6 Year Old Still Sucks Thumb

My husband sucked his thumb til he was 9 yrs old. Finally, his mother said for every day he didn't suck his thumb he would get a dollar. He stopped the next day. I think finding what her currency is might help. Something she values. Funny my husband at a young age valued money. He actually saved it all. Til this day he is frugal. Whatever you decide don't be too hard on her. It's an addiction. I don't know how many of us on here like coffee, cigarettes, alcohol (occasional drinks). It's like telling a coffe drinker okay no more starbucks- ever!! Remember thumb sucking is a coping mechanism. It's self soothing and perhaps it just takes learning a new skill to self soothe.

I totally understand how you are feeling. It is a security thing for children and not something you can MAKE them stop. I sucked my thumb as a child. I think it lasted until about 10 and was something that I did mostly at nite or when I was tired. My oldest sucked 2 fingers and finally stop when we started with the ortho for her braces at about the same age. Now my youngest sucks her thumb and is almost 4. It is something she does when she is tired.

Basicly I would say dont make a big deal of it. Then they might feel ashamed of it and try to hide it not try to stop. Maybe try to figure out when she is doing it? What seems to trigger it? What she might have insecurities about. For me and my oldest we both had parents going through a divorse. For my youngest she started at about 3 months and got herself to sleep by doing it. It is just something that we learn young to soothe ourselves and that isnt really a bad thing so much.

Good luck and just be patient with her. She will grow out of it in time.

My Daughter now 12 sucked her thumb until 9, when she was caught by a class member at school. That made her start thinking, and for the next couple of months she only done it at home while she went to sleep. But then she stopped all on her own. I can't remember the last time she did, She now says yuck mom.

Hi S.,

My son was 5 1/2 when we FINALLY got him to loose the 'binki'. We told him all about the "binki fairy'! She is rather like the tooth fairy, but brings a 'big kid' gift instead of money. When your daughter is ready, she can place the binki under the pillow and the fairy leaves a gift in it's place. She must understand that once it's gone, it's GONE, and then get rid of ALL of them. My son had been begging for a big boy watch, so after we looked at several at stores he found one he LOVED. Then within a couple days of thinking about the watch, he was ready to place the binki under the pillow "on his own". He had the watch and was thrilled! He asked for the binki once and we spent a few minutes looking around just to make sure they were all gone, and that was the end of it!

Good luck!

Don't worry about it. It is her security and she will stop when she feels it is right for her. I did it for years and years. Does she hold onto anything when she does it? Is it only a night thing? If she does it during the day, ask her to make it a night thing only. BUT, she might turn to biting her nails too. Bottom line, don't worry or make her know that you don't like it. Let it be up to her.

I sucked my thumb until I was 10! My mom tried every trick to get me to stop - I learned to like Tobasco, chili pepper, and the taste of Band-aids. :-) One day I just stopped.

I've been helping my 4 year old niece to stop sucking her thumb because I've heard of adults who still suck their thumb at night when their sleeping or when they're nervous because they weren't forced to stop when they were kids. My niece has been doing great. I had a talk with her--I won't go into detail--I had her make it her decision to become the big girl and I would help her. I timed her for 5 minutes for her not to put her thumb in her mouth to prove to her that she could do it, and of course, I gave her a little prize for doing 5 minutes. (I distracted her by talking about other things.) Then I told her to try up to dinner time which was about 2 hours. She was genuinely trying...slipped a little here and there...but she caught herself. Then I sent her home with my sister and told her to try not to do it for the rest of the weekend. I got a call from her on Monday morning saying that she's been trying and she wants her prize now. So I took her to the mall, had lunch with her, and got this huge ring from Claire's (an accessories store) that covered her whole thumb. She was so excited. It was special to her, and she felt special because she got to wear it. I had to wrap ribbon around it so it would fit her finger. Now she knows to wear the ring to help her remember. She catches herself when the thumb goes in the mouth, and she's so proud that she hasn't been doing it. Hope that helps. Good luck.

Hi S.,
Boy, am I glad to hear I'm not the only one who had this problem! My kids were suckers, too -- but they used pacifiers. I took a slightly controversial approach from the get-go -- I gave my kids pacifiers to keep the thumb at bay. Modern parenting being what it is, I knew I was allowed to remove a pacifier, but that it was strictly forbidden to remove a thumb. lol

My only idea is -- and this is a shot in the dark -- try to transition her attachment to a pacifier. Reinforce it with the nasty nail polish used to deter thumb-sucking. It may not work alone, but if she has a back-up source of comfort, perhaps it can deter her from the thumb. I know that seems backward, but once she attaches the sucking habit to an object rather than an appendage, you may have a shot at weaning her off the whole thing. The idea being that, at this point, she clearly can't go cold turkey.

After the habit of relying on the thumb is broken (weeks, probably?) then you can start easing back on the pacifier usage. I used various praise/experience related rewards to get my kids to use 'pluggy' ONLY at night. Then to use it ONLY to fall asleep (at which point I'd move it increasingly far away in the bed until they could go all night without it). Then I was able to have them give pluggy to the Pluggy Fairy who would deliver pluggies to all the new little babies who didn't have pluggies of their own. In return (as you've heard), she leaves a lovely 'big girl' sleep aid to take the place of pluggy. (I took my kids window shopping first. Seriously.)

The first few nights with nothing to suck on are tough, but that's the time to make sure you haven't lapsed on that foul nail polish -- just to keep the old habit from easily returning. Like I say, it's a shot in the dark, but it's the best my shriveled brain can come up with!

Good luck!
:-)