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Parenting

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Original poster

thumb sucking

15 replies

indiajane · 05/02/2007 19:21

I was just wondering if any of you out there had any good tips on how to stop a 6 year old sucking her thumb?

My DD has had her thumb with her index finger curled around it in her mouth since she was about 1 month old. The main problem there is with this is that our Dentist has over the past few visits predicted that she will have a massive over-bite if she doesn't stop.

I've tried talking to her and using stop and grow with no success. As soon as she takes it out, it seems to go back in without her really realising it.

Can anyone give me some ideas?

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pinkdolly · 05/02/2007 19:32

Sorry havent even managed to stop my dh (26) from doing this.

Hope some one comes along to help you tho.

Just one point dh actually has perfect teeth.

Olihan · 05/02/2007 19:33

My sister sucked her fingers until she was 11 and my uncle finally got her to stop by a) putting a finger bandage on the 2 fingers she sucked, and
b) bribed her with treat if she didn't suck them for a month!

Can't remember what the bribe was now but maybe at 6 ou could offer something at the end of a day, a week, 2 weeks, etc?

mummymic · 05/02/2007 19:35

hi - i sucked my thumb til i was 14/15 i wake some mornings to find i have had a suck during the night too!
my dd sucks her thumb, thought it was real cute when she was about 6 weeks old! not sure how i will be stopping her, or if ill even bother! my teeth are ok and dont seem to have suffered
my mum put some stuff on - i think it was for stopping biting nails - it tasted yuk, but i soon got used to it and just sucked it off!
good luck x

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Original poster

indiajane · 05/02/2007 19:42

I sucked my thumb too until I was about 9 - it was a real effort to stop. My teeth are perfect but I can see what my dentist is talking about - she can't by a long way get her front teeth to line up with her bottom ones...

I've tried putting a plaster on her thumb but she sucks though the plaster - wierd!

I even saw her trying to suck her thumb through a ski glove the other day!

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Original poster

indiajane · 05/02/2007 19:43

My new baby is 5 months old and is very sucky too - but I've given him a dummy... not sure if that's the right thing to do either?

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J20BABY · 05/02/2007 19:49

hello all my nearly 7 year old dd sucks her thumb too, and gets really upset with herself if i try to stop her, so i would be very interested to hear any tried and tested ideas

jalopy · 05/02/2007 19:49

I got my 6 yr old to stop by using a woollen glove at night. Took a few weeks but it worked.

J20BABY · 05/02/2007 19:52

how the heck do you get them to wear a wolly glove on a night? half the time my dd gets up with no pjs on!

Original poster

indiajane · 05/02/2007 19:53

Jalopy - did you tie it on or something? I've tried using a glove but only tucking it into her pyjamas and she gets it off.

She does it all the time during the day too - I can't get cross with her because she really doesn't realise she's doing it - which means that offering treats etc doesn't really work.

Somebody suggested chilli sauce

OP posts:

jalopy · 05/02/2007 20:03

My daughter had a visible gap in her teeth from sucking her thumb. Her dentist asked her to try and stop before her adult teeth started to come through. I was lucky, she was at an age that she understood and went along with the glove plan. Didn't need to tie it on. Used to check her late at night and first thing in the morning while she was asleep to make sure it worked! I think you have to have a 'willing' child in order for it to be a success.

Lizalu · 05/02/2007 20:04

No great advice - just snap. DD 6 has overbite and dentist says we need to stop her sucking her thumb because she has two new teeth at the bottom. The only time she does suck it now is in bed though so only for a very limited time.

Ds was very sucky but didn't have the co-ordination to keep his thumb in his mouth for months so we gave him a dummy. We never gave it him in his cot however (didn't want to be woken in the night by a baby looking for his dummy) and by 6 months he started sucking his thumb at night. I wonder if we had let him have a dummy more he would never have started sucking his thumb.

My only thought is that I will try star charts with my dd. I was also a thumb sucker, but just sort of grew out of it at about 10/11, so I know what a strong comforting habit it is. For this reason I am thinking I will give her a reward very often. Perhaps even every two days.

jalopy · 05/02/2007 20:05

Encouragement from the dentist helped enormously

salisshe · 16/03/2007 10:38

This topic is very close to my heart. I had a chronic thumb sucker and tried EVERYTHING. It used to drive me crazy cos I could see his teeth were starting to stick out. The problem was he did manage to stop in the day time but night time was a different story. I did the yukky tasting stuff, and socks, and sticker charts, and bribes (I mean incentives :P). I even went online and showed him what would happen to his teeth if he continued. Mean I know but I was desperate. Anyway, in my search online I found this ... www.thumbguard.com.au. It seemed kinda pricey but when I thought about how much I had already spent on stuff to try to stop it, not to mention the emotions both he and I had spent, and I was desperate. I figured it seemed the least traumatic and I could buy it from Australia so I just went ahead and bought it and OMG it worked! He only wore it at night cos day wasn?t a problem, and within a month he didn?t need or want to suck his thumb anymore. Even better I can see a difference in his teeth structure.

Now if only there was something I could buy to get rid of his other annoying habits :P

Good luck!

dozydizzy · 17/03/2007 14:07

We tried the thumbguard for dd aged 6. She chewed it to bits! waste of money for us. Unfortunately as well as being a thumbsucker she is a serial chewer. No more suggestions but lots of sympathy....her new teeth are starting to come in now and we are no nearer to breaking the habit, and dentist has told us to. She seems keen to stop but doesn't know she is doing it, and doesn't have the self discipline for eg the glove. sigh...

suziewoo13 · 17/03/2007 20:51

I used to suck my thumb and my family teased me about it. It used to upset me a lot...sensitive bunny . My thumb sucking was blamed for me having squint teeth but now some hundreds of years later my dentist said my squint teeth (should have got them straightened) had nothing to do with thumb sucking! However my DD (11month)nsucks her thumb and her second tooth in is squint....not sure what to do for her but I wont tease her!

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