How to help DD stop sucking thumb

[Mummabear04]

Can anyone help me to find a way for DD to fall asleep without sucking her thumb? She's done it since she was 6mo and while I've not been too fussed about it, she is now coming up for 6 years old and is not long until she will loose her first tooth!

We've managed to get her to stop sucking her thumb during the day but she is finding it very hard to fall asleep without doing it. I bought some nail Polish, the stuff that tastes horrible for biting nails. She didn't like it for all of 5 minutes then found it amusing and then wasn't bothered by it. Other by sticking a glove on her (which whe would probably just suck anyway) is there anything else I can try?

we had sort of success when we bandaged it up at night. She then sucked the other one. We bandaged them both and she stopped for a month or so. Then started up again. I should have stuck it out a bit longer.

it used to never be out of her mouth, but when she stopped sucking it during the day I was a bit less stressed about it.

She stopped on her own at about 9 I think. She did need braces but the dentist said it wasn’t due to the thumb sucking.

Exactly the same boat here, and it really is affecting her teeth. We’ve tried everything mentioned here to no avail.

It’s so unhygienic apart from anything else.

But I’ve pretty much given up trying. I was just nagging her all the time which wasn’t helping but wasn’t fun for anyone.

@ooooohlala how old is your DD?

To be fair her teeth haven't been affected by the thumb sucking but I've not been to bothered as they are milk teeth and the dentist has never said anything. It's so hard!

Also almost 6. The dentist pointed out the gap between her top and bottom teeth, so it’s definitely affecting her. I’m just resigned to her needing braces.

My daughter sucked her thumb from being a baby & it really affected her teeth badly but they weren’t classed as bad enough for a brace on NHS. She’s now mid 20’s & has had the Invisalign braces as she was so self conscious, but results have been amazing .

Why does she need to? Seems a lot of worry for a pretty harmless method of self soothing.
I'm totally biased though because I am an adult thumb sucker. It never affected my teeth. I've asked 2 dentists I've seen as an adult if they can tell and both said no. I stopped in public by 8ish but quite regularly suck at home or in bed.
Once I was having a really stressful day at work and I went to the loo for a few mins thumb suck. Very calming! And miles better than popping out for a cigarette or a chocolate bar.
I would honestly save your energy for a battle that matters. I certainly won't be discouraging my children, though neither have shown any interest yet.

My son stopped at about 5 years old when the dentist told him it was bad for his teeth.

A thumbsie glove worked for us around age 7

What is the reason you would like her to stop?

I couldn’t fall asleep without sucking my thumb until I was in my mid twenties! I found it a huge comfort. It didn’t harm anyone else and I didn’t do it during the day, just to fall asleep.

My parents tried the nail polish that tasted revolting, reward charts, rewards, hitting me 🤦🏼‍♀️ ……… but nothing worked until I was ready to give it up.

Is it really that harmful if it is a comfort to your child?

This worked a treat for my children after years of thumb sucking - https://thumbsie.co.uk/

My DD hurt herself and had a plaster on her thumb, she couldn't suck it, so that broke the cycle.

Ironically her sister's teeth are the problem ones and she didn't suck her thumb.

I sucked my thumb until I was about 12. My teeth are straight but my left thumb is about half a cm shorter than my right one. Don’t know if that’s why. Nothing would have stopped me and yes my mum tried the nail biting stuff.

A stern word from our dentist stopped my DD from sucking her thumb, I swear she was sucking her thumb in my womb, anyway she was beginning to damage the top of her mouth and she had a big gap. After that dentist visit she just stopped overnight, she was about 7/8, she has perfect teeth now, did need braces but she has fixed retainers and wears her retainer every night.