My sister has a 5 yr. old who went to the dentist yesterday. He told her that she needed to quit sucking on her fingers because they will eventually mess her teeth up.( the signs are already starting to show) Last night she cried and cried and told her mother that it is just no use! LOL! My sister tried putting socks on her hands but she could not fall asleep with them on so she told her this is the last night you can suck them so she did and fell right to sleep. Has anyone delt with this or has any suggestions?? beside putting hot sauce on her fingers which we will not do! Thank you!
Thank you so much for everyones advice. My sister tried putting special princess bandaids on her fingers,which did not work for her.So she just reminded her not to put her fingers in her mouth because Mr.Kinley (dentist) told her not to. It only took a few nights and on her own she has almost completely stopped. She actually called her dentist (friend of my sisters) and told him she had stopped sucking her pickles,as she calls her fingers and he told her he was very proud of her.
Yes, read to her before she goes to bed or let her read and look and tell you a story about her book. Paint her nails one night as a girl thing together. I did put hot pepper (cayne) on hers to and it helped not much just a touch.If she is real girly, tell her if she stops sucking her thumb you will give her a dollar for every night she doesn't..
good luck
Hello!
I don't know if your sister has tried polishing her little girl's nails or not, but it worked really well for my daughter (now 4). She use to suck her two fingers all the time. I was worried that this habit would be hard to stop as she got older. Before she was 3 I decided to polish her nails in her favorite bright pink color and made a REALLY bid deal about how pretty the polish was and that if she sucked her fingers it would come off! I watched her closely for the first couple of days and reminded her not to suck off her polish. Everytime she went to suck I would say remember "don't suck off your polish". I repainted her nails another color the next couple of days and this renewed her interest in not sucking. She quit within two weeks and has never returned again :)
Good luck and hope this helps
A.
Hi, I am the mother of 3 "former" finger or thumb suckers. All 3 gave it up on their own by age 7. Braces are a wonderful thing--they can fix anything! My advice is to not bother the child too much about sucking her fingers, she'll quit on her own. Most children get embarrassed about doing it as they get older.
My now 10 year old sucked his two fingers until he was six. We tried everything to get him to stop, it was effecting his teeth. Cute for a toddler, not for a 6 year old. One day I was at the orthodontist with my older two boys and the Dr. suggested I bring my 6 year old in for a consultation. Best thing I ever did!! They put a metal mouth piece in the top of his mouth and he stopped sucking his fingers in a matter of days. We kept the piece in for several months, but the habit was broken so quickly and surprisingly with not much mental anquish. Good luck.
Lots of times children sucking on their fingers or hair is a oral stimulation thing. It may help for her to always give her daughter liquids she has to suck pretty hard through a straw (many of the sippy style straw cups are a little harder to suck and are thus, better in this case). Also, give her gum to chew throughout the day at appropriate times. Getting more stimulation throughout the day may help her so not need it so much at night. Have your friend search on the internet for any occupational therapist's type sites that may give her more oral stimulation ideas that would help. Good luck!
Walmart pharmacy has a product called Thum. They'll order it for you if it's not in stock. It is not hot sauce, but it does have an unpleasant taste that serves as a reminder for a child that wants to learn. The taste is not bad enough to deter a child that really wants to suck his/her fingers, though, because it comes off after a bit of sucking. It is applied as a clear nail polish and is only to be used with children old enough to understand that they should not rub it in their eyes (meaning don't use it with babies). I used it on my daughter for a while.
Hi D.,
I have two children that sucked either thier fingers or thumbs. My oldest (19) had his sonogram picture with his thymb in his mouth. I tried what you mentioned and it did not work. We had to have dental appliances installed that forced them to stop. It really was not a bad transition for either of them. My oldest son had his appliance installed when he got braces at 15, and my youngest daughter had her appliance installed when she was 8. Both kicked the habit immediately as they had no choice.
Hope that helps!!
Well D.. I remember sucking my right index finger just to be able to sleep up to at least 8 years. My mom tried every bad tasting thing. I'm not sure exactly when I stopped but I do recall not being able to fall asleep without it in my mouth.(in a very odd way too) What I can tell you is my teeth are and have always been straight, no malalignment and no buck teeth. ( my mom use to tell me I would have buck teeth) I never had braces. I think it must also have to do with the length of time the fingers are in the mouth. Maybe mom can just relax and if the child uses them to just fall asleep the she can check on the child after she is asleep and remove the fingers if they are still in.
I am 42 yr old and a mother of 4 little ones.
Hi D.,
I sucked my thumb until I was 4 1/2. My teeth are perfectly straight...my husband told me that he wonders if my teeth would have been indented and sucking my thumb actually perfected them.:) Anyway, my parents actually bribed me into stopping. My Dad told me that he would buy me anything I wanted in the "Sears catalog" (this was in the 70's). It worked for me. He bought me a doll w/ playpen/stroller the works. I remember pulling the cover up to hide at night and suck my thumb and my Mom would say, "if you don't stop, we're going to have to send everything back." I did it on my own but, it took a little time (a few weeks). My Mom would reassure me every night that I could do it. My own daughter had a pacifier and I tried everything to get her to stop. She started reading when she was 3 but, had a pacifier. I caught a lot of flack. I tried everything...I even told her she could only have it in bed and she would stay in her bed all day. I had to sleep with her for about a week when I finally just took it away. I remember it was a heartwrenching time. Our dentist told us that as long as we got her to stop before her adult teeth started coming in, it would be ok. She ended up with braces anyway, just because she has her father's teeth. I have heard of the appliance that they put in and I'm sure it works. I think your niece will stop; it just takes time as with most habits. I think that your sister should just keep encouraging her that she can do it. Give her a chance. It will be a good accomplishment for her to look back on when she is older. My heart goes out to this child and mother...it's a hard habit to break. My daughter was such a great baby and I know that a lot of it was because she was always pacified!
I actually sucked my thumb until I was eight years old. I seriously thought that there was no way I would ever stop because it isn't like you can just detach your thumb and throw it away. It would just end up in my mouth...wouldn't even realize it was there until one of my parents yelled at me.
My parents tried everything from the hot sauce to smacking me each time they saw me with my thumb in my mouth.
I actually came up with an idea on my own on how to stop because I wanted to go to a sleep over and didn't want the other kids to make fun of me.
I took a band-aid and I put it around my thumb, right below the knuckle. The texture of the band-aid took away the comfort feel of my thumb in my mouth. Plus it reminded me every time I put my thumb in my mouth to take it out.
I had to have a band-aid on my thumb for a good two weeks before the habit was broken, but it did, in fact break it.
Do not use hot sauce.
The band-aid trick works. Also use medical tape to keep gauze on the thumb works. Vinegar is not tasty by itself and a dab of it on the gauze (don't soak it) will make the gauze taste pretty yucky if using plain gauze doesn't work.
My dentist sells a 'thumb guard' that makes the thumb awkward to suck, but is very expensive.
Good luck.
Hello D.. My only suggestion would be to put that stuff on her thumb for (nail biting). You might want to try that. The only other suggestion is to keep on her, and everytime she has her thumb in her mouth stop her. It may take some time, but as they say......patience is a virtue.
L.
