I've seen some previous discussions on this so now I know I'm not alone with this problem! My step-dd will be 9 in Jan & I would really like to help her stop sucking her thumb, otherwise, according to the dentist, she will be wearing a brace in a few years time. The thumb mostly goes along with an old toy bear (had it since she was 5 months old) which she likes to carry around and hold up to her mouth while she sucks. If we put the bear away she sucks less, but then tends to chew on things instead or put objects into her mouth - it's as if she hasn't gone through the normal process of learning about choking! Her birth mum left when she was 3 and rarely sees her, & I reckon that's why she has formed such an attachment to the bear. I guess worst case is that she gets the brace then won't be able to suck her thumb anyway, but I think that will be really upsetting for her. Most of the advice out there is directed at parents of toddlers & says that they will grow out of it when ready but I see from the post on here that isn't always the case The worst thing about this sort of problem at this age is that she has all the arguing skills of an 8 year old and so trying to reason with her about it ends up in a big upset with tears, which just want to make her suck more, of course Any ideas?