thumb sucking, and not just ANY thumb sucking.........a 14yr old and a 12yr old..........how the HELL do I get them to stop???

[psychohohohoho]

seriously, it is finally getting me cross.

they speak round their sodding thembs, and they just won;t listen when we tell them to please not do it.

I have clearly been far too soft, it has never really got to me much, and it isn;t ruining their teeth, but it is now to the point where

they need to stop.

ok, rant over.....

tis xmas

((but please, any advice bar chopping their thumbs off??))

Watching closely, as my 11 year old still does it if she thinks she can get away with it. My mum put a stop to my thumb sucking aged around 8 by putting mustard on it but I don't plan to try that with my child!

Let me know, I'll use the recommended method to stop my 31 year old dh doing it.

No help but I didn't stop sucking mine until I was 23. Met DH and felt more secure.

Chilli sauce on there thumbs.
Worked for me I sucked my thumb till I was 18

seems I need to just accept then!!

or I try the chilli sauce

pink one of my male friends is 32 and still sucks his thumb so does his 17yr and 2yr old daughters and his grandson one day went round there they were all sitting on the sofa sucking there thumbs it was very sweet

It really works Psychohohohoho one taste of the chilli put me off sucking my thumb it was very hot do it when they are sleeping lol

I will give them xmas then. and then go buy some.

will they hate me forever tho???

If they actually want to give it up, then you can try a ThumGuard. Worked brilliantly for my ds when he was about 2.5.

Meant ThumbGuard with a b, sorry!

Can you let them have huge false nails on their thumbs over Christmas? And the rest of their nails, I mean, not just mega thumb ones. That would be odd.

I was just thinking that a thumb isn't so nice to suck if there's a hard great nail on it. But then I've never sucked my thumb, so I don't know if that's the case.

do they want to stop? The speaking around it would drive me mad.

Have you tried bribery? Or what about some of that horrid anti-nail biting stuff, I hear that doesn't taste very nice.

Tell them Santa won't come if they don't promise to stop. lol.

Perhaps a new years resolution for them?

Ipity......I tried that last year....I paid for them to have their nails done propely, (going back on my word completely as I swore I would never let them until they could pay), in the hopes it would make them stop........did it?? Did it hell.

and then.........DD1 broke her thumb really badly in the summer, and was in a cast for 7wks.......did it stop her........NOPE!!!

even DD2 carried on with her other thumb when she broke her elbow a few years back......and there was me thinking that they would only evere stick to the 'right' thumb.

and nonickname......they don;t actually want to give up, so I feel a little mean trying to make them.

only a little mean tho..........

Bloody Hell, that Thumbguard's expensive!

I reckon you could rig up your own with a cut up milk carton and some cable ties.

[Blue Peter]

The problem is even if they want to stop it is a difficult habit to break (as are most habits)

This worked for a friend of mine with her 6 year old but then her dd did actually agree to try and stop. www.thumbguard.co.uk/

The thumb guard works by breaking the sucking /pleasure association so eventually the habit breaks too.

Not sure older children would want to be seen with this on though.

I do sympathise though as ds (4) sucks his thumb and also bites his nails. It does irritate me though so am planning to try the
thumbguard soon to at least stop him sucking his thumb. Not sure how to tackle the nail biting though -sigh !

oops - sorry seen that I'm too late with the thumbguard suggestion

tis ok......I am not sure it would work anyway.......there is no better thumbguard than a cast, but that seemed not to work.

altho maybe get one for both thumbs....maybe that could do the trick.

I do wish they were still small enough for the father christmas bribe. it worked perfectly for DD2 and her dummy, altho she was ok.....she stuck her themb in, and now we get to this......still with thumbs attached in their teens!

I don;t really think I am going to succeed with this until they want to am I.

My God.

They are champion suckers. Where do they get it from, are there any leeches in the family?

What about addressing where it's a problem, like when they talk around their thumbs, and deal with that? Because if it's not causing problems with their teeth etc, it doesn't matter if they suck their thumbs all night, does it?

Ipity......I would mind, seriously, I would not mind if it was just at night, or even just curled up on the settee.....

it is at the table during meal times, talking to me while still sucking......that is what really bugs me, and that I guess is the issue to tackle.

it is all down to lack of respect (to quote mu aunts fave saying)......I would lol at the saying, but I feel a little like agrreing ( at actually agreeing a teeny bit).

Me thinks a little 'firm telling' off is in order, or a threat bribe.

not, not, not....

missed the first not

I'm 25 and suck my thumb when going to sleep / when bored at home in evening. My sis is 23 and does the same. My parents used,
mustard, chilli, nail varnish stuff, pepper, cayene pepper, false nails, sellotape on thumb etc

Our teeth are perfectly fine, no braces and also neither of us have any fillings (unrelated I'm sure). But we did have a rule that if we wanted to suck our thumbs we had to take them out to talk otherwise our parents just ignored what we were saying.

Do they suck it at school?

navyeyelash.........I don;t think they do, altho they have made the odd comment about their friends laughing about it, so maybe they do find themselves unconciously sucking (and I am sure sometimes they truly don;t realise!).

I will use the ignoring tip tho.....far kinder than threats

take a photo of them doing it and threaten to send it to their from tutor/ registration teacher if they don't stop- humiliation always works

form tutor !!!!

I have a thumbsucking 12 and 13 year old and they are perfectly capable of stopping when on sleepovers, school trips, you name it. I'm now friends with my failure to halt it at home.. is this an option for you?