Thumb Sucker! - Farmington,UT

Wrap the thumbs in masking tape and a good bribe. Worked for me!! And I sucked my thumb til I was 9!!!

Hi J.,

I too have a thumb sucker who has also changed her bite. She is now 8 years old. We have tried everything from putting gloves on at night to buying the $80 Thumb Gaurd. What I did find that work is sports tape. You can get it in the pharmacy section of any store. It is athletic tape, I just rip a piece off and we put it around her thumbs. We have to do both thumbs because she sucks on both of them. It really helps. I suggest you start now, we didn't discover it until just a couple of years ago, and we still struggle to get her not to suck her thumbs. I don't make her wear it to school, and I sometimes forget to remind her to put it on when she gets home. But it really works well, she cannot get any kind of suction with it on at night. Good luck to you.

My son has been a stubborn, stubborn thumb sucker. I have a couple suggestions.

1. You can get some roles of quarters and put them in a jar, somewhere your daughter can see them but not get into them. Take her to a dollar store and show her all the things she could get with the amount in the quarters, but tell her she has to work with them. Each time you catch her sucking her thumb, take a quarter out. At the end of the month she can spend whatever is still in the jar. Be prepared for NOTHING to be in the jar at first. You may have to do this a couple months, but they get the idea. Works more with 4 year old who have a better idea of money, but you could give it a try.

2. The book "Harold's Hideaway Thumb" is a good children's book you can get from the library that address this issue for kids.

3. Get your dentist to put in an orthodontic appliance that breaks the suction when they try to put their thumbs in. Kids don't like them, but they are not painful. My son calls his "my braces" and is used to it. It can stay in for 6 months to a year, long enough to break the habit. Some kids manage to suck their thumbs even with one, but then they can make adjustments like changing the size of the appliance, making it have prongs that are uncomfortable for thumbs, etc. You don't have to constantly be on your child's case about it. They stop naturally because it's unpleasant, so it works like a charm.

Good luck to you! :o)

J.,
I had the same problem with my oldest!
Looking back I now realize that thumb sucking was just an outward manifestation of her insecurity. If you truly want to assist your daughter to break the habit of sucking her thumb, help her feel loved!
It is time to find that "special blanket" whether that is literal or simply feeling surrounded by love at night. It could be a special song. It could be a stuffed animal. Figure out what works best for you and your daughter.

Wishing you all the best.

With my whole heart, C.
Owner of Loving Connections LLC

What is Loving Connections?
Caring enough to share your whole heart.

This is probably the hardest habit to break for moms! :)
I say try looking into the nightguards they have that strap over their hands and thumb. Try Leaps and Bounds or One Step Ahead. They aren't cheap but better then teeth issues. It is very bad for their upper teeth and the roof of their mouths as they are growing to suck their thumbs but something you have little control over. I read if they stop around this age their mouth will correct itself, if you wait too long however that is when intervention will be necessary dental wise.

Go in and check on her while she is sleeping, remove her thumb if you see it in. If she does it during the day without saying a word to her remove it, it is so something they don't even think about doing it is on automatic for them to do that for soother.

Go pick out a special stuffed friend, even get out an old baby blanket and try to redirect her need for soothers. My daughter nor my son sucked their thumbs but chewed on their blankies!:) They still sleep with them at 4 and 7! :) I know most kids just outgrow it though, in time she will be too busy with school and other things and reprogram herself.
My friends daughter just stopped at four and rarely does it unless she is feeling badly. Hang in there! :)

Put socks over her hands when she goes to bed and tape them (loosely) around her wrists. It will break the habit within a week.

My kids never had the thumb sucking problem, but my 4 yr old daughter has had a bad habit of biting her nails when she was ready to fall asleep. It was like a security thing for her. I tried the nasty tasting nail polish too, and she still bit her nails. Then my mom suggested that I let her pick out her own special nail polish. So, I told my daughter that if she stopped biting her nails I would take her to the store to pick out some nail polish. Holy Cow it worked! I filed her nails smooth so I could monitor them for a few days. We went to the store and she picked out some really cool green with sparkles(her favorite color). It actually goes on clear with sparkles, but she doesn't mind. I picked out a nice soft pink too. She hasn't put her hands in her mouth in over a week, and she is very proud of herself. Every morning she says, "Mom, I didn't even bite my nails last night!" Yesterday we had a girlie day by baking a cake and painting her nails pink. We had to do her toes too of course. she was so proud to show her Daddy when he came home from work. Her nails are the longest they have ever been, and she actually scratched me with them when we were playing yesterday, on accident of course. Besides the fact that she stopped the gross habit, the best part is that she is proud of herself for doing it, and has a reward for her "hard work." It's a little different than thumb sucking, but it's worth a shot to try and break the habit.

