Thumb sucking advice...

[kate h]

Has anyone had any experience of getting their kid to give up sucking their thumb? Dentist has just told us that thumb-sucking is affecting our three and a half year old's teeth (front two teeth are starting to come forward a bit...) and that he needs to give up. Hm.

I feel he's quite young to be made to give up and don't really know where to begin! Any advice gratefully received.

Thanks.

[Goodliz]

Had the same with my eldest. Got the anti-nailbiting liquid from the chemist and put it on his thumb and he stopped immediately - honest! I could not believe it. He is now 10.

Once he stopped thumb sucking he got sickness bugs alot less frequently - there must have been lots of germs lurking under the nail - yuck.

Hope it works.

[etta166]

I've tried the nail biting stuff on my daughter at her request (she is now 4) but to no avail. We've also tried putting plasters on her thumbs (again, her suggestion) to remind her not to suck her thumb. She just started sucking her finger instead!

Our dentist has told us not to worry, that it's not conclusive that thumb-sucking damages teeth. It looks to me like it has pushed back my daughter's lower teeth... but I am not a dentist. We have also been reassured that it is better to let the thumb-sucking end naturally and then sort out her teeth as forcing her to stop thumb-sucking could be quite traumatic for her.

[kate h]

Thanks for the advice.

Goodliz - was your son around the same age as mine when you got the anti nail-biting stuff? Brilliant that it worked so quickly...I'll definitely give it a go. We've now seen two dentists, both of whom have said that we've got to stop him doing it, preferably before he's four. I vividly remember giving up sucking my thumb aged 10 and finding it quite a challenge so just feel like it might be a long process at 3, but hopefully we'll have a similar experience to you!

[Pickle]

I've got a 3.5 year old thumb sucker too. I've been told not to worry too much until they lose their baby teeth and adult teeth start appearing.

Out of my three kids, she is the only one that's a thumb sucker - made for pretty contented baby/toddler years, which is worth a bit of orthodontic treatment in the future in my books :)

[Lacey]

The nail biting liquid didn't work for us either - our son simply became accustomed to it. We did contemplate buying a Thumbguard but it seemed a big outlay for something that might not work. He gave up naturally at around 5 without any huge stress as far as I can recall; he's now 8, and there are no obvious problems with his teeth as a result.

Our 4 year old is a finger-sucker and that looks like it's going to be a lot harder to put an end to...

[mima08]

Hiya, as an ex-thumb sucker, I really, really wish my parents had put a stop to it. It caused lots of alignment problems, I had to have years of treatment and I am still not happy with my teeth.I did stop naturally at the age of 7...

[Goodliz]

Kate H, yes sorry he was a similar age to your child. He was still in nursery.

[kate h]

Yikes...my instinct is to leave him be but quite tricky when two dentists are telling us it will cause long term problems...last dentist said that it could be affecting jaw-bone which apparently is difficult damage to reverse...Thanks for all the advice!

[Saffron]

mima08 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hiya, as an ex-thumb sucker, I really, really wish

> my parents had put a stop to it. It caused lots of

> alignment problems, I had to have years of

> treatment and I am still not happy with my teeth.I

> did stop naturally at the age of 7...

Maybe don't be too hard on your parents :). When I was pursuaded to give up thumb suking at 4/5yo, I took up nail biting as a rebound (replacement) behaviour. It has irreversibly damaged the enamel on all my incisors. It's likely that I'll have to have them all capped at some point. :(

My brother who never sucked his thumb still had terrible alignment, needed teeth pulled and braces. Unlucky!

[etta166]

http://www.ada.org/~/media/ADA/Publications/Files/patient_77.ashx

This seems to be balanced advice. I'm a bit worried about my daughter's jaw and teeth, but our dentist and doctor don't think the alignment problems are related to thumb sucking. I'd still like her to stop, though!

[Undiscovered]

Just reigniting this thread.

My 4 year old sucks fingers, 2 year old sucks her thumb and just been to the dentist and told to try to make them stop. Have tried the thumbguard and nail varnish stuff but the screams were just too much for me!! Only on 4 year old...

I am nervous about trying to stop something which they use to comfort, especially as 4 year old had just started school and has a lot going on. But then I worry about not doing anything.... You get really mixed messages about what to do.

I also am aware I didn't suck at all and still had braces for 5 years!!!

[azurh]

I used the nail polish for nail biting. My Daughter stopped sucking her two middle fingers. However she has moved onto the small finger on her left now.

I would put the liquid on all the fingers :) I am currently putting on the liquid when she lets me as we discuss that she is a big girl now and I want her to quit on her own!!!

