Thumbsucking - Lubbock,TX

If he doesn't stop on his own by the time he gets a little older you can have an orthodontic appliance placed in the top of his mouth, until then I wouldn't worry about it.

M.,
Well, I don't have any ideas that I can give to you but, I can tell you that my 3 year old still sucks on her thumb. I haven't reallt tried anything but, I guess she will just give up on her own... Well, good luck on it....

my daughter sucks her thumb (she is now 9 mo.)...when she started to suck her thumb she was only about 5 months old. we were sad that she picked up the habit...but i have come to realize there are much worse things. i have done research on the subject and you really don't need to worry about thumbsucking until the child is nearly 4 years old. the closer you get to the perm. teeth coming in the greater the concern. i plan on taking my daughter to a ped dentist when that "critical" time comes...so if she hasn't given it up by then i will deal with it. so i think you are fine for a while longer. i have read that trying to get them to stop sucking too early can majorly backfire on you and make the habit worse. so i advice to be pacient a little while longer and maybe try having her give it up when she is between 3 and 4. i have read that embarrassment works best (sad but true). so the child may need to be ready to handle that tactic.

I had a pacifier "issue" with my daughter...she did not give it up until she was 5!!!! I was beside myself & spoke with my brother who is a dentist. (Thank goodness she only used it for sleep after about 3.9, but up until then she used it everywhere!!!). My brother said that I should leave her alone, she would take care of it herself (they had some kind of course on this or something...) that it bothered me more than it did anyone else. It was her way of soothing herself & I had to let her be. He said he had sucked his thumb until he was about 11!!! Hopefully you won't have to deal with it that long, but unfortunately you might have to let him deal with it & let him stop on his own. I am a kinder teacher & I just tell the children that suck their thumbs to try not to do it in school so the other children will want to hold hands, etc. & I have them wash their hands a bit more often. You have a long way to go until then, so I would let him try it on his own...it is harder on you, believe me! Good luck & blessings!

Find a pediatric dentist and see if you need to worry. They have appliances they glue behind their teeth that will poke their thumb when it becomes an issue.

I believe that you should just leave it alone. The more you say about his thumbsucking, the more he is going to want to do it. He will eventually grow out of it.

Hi M.:
I am an orthodontist and I have had a lot of Moms bring their kids to my office to help them stop sucking their thumbs.
But in your case I will recommend you to wait, and be patient. He is only 2.5 and also the thumb is comforting him. I do not know for how long he has been living with you, but you said that he is your foster child, and that tells me that he has been through a lot.
And the pacifier first and the thumb now are the only things he feels that he has control over, and emotionally probably he still needs that reassurance.
I wouldn’t do anything about until he is approximately 4 years old. I know you are going to think I am crazy and that is too long, but right now, I believe what it is more important for him is the emotional status.
At that age you can take him to an orthodontist to help you stop the habit, either just by talking to him (that is my first approach) which is very successful a lot of the times, and second resource: putting an appliance in his mouth to help him stop.
But any of these approaches should be done before 3.5 to 4 years old.
I have two boys one is almost 4 and the other one is almost 2, and my little one sucks his thumb, so I really know what you are going through, because I see it everyday at home and I see it VERY often in my office at work.
So just be patient and let him enjoy it!!

I read somewhere that children who have blankies, a favorite stuffed animal, binkies or suck their thumbs are learning coping skills and most children will wean themselves from it themselves when they are ready. Studies I've read suggest that those who had these "vices" when they were children handle stress better as adults. I know there are reports that he will ruin his teeth and there are reports that his teeth will be fine. My sister sucked her thumb until she was 4 and she has beautiful teeth. My suggestion is to leave him alone.

Thumbsucking is a comfort tool they use. My daughter sucked her thumb, and when she was old enough to understand why she shouldn't do it anymore (4 yrs), I made a bargain with her. We made a chart with a prize at the end of 30 days. Along the way, approx every 5 days or so, she would get a small prize (stickers, gum, etc) if she made it through the night without sucking her thumb. We started out with socks taped over her hands, but eventually she didn't need them anymore. The reason this worked was because she had made the decision that it was time for her. She picked the prize at the end of 30 days (they say if you do something for 30 days in a row, it becomes a habit), so she was very motivated to accomplish her goal. Her teeth are just fine, and she is 9 now with permanent front teeth. My friend tried this also when her daughter was 4, and it worked for her too.

LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!!!!!! Do not worry about it, thumb sucking is a coping method. I had a rough childhood and I had to comfert myself, I sucked my thumb till I was in my twentys! (my husband never had a problem with it.) Nothing ever happened to my teeth and its not proven that thumb sucking messes with teeth. The more my parents tried to get me to quit the more I did it. So leave it alone hell stop when hes ready nothing else will work, take it from me a past hardcore thumb sucker!!!

I knew of a little girl whose parents put bandaids on her thumbs. She stopped sucking right away. Its worth a shot. Good luck.

Relax. He's 2 1/2. He'll get over this when he's ready. Kids need to learn to self soothe, and this is his way of doing that. Since you say you adopted him from foster care, I am guessing there has been some kind of trauma that caused him to be taken from his biological parents. Forgive me if I don't completely understand your situation. If there has been a tramatic experience, then thumb sucking is probably a good sign that he's knows how to cope.

Now if I am completely wrong about your situation, I am not saying that only kids with tramautic events suck their thumbs. I am full time stay home mom to three kids, and I have been since my children were born. We are a two-parent houseful. My daughter is 6. She sucked her thumb until she was 4 1/2 and is fine. When she was 4 1/2, she started wanting me to paint her nails. I told her I would when she stopped sucking her thumb. That was all it took. My youngest is 2 1/2 and has sucked his thumb since before he was born. He went to a pedidontist last week (because he fell and chipped his tooth) and the pedidontist said that thumb sucking is not a big deal as long as he stops by around age 5. We'll deal with the thumb thing in a couple years. I want to get him potty trained first! :)

As a former thumb sucker and big sister to one also, you can relax. Children will latch onto certain things during certain times and wean themselves from it later. I sucked my thumb until I was almost 5. My birthday is in the winter time and my grandmother made a deal with me. We went shopping and found the most beautiful coat (to a 5 yr old). She told me that was for 'big girls' and I could have it if I stopped sucking my thumb. All I needed at that point was a lil motivation to stop. Your son will come to that point too, but I highly doubt it will be while he's under age 4 or 5. You're going to encounter a million and one behaviors with your son, this isn't one that should stress you out. We all have our comforts, this happens to be his for now and it won't stunt his growth or cause retardation or keep him from being a normal child. Most thumb suckers will stop when they get to pre-school or kindergarten and realize that the other kids don't do it. If it helps, remember that kids aren't little adults - they are learning and growing every day and haven't developed emotional control or reasoning abilities yet. I now have teenagers that I'm not sure have either! haha

Good Luck!

My 20 month old is a thumbsucker...he would never take a pacifier, he preferred the thumb and who wouldn't it's always available. I actually find comfort in knowing that he can comfort himself especially at daycare where I know it can be hard on a toddler.
I have read articles and my pediatrician has told me that actually pushing too hard to get your child to stop can have the reverse effect.
Not to be rude but you may ask yourself why exactly it bothers YOU so much...there have been a lot of stigmas attached to thumbsucking but I really think that a lot more people did or still do it than you'd think. I also feel that society is becoming less judgemental and letting children especially at his young age be themselves and grow up without these sort of criticisms. There are the few that will see my son sucking his thumb while we're in the grocery store for instance and will give me a look..you know the look...but who cares. I just look adoringly at my son sitting contently in the cart and knowing he's happy makes me happy..
Your son will outgrow his thumbsucking eventually..
Best of luck in everything and God bless you both.

This is normal behavior. My daughter sucked her two middle fingers until the dentist told her it was time to stop when she was in 2nd grade. (by that time, she only sucked them when she went to sleep) ;) I think you should just let him for now.

M.

Children have the need to suck for the first 2 years of life so this is very normal. Obviously the negative reinforcement isn't working so I would just let him be, as I have never seen a student walking across the stage at their high school graduation ;)He apparently still has the need to suck his thumb so I would just let him.