Check out www.smilesdvd.com

I had a friend who used the thumb guard that goes over the thumb and around the wrist. I think she said it took about 3 days to work. They just used it at night, but it solved the day problem, too. I know she got it online, but that's all I know. Maybe another mom can help you with that. GL! I have a feeling we're just one dental appointment away from the same question.

I'm actually surprised the dentist expressed concern already. My DS' pediadentist did not say much of anything at DS' 3rd birthday. I brought it up myself (it's obvious, since he has an overbight), and he said not to worry about it yet, and that he'll likely stop on his own (something like 80% of kids do). I have read/heard in multiple places that it is not a problem until their permanent teeth start to come in. That said, I do worry that DS will still be sucking his thumb when he's 6 (which is when I expect his perm teeth will start).

I will say though that we have not done anything to stop it - since giving it a very concerted effort at age 2 (which did nothing except make it worse), and in the last couple months I hardly notice him even sucking it. He does it when he is tired, and sometimes when he's bored, but he used to do it all the time. Preschool has helped too. I think he is embarrassed to suck it around his friends.

I guess all I'm saying is try not to worry too much yet. We have the thumb guards (purchased when he was 2, but he was able to pull them off - plus he just started sucking his fingers), and we'll give those a whirl again at some point if we need to. I also was told to try the mittens. Weave a piece of string through the wrist to keep them on. Everything I read also says to try and get the child to 'want' to do it, but I can tell you right now DS does not want to, so we're going to wait. Maybe when he's 4.

I know exactly what you are going through, but I couldn't do anything about my thumb sucker until she was 9 and then it was straight to the orthodontist for help....before she started getting her braces. We tried the commerical product---we even painted her whole thumb (it says just the nail)---we tried just about everything. If there is some flavor that she doesn't like try that on her thumb. Try putting socks or a mitten on her hand at night so that she can't get to it--that worked for our finger sucking DS. They have a gard that you can buy that straps onto their thumb---we didn't try that because I didn't know where to get it. I think we were hoping that once she started school that the other kids would tease her into stopping----that doesn't happen anymore. Don't give up. Gently remind her when you catch her doing it and reward her for when she doesn't----stickers, candy whatever she likes.....you have to learn to deal in her currency (the things that she would be motivated to stop to get). I know of a child who was told that she had to be a good example for a new baby that came to her house---and that made her quit cold turkey! Good luck and hope you find what works for you.
J. SAHM of 6

The way my daughter stopped is she got a cut on her thumb and wanted a band-aide. She wouldn't suck her thumb with it on. So for a month she would scream when we would take it off. Needless to say we went through a lot of band-aids. But I think subconsciously she knew this was the only way she could stop. After about a month I think she got a cut on her toe that needed a band-aide. She never sucked again. It also helped because I was pregnant and she kept saying big sisters don't suck their thumb and then she would almost immediately put in her thumb. I know she really wanted to stop, but didn't know how.

Hi J.
I am having the same problem. I have 2 thumb suckers and both my husband and I have brothers that were thumb suckers and neither of them stopped until they were about 11yrs old. I am going to try the gaurd on my 2 and see if that works but honestly I think its something they have to give up for themselves. Good luck!

C. C.

My sister was a thumb sucker and now a attachment disorder therapist. She said sucking a thumb is good it shows your child has ability to solve their own insecurities. some children do it with wubbies, blankets, pacifiers, etc.
I think it is more important that they feel secure and worry about the ortho later. The other thing that help my sister was she got her tongue pierced in high school, would not recommend but I ask my sister when she stop and she said that was what did. By the way she has the most beautiful teeth of the family.

I went through that with my now 8 yr old daughter. She did have a special object. It was her stuffed pony. Like your daughter it was only when she was tired. I would put gauze over her whole thumb and then tape the gauze on. Also, I let her make a calendar that she could put stickers on. Every day that she went without sucking her thumb at night, she would get to put a sticker on the calendar. After 5 days (however long you choose) if all days were filled with stickers, she would get a special treat of her choice (within reason). I only did the gauze/tape thing for a couple of week before it stopped completely. She was older though so she tried things on her own like sleeping with her hand under her pillow. Hope that helps a little.

Check out this thumb sucking guard. It may seem expensive but my sister had to have braces from thumb sucking until she was 6.
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...

Good Luck!