Almost 4 Year Old Still Sucks Thumb!

I have a 9 yr. old who sucks her thumb. She's very strong-willed and defiant. I tried to get her to stop when she was about 4, but had no luck. About that time, I read that most kids stop on their own by age 10. Thumb-sucking is a comfort, and if he's only doing it in limited amounts (i.e. not when he's playing or otherwise engaged), and his dentist isn't concerned, I'd try not to worry too much about it. By the way, my 9 yr. old still sleeps with her blanket, too, and I will never take that away from her.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but my mother (47) still sucks her thumb!! I think it is riducluous and never have so I made sure that my daughter never started.

When my son turned 5, several months before kindergarten, the dentist put something in the roof of his mouth to make him stop. It was like a retainer, banded to his top back teeth. It did not hurt at all - and had a spinning thing by the roof of his mouth. It made it impossible for him to suck his thumb. Within a week he was done, although we kept the thing in for 3 months to make sure the habit was gone. It was relatively inexpensive I believe (long time ago).

try thoes bitter nail things. DO NOT USE THE ONE FROM WALGREENS. its made with cyanne pepper and can get in the eyes. their is one on amazon called malva stop... it worked for me with nail bitting but not my 5 year old. it may work for yours tho. good luck im still fighting this battle i keep hearing that once shes in school she will stop... i know how stubborn my child is tho i dont think shes going to stop lol

Leave him alone, he'll quit when he's ready. You are focusing too much on it and you may end up with the reverse happening. Think about the reason you want him to stop, it's really all about you and not him with this. you need to deal with your issues on this, he doesn't have any!
His thumb is his security, it helps him to calm down and relax. My daughter is almost 5 and she still sucks her thumb around the same time, just like your child. She talks about the thumb sucking sometimes, on her own accord, and says she's thinking about stopping it by the time she is 5 or starts Kindergarten..so she's already made the decision with no promting from us.
Children find various methods to sooth themselves, like I've said before in disscusions about thumb sucking..be thankful he doesn't use the "humping method" to calm hilmself down..now that would be an issue for everyone!

My daughter is 7 and we just had a thumb crib put in her mouth to keep her from sucking her thumb. She was just like your son and would seem to do it when she was relaxing. Please do whatever it takes to get him to stop but becareful on how you address it because sometimes it just makes it worse. Good luck i tried for 3 years and finally had to resort to the thumb crib and she still trys to suck it but that is part of breaking the habit. There are also braces you can buy to put on their thumb.

This is a terrible admission, but I sucked my thumb and slept with a baby blanket until I was in 5th or 6th grade. At about the same time, I made my first official boyfriend over the summer at camp. My mom made me stop by saying "it's simply shameful that someone old enough to have a boyfriend still sucks their thumb and sleeps with a blanket." I decided that my mom was right and I was ready to grow up.
That being said, try helping your son to feel more grown up. Talk to him often about how big he is, don't call him your baby (if you do that), take him places and tell him only big boys get to do this or come to this place, etc etc. Perhaps if he starts to feel that he is more grown up, he'll stop on his own. My youngest son has felt VERY grown up now that he's starting kindergarden. Maybe you could let him start a part time preschool? Or even just get some of the preschool learning books and do school time at home - again stressing that only big, grown up boys get to do school work.
My daughter is the only one in our family who ever liked sucking her thumb. She's two and 1/2 now and sucks her thumb the same way that you describe. However, if I ask her to stop, she'll often take her thumb out of her mouth. I've decided not making a big deal out of it is best for now.
Regards,
M.

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Hi, R.~

I'm a 52 yr old mom to 4 adults. If any of the first ones had sucked their thumb(s), I'd have been mortified; but the more I read, the more I understood that if something comforts a child and/or makes him/her feel more secure, don't try to take it away because that will only make him/her feel MORE insecure/uncomfortable. Our youngest (now 21) was a thumb-sucker -- AVIDLY! When she started pre-school at age 4, she quit. I had told her that it was making her teeth 'stick out (which it was -- she had to have braces), but it had to be HER decision. It's not something that's going to make him unhealthy; it's more of an embarrassment to the parents (right?)

Make it his issue and encourage him to stop before kids start teasing him (I think that's what happened to our girl).

Anyway, it was so cute when she'd go to bed and she'd concertedly try to keep her thumb removed from her mouth, then when she'd be almost asleep it would 'find its' way' to her mouth. She'd immediately jerk it back out! LOL She 'broke' herself w/in about a week or two!

God bless, and I'm sure it'll be fine!