[mimosa]

Another bump for this discussion. I've got a four and a half year old who is very firmly committed to thumb sucking. I just don't know how I can help her to stop, as she really seems to need it. Are there gentle ways to break this really ingrained habit?

[Undiscovered]

We used Thumbguard with my daughters fingers which kicked the habit, nail varnish stuff wasn't popular. They suck it but it's not as satisfying so they stop slowly (or at least she did). Teeth improving since.

No 2 is 3 in 2 weeks and we are getting one for her (thumb rather than finger) we shall see..... Hubby thinks too early for a 3 year old, but hoping it will be stress red like her sister. If it gets upsetting I will leave it for a bit. Good luck!!

[mimosa]

Thanks Undiscovered. Thumb guard solutions seem to have a lot of positive comments.

How did people persuade their kids to wear it? Did you get them involved at the point of purchase, reward charts...?

My concern is that it's quite expensive (though a good price if it works!). I can just imagine my daughter refusing point blank to wear it.

Also, there seem to be a few versions on the market. There's:

http://www.thumbguard.co.uk/

And some cheaper variants of that on ebay.

Then there are versions of this kind of colourful thumb glove:

http://thumbsie.co.uk/?gclid=CJD77fXQiMsCFa0V0wodT70JyA

Which did people use?

[cathy1983]

The dentist advised us when my son was 3 to aim to have him off it by 4 in order to limit damage. I found that telling him what the dentist said and being brutally honest with him helped so he was aware that it was damaging his teeth. We weren't too pushy and just gently reminded him to take his thumb out and do something else with his hands when he wanted to suck his thumb (he kneaded his fingers together!) . Amazingly he stopped just before his 4th bday on his own and with no nasty tasting aids!

Most kids will stop when they go to school but it's good to wean them off it before then if you can

Good luck!

[etta166]

My daughter, now almost 5, has just successfully stopped sucking her thumb with the help of a thumbsie (well, 2 actually). The key thing is that your child has to want to stop, or nothing will work. All methods need them to cooperate. Star charts and a final reward worked for us, but my son is unmoved by these sort of incentives, so you would need to work out what motivates your child. In the end, it was much easier than we were expecting it to be.

mimosa Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Thanks Undiscovered. Thumb guard solutions seem to

> have a lot of positive comments.

>

> How did people persuade their kids to wear it? Did

> you get them involved at the point of purchase,

> reward charts...?

>

> My concern is that it's quite expensive (though a

> good price if it works!). I can just imagine my

> daughter refusing point blank to wear it.

>

> Also, there seem to be a few versions on the

> market. There's:

>

> http://www.thumbguard.co.uk/

>

> And some cheaper variants of that on ebay.

>

> Then there are versions of this kind of colourful

> thumb glove:

>

> http://thumbsie.co.uk/?gclid=CJD77fXQiMsCFa0V0wodT

> 70JyA

>

> Which did people use?

[mimosa]

Thanks etta166, I suspected as much. I don't really think my daughter is ready to stop! We've had some preliminary chats about it. I'll see what I can think of to motivate her.

I find it unhelpful that strangers on buses, other parents and even some nursery staff tease her about the thumb sucking. Random people badgering do not help, just gets her sucking harder!

Very interested to hear that you went for the thumbsie. I think this is more likely to appeal as it looks more attractive. Any other tips would be appreciated.

[supergolden88]

I have an unused thumbguard if you want it

[Buffnutter]

We have a major thumb sucker and have been steeling ourselves to try to wean him off it (he's coming up 3 in June). There is a book on amazon called Charlie's Thumb that seems to get good reviews - anyone tried it?

[snowboarder]

I have two confirmed thumb suckers aged nearly 7 and 5. Neither of them are remotely motivated to stop....the oldest one still has a bunny comforter too! I can't seem to persuade them at all and they are getting a bit old, but I don't have the heart to impose nasty tasting substances or guards on them.... But all this talk of three year olds voluntarily stopping is making me reconsider!

[mimosa]

I don't know if anyone has something like this... My daughter's thumb sucking is strongly associated with adult hand holding. I think it's because when she was little I'd often put my hand through the cot bar to comfort her or she'd sleep holding it when she was in the carrier. The hand holding is actually the bigger issue immediately, as she scratches at cuticles and it is quite irritating. I think much of my motivation to stop the thumb sucking is to stop the associated hand holding/scratching.

Maybe I should start a post called 'comfort hand-holding/scratching advice'! We tried many, many times to substitute a soft toy/blanket for the hand, from an early age. It just didn't work.