Is there a more affordable alternative to a thumb guard?

[olivo]

I have two DDs who both need to stop sucking their thumbs. The elder is getting her first adult teeth but seems to have started sucking more, the younger is 3 and it is without a doubt distorting her teeth.
I have looked at thumb guards it they are so expensive ( although nothing to potential years of orthodontics, just too much to afford for both right now)

Dd1 is trying desperately hard to stop but failing. We seem to have got dd2 down to just at bedtime but it really needs to stop soon.

Did anyone have any success with anything particular?

masking tape wrapped round the thumb looks quite like a big plaster worked for DD

need to do it for a couple of weeks to break the habbit, dd only sucked at night so we used to tape her thumb after her shower -she really didn't like the texture

We used the stuff that tastes horrid.
'Nail the Habit' by Pretty Quik.
It has a sponge inside the pot so they just dip thumb in and then wave it about for a couple of seconds to dry.

Sausage, did it disrupt her sleep at all? Having experienced some pretty major sleeping issues, that is what I am dreading!

Three bee, I wondered about that, but I figured it would just wash off during the day.

Hate to say it but my DM tried all sorts to stop me sucking my thumb and the only thing that worked was giving birth to my DD 17 weeks ago. I'm 33
My teeth are fine tho

Thanks Elvis!!

I sucked my thumb myself till I was about 7, no idea how to why I stopped. Fortunately, my teeth are ok.

Yes, it does wash off when they wash their hands.

We had a couple of grumbly nights but only at bed time, once she was asleep it was fine

Hmmm, might be the way forward, maybe during the next holidays when we can sleep in if it goes bottoms up at bedtime!

I still suck my thumb and I'm 39 this year a bit older than your dd's!

Nothing worked for me, never have been able to sleep without sucking my thumb. My teeth are ok though.....

Expect some tears and difficult nights I guess. It is worth breaking the habit of possible though, I'm not exactly proud of still being a thumb sucker

Lol at all the adult thumb suckers emerging.

Thanks for your tips everyone. I think we'll bite the bullet in the Easter holidays.....

I thought the thumb sucking/ teeth link had been disproved?

Rally seeker? The dentist said that there are different ways of sucking thumbs and some are more damaging to teeth. Dd2 has a very strong suck, and definitely pushes on her teeth.

It'd be great if there was no link though! Would save me the stress

My DD did it - the amount if time decreased as she got older but we had to manage her stopping when the dentist advised it. She was about 7 or 8 at the time and we aimed to decrease it gradually, firstly by confining it to her bedroom only, then only at story time/bedtime, then just to sleep. We then used a sock worn over her hand. She even named him and drew a face on it! It worked really well.

Laguna, I like the sock idea! Also the bedroom one.

All 3 of mine are/were thumb suckers. 2 now stopped successfully. Both at around age 6 when big teeth started to grow through. I think if they get to that age they have to really want to stop and the job is to help them.

I used a bit of bribery (when they had stopped 2 months they got a toy they wanted) and something unpleasant (fabric elastoplast on thumb for one and stop n grow on thumbnail for the other). These just reminded them they wanted to stop when they tried to suck but were too tired to remember not to.

Had a couple of rough nights but after that it got much easier. Still have one thumbsucker left though and he refuses point blank to stop, won't hear of it. Not quite sure how to approach that one!

I think we will try the Elastoplast/ tape with DD1, and I like the idea of a reward if she can crack it.

DS1 got to 8 years old and we had a big lecture from dentist about the permanent damage he was inflicting on his mouth/teeth if he were to continue with the thumb sucking.

We had tried a lot of different things and nothing had worked.

I was very very mean and googled permanent damge from thumb sucking images. I then showed him them. He cried. But he has not sucked his thumb since.

Wow cece I think I may soon have to be mean! Got to do something, he is nearly 7 and teeth are really starting to protrude.

My children's orthodontist suggests a pair of long football socks, one on each arm at night. I reckon a pair of large tights worn like a shrug under PJs would do the trick. He thinks that f you crac the nighttime sucking, any day time sucking will tail off.

He s very much of the opinion that thimbsucking, amongst other things, causes damage to teeth and jaw positioning.

DS1 had sticky out teeth and his mouth was too. Within 6 months of stopping it was 'normal'. But OMG I felt mean making him cry like that!