Help with Thumbsucking Toddler!

Ask for family gift certificates to the Zoo, Science Museum, Amusement Park, etc. By next summer he will be 2 yrs. old & old enough to start enjoying some of those things.

N.

I wouldn't even try to get him to stop. Thumb sucking is the same as sucking on a paci, it's a soothing mechanism that babies have. He'll stop doing it eventually when he doesn't need to soothe himself in that manner. it's perfectly natural.

K., I feel for you.
I have a son who is now 7. He never sucked his thumb as a baby. But around the age of 4, he started having his hand or fingers in his mouth all the time. At this age, its even dirtier! Mostly he did it when he was watching tv, riding in the car, listening to stories... still activities. I tried EVERYTHING! I tried the bitter apple (didn't work) I tried the little bottle of thumb sucking stuff - that has hot pepper in it and made him cry so I used it once! I tried mittens - but really, that's not practical. We even tried rewards for not doing it. He just had to grow out of it. It took a couple of years. Had I known that none of this stuff would work - only time would - we would have had a better time of it. Morale, don't stress too much about it.

This really is not a bad thing. My 2nd child sucks two of her fingers and it is great because she is easily soothed. There are just some kids that need this. As he gets older, just make sure he knows when it is appropriate to do and when it is not. I sucked my thumb until I was 9, but knew when it was okay (at home) so never got teased about it. Although most kids do not do it for that long :). I was also the only one of my siblings that DIDN'T need braces, so I wouldn't worry too much about it causing braces.

tell him to stop it!! jk I know it's not that easy if it gets that bad there is something the ped dentist can put in their mouths, you don't want them to do that too much because it will move their jaw line and give them buck teeth!

He may just be going through a phase, but if not, hang in there. He will quit someday. I don't know what the stuff was, but my parents used some sort of product you put on the thumb. It wasn't spicey like the other lady said, but it just made my thumb taste gross. I don't know how long it took, but it worked. Also, I was well into school by the time I quit, and I never needed braces either. I actually get comments on how straight my teeth are! Good luck!

http://toddler.yeahbaby.com/toddler-growth.php?page=toddl... Check out this link, it is normal for babies/toddlers to suck their thumb. My son has been sucking his thumb for two months, he is 7 months now, it seems to be a self-soother for him.