understand why she needs to stop, and to appreciate a bit of bribery, too?

[SoupDragon]

You're an expert then are you, ppeatfruit?

[ppeatfruit]

I would say if in doubt undercovermotha then don't re move her thumb from her mouth because as i said before with my son his teeth stuck out and he never sucked anything!!!Apart from bf of course!!

[FalafelAtYourFeet]

Yes but I have sucked thumb for 29 years and have no trace of overbite, very straight teeth etc. they are a bit overcrowded at the bottom but that is a separate matter!
38 year old dsis is the same, but without the overcrowding. Straight teeth, no braces or anything

So there must be some element of genetics involved, because myself and dsis sucked our thumbs A LOT!

[Undercovamutha]

ppeatfruit - I totally agree with you re. removing a crutch. That's why I feel so flaky about the whole thing. I LOVED sucking my thumb, and am not sure anyone could have persuaded me not to tbh. That said, if it did cause me to have the horrendous brace that I had for 3 of my teenage years, then I definitely wish I had stopped earlier!

I know what you're saying re. genetics, but I really do believe that DDs teeth are like they are cos of thumb-sucking. They were perfectly straight when they first came through, and it is only very recently that they have started to protrude.

[ppeatfruit]

Yes exactly Falafel!! they 'll ignore you 'cos you're not saying what they want to hear.

Erm HELLO. I think your teeth develop genetically any one listening?

[SoupDragon]

Tortoise, you could make that by cutting the fingers off a glove It will only work if she wants to stop as she'll easily be able to remove it. Great as a reminder for a determined child though.

Part of what stuffs up the teeth is the fact that the teeth are never together (ie the mouth is never shut) so the jaws grow differently to compensate. The same effect will happen through "slack jawed yokel" staring at the TV etc, although this won't reshape the palate and pull the teeth forward like thumbsucking does.

DS1 needed the orthodontic treatment because of thumbsucking - it was blindingly obvious that it had caused damage. DS2 needed it because of slack-jawed-yokel but he has had far easier treatment than DS1 because he didn't suck anything (didn't need milk teeth removed for a start).

I am extremely p*ssed off that DD started sucking her thumb at the age of 2.7. In only 18 months, she's caused visible damage to her teeth and jaw/chin.

FWIW, the orthodontist could tell from the shape of my face that I'd been a thumbsucker without looking in my mouth. Of course, he had a 50% chance of being right through guesswork but given I'd just seen him predict the state of DS1's teeth and jaws (including measurements) before looking in his mouth, I believe him. It's been a fascinating (if traumatic!) experience but both DSs look more gorgeous as a result

[FalafelAtYourFeet]

Oh and my teeth are fine