Any Tips on Helping Kids Stop Sucking Fingers?

My almost 4 year old son JUST quit sucking his thumb. We randomly came across the book "Thumb Love" and it did the trick. It's a really cute book and the main character decides she wants to stop and comes up with a 12 step program to quit. We read it one time and my son decided he wanted to quit as well.
He got a sticker for every day he went without sucking his thumb. After he had 21 stickers (the length of time "they" say you need to make a habit) he got to go to his favorite amusment park and ride all the rides. It was a big deal and meant a lot to him.
I wish you luck! Before the book we had tried many different approaches, and nothing worked.

Hello!

I know exactly what you are going through...my two boys used to suck their thumbs too. I actually remember seeing the sonograms of them trying to get their thumbs in their mouths! LOL! It was cute but then as they got older not so much. Every time we went to the dentist, he would tell me to keep trying to get them to stop otherwise the boys would have some problems with their teeth. I noticed that their annunciation of certain words was off as well, particularly the th. I tried the nailpolish, the band aid, the rewards, the containment, chile but nothing seemed to work. I would talk to my oldest about stopping and he would try. At times he would catch himself and tell me "I just can't stop!". Last year at the ages of 6 and 3, while at the dentist I talked with the assistant about showing the boys the metal appliance that they put inside the mouth to get kids to stop thumbsucking. It is prickly and she explained to the boys how they put it in the mouth, etc. and she allowed them to touch it and ask questions. Later we talked about it and the boys were scared to have the appliance put in so I challenged them to stop. I think it helped that I wasn't the one who explained the medical side of it so I wasn't the bad guy. I made calendars and every day that they did not suck their thumbs they got stickers. We went for forty days and at the end they were rewarded with a toy (@ $25 limit) of their choice. It totally worked. Yes, early on they had a few lapses but then it stopped pretty much cold turkey. Different things work at different times and with different kids so just keep trying and stay positive!

I'm hoping for suggestions too! My 3 year old loves her bunny and two fingers! Doesn't help my husband is a real germaphobe so outings are stressful with little miss touch everything then wants to suck her fingers--arrgh!

Maybe get a good book on germs and what they look like and gross her out, and keep reminding her to get her fingers out of her mouth until they are washed and at bedtime only. I'd probably use a harsh treatment to make it stop, like slapping her hand when she does it. She will connect that negative action eventually and stop if you are consistent with it.

Oh boy, good luck with this one! My daughter did it off and on until elementary school. The bad tasting stuff didn't work for her. The dentist can put an uncomfortable (for the fingers) little appliance in behind front teeth if they think it will cause malformation. She quit out in public from peer pressure, but it continued at night for a lo-o-o-ng time. There were no lasting effects, fortunately. She had braces later, but that was going to happen anyway.

My son did that when he was young. It lasted til he was about 8 or 9.. Mine only did it at bedtime/ really tired. He has had no dental problems because of it. His fingers went back to normal after he stopped. I really don't think there is anything you can do. Its just a phase some kids go through. I know its hard, but just let it play out and hope for the best. Good Luck......

One Step Ahead sells a fingerguard (and thumb guard) for this:
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...

Fortunately, we haven't had to try it at our house (knock on wood) but the reviews are pretty good!

My daughter sucked her fingers till age 5 1/2 and the thing that made her stop was she burned her fingers badly on the fireplace and therefore had to wear bandages for about 2 weeks. I wonder if just putting neosporin and bandaging up your childs fingers for a few weeks would do the trick.

my grandma put hot sauce on my fingers to get me to stop biting my nails.
but now that im grown i still bite my nails and i love spicy food. so maybe that wasnt as successful as she thought!

What about using some kind of essential oils that's food grade in quality, but strong flavored to wash her hands with? I'm thinking of maybe something like peppermint that's not a bad flavor, but it's so strong that she wouldn't want to put her hands in her mouth?

I sucked my fingers with a blankie when I was little, too. My mom banished both activities to my room/bedtime. If I did it outside my room, I got a swat on the behind or had to do an extra chore or two. Since I hated both, those were effective deterrents.

My mom tried the nasty tasting nail polish, promising manicures and other special activities, she even tried duct taping my fingers so I couldn't suck on them. None of them worked! I was STUBBORN! And addicted...

In the end, the only thing that got me to stop--and it took 1 week--was the promise of playing clarinet in the school band. ALL my friends were learning instruments and, since I had a wicked lisp thanks to my finger sucking, the speech therapist said I couldn't play. Well, that shaped me up right quick. I stopped within a week and mastered my lisp in six months and I joined the band second semester. It took me one month of school lessons and intense practicing at home to catch up!

I guess I'm not giving you any advice, per se, but just a personal experience. Good luck!