2 Year Old Still Sucking Thumb

You don't. When he is ready to stop sucking his thumb, he will. If you try to force the issue, it will just backfire on you and cause more tension and anxiety than it is worth.

I ended up having to tape my little girls fingers together, nothing else worked (bribing, punishment, icky tasting stuff, etc). My daughter sucked on her fingers so often, that there was concern of teeth and she would get sick so often and the skin on her fingers often were raw with sores. She was about 4 years old when she stopped. She now has a permanent bruise on her finger, but her teeth did go back into alignment and no more raw fingers.

We got our daughter to stop, but she was almost 5 and completely on board with wanting to stop. A two year old still needs to use the thumb to self-soothe!

Let him suck away!
C.
www.littlebitquirky.blogspot.com

he will stop on is own-I have a 4 1/2 yr ols who sucke dher figer not her thumb and just recently stopped on her own-the more pressure u put on her the worse it willbe :) L.

I agree. Leave it alone. It's his security. My daughter stopped on her own at 24 months, but I sucked my own thumb until I was 8 and we're both fine.

You don't. He will eventually do it on his own. He's only two, and his thumb, is his security blanket. Don't worry about his teeth getting messed up because that happening isn't really that common, unless he's sucking extremely hard every time, which, I doubt. I'd just let him be two and enjoy the security of his thumb.

I sucked my thumb till I was 9.

Short of cutting it off, there isn't much you can do. Be glad their baby teeth fall out eventually. He'll grow out of it.

There are some products you can buy and try for their fingers to give thumbs a bad taste... lots of old wives tales on how to "cure it" but I'd be careful about spending the money.

Good luck!

He will stop when he's ready. Don't pressure him. It will only make him want it more. Tell him he shouldn't suck his thumb or fingers when you're out in public because his hands are dirty from touching things. Keep his hands as clean as possible. Maybe the cleaning and not sucking fingers when you are out will persuade him to only suck his thumb at nap and night time. Good luck!

Just talked to the dentist about this...she says its not a big deal until the child is 5-6. She says they usually stop due to peer pressure. My son is 3.5, sucks his fingers and has a "lovie". The dentist says when we want to try and get him to stop....taking away the "lovie" might be a good idea as they can go hand in hand.

thank goodness these moms have some sense! so many times this question is answered with the most horrible of suggestions, soaking the finger in god knows what...look i agree with everyone - it is a coping mechanism. when your child is old enough to cope with his emotions on his own in a more mature way, he will. it may come down to peer pressure when he goes to school - but he will stop. if you try to force him to stop, what will happen? he will get upset. he will suck his thumb. likely he'll feel guilty for sucking his thumb, OR you'll get onto him about it. both of which will upset him even more. and so on. my son was a thumb sucker from about 2 months and i thanked god every day, because the day he sucked his thumb was the day he slept through the night. now at 3 1/2 he hasn't sucked it in probably close to a year. he does, however, still want his lovey blanket at night. i am fine with all of this. there is no proof that sucking a thumb while having baby teeth affects the adult teeth at all. simply, there's no reason to sweat it and stress your baby out about it. i know he seems big, but he is still a baby. just love him :)

I bribed my son with a basketball goal. He was seven at the time!

Don't worry about it now. I agree that you can work with him to minimize his thumb/finger sucking in public. But overall it is a coping mechanism which he needs now. Two of my three children were thumb suckers. Our goal was to stop thumb sucking before their permanent teeth come in. It worked better with one than the other. My eldest didn't really stop until she was 7 (too old, but at the point it was only while she was sleeping). My 11 year old completely stopped in Kindergarten, all on her own. But in both cases my children were not "public" thumb suckers; we had worked to have them minimize the amount of thumb sucking they did. As far as tooth alignment, it did have some negative impact on my eldest and she did wear braces, although she would have needed them anyway due to other issues not caused by thumb sucking. My 11 year old did not have dental issues caused by thumb sucking (she did need to wear braces on her 4 front top teeth, but that was a heriditary issue).

I realize it is not a pleasant habit but as long as you work to minimize how often he does it now and be sure to frequently use antibacterial wipes and then strive to get him to stop before his permanent teeth come in, it will all work out!

There is some stuff you can paint on it and it is nasty. I know women who use it to keep from biting nails I think it is Bite off. CVS has it. G. W

I sucked my thumb until I was 9. Not in public but at night. I stopped when I realized I was too old for it. And I never needed braces.

My son is 2 1/2 and still sucks his thumb. Only when he goes to bed or is upset. Then once he falls asleep his doesnt suck anymore. I think he is too young to try to start doing something now. That is their "soothie". But if you really want him to stop go to Onestepahead.com. They have a strap on device to make them stop. I also have a 6 week old. I pray he finds his thumb because he spits his paci out about every 5 seconds then cries like crazy! So I really want him to find the thumb lol

I did not read the post so I am sorry if I repeat. My 5 year old still sucks her thumb at night, while sleeping only. I have had 2 different dentist as well as our pediatrician say not to worry about it until permanant teeth start coming in. But if your serious, ive tried everything and the only thing that I think is really going to work is the Thumb Guard. I havent bought one yet because they are pretty expensive but you can get it online.

I agree - it's too soon! Wait at least another year! What we did with my daughter was at about 4 we started making her go to her room to suck her thumb. We just told her she was a big girl and could only do that in her room - then we moved it to just her bed. We didn't make a big deal about it, just gave her a calm choice. Usually she would choose to stop rather than going and sitting on her bed. It broke the "habit" sucking and she still had her comfort when she needed it b/c we didn't "shame" it out of her. She is now 7 and pretty well adjusted. Good luck!

I read a few answers and for what it is worth, I went to the dentist with my three year old, chronic thumb sucker and our pediatric dentist strongly suggested a t-guard to help him minimize the sucking for teeth, speech and soft palet formation (an apparatus for the hand that allows them to put in mouth, etc, but not make a tight seal). Warry, I asked my dentist, other mom's via this source and my sister (who is a dental hygenist) and she gave me some great advice from a specialist on this subject and some interesting things he shared with her team.
1. better to do it early to help them learn new coping mechanisms
2. they need extra love/attention/cuddling because they are loosing one of of their soothing/coping mechanisms
3. no punishment involved.
4. be ready with re-directions that are appropriate.
Best of luck with your next move.

Some kids will just not stop, no matter what you do, until they are ready to give it up on their own. I've seen 1 or 2 kids last as long as 7 yrs old. When my son was in pre school, they tried to keep their hands very busy. The rule they gently steered towards was 'for nap time only'. Gradually at home we'd get him down to only using it for nap time and bed time. He was about 6 yrs old when he finally out grew it completely.

My daughter sucked her thumb until her sixth birthday. She was excited about now being old enough to go to school. Ok---I had tried everything else, so I told her that school girls didn't suck their thumbs. She quit that night.
Guess I got the idea from my mother, who had 4 thumb suckers out of 4 kids. The second child she determined to break and finally did. It was so traumatic she just let the others go. She said she never saw a thumb sucker in school and besides that, thumb suckers were better children. They were able to calm and comfort themselves (just as todays experts tell us our children should be able to do). Haven't read the other responses yet, but this old grandma will tell you that the more you fuss over it the more stressed he will become. So just leave it be for awhile. Most quit on their on. As he spend more time with other children there will be peer pressure to stop. Then it will be his own decision. Much more effective and less stressful to him than if you keep pressuring him. God bless and don't stress yourself over it. It is not drugs or sex!

My daughter is 2.5 and sucks her thumb at night/naps/when she's sick and it never occured to me to make her stop. Why do you want to make him stop? Is it because of his teeth? I've heard that there is very little linked to thumb/finger sucking and teeth. I assume that my daughter will need braces anyway since her father and I both did so that was never really a thought to me. Just curious as to why you want him to stop? From what I hear they all outgrow it at some point and if it calms him and gives him comfort, what's the harm?

Ok, I know that my answer is the same as all the others but I wanted to put my 2 cents in. :) My daughter sucked her thumb until she was 7 and she is FINE. My 2 year old sucks his thumb and I'm sure he will be fine too. There are much bigger fish to fry...don't sweat the small stuff. :)