Thumb-sucking - Hudsonville, MI

I had 2 thumb suckers and 1 finger sucker. They had a hard time stopping and once their teeth come out and adult ones grow in, its good to have them stop. I got a Thumb-guard for them. It straps around their wrists. It helped them stop without having those in the middle of the night re-entry. Both of my thumb suckers were relieved to have the help. I found it on line. Good luck. It was really helpful. I have shared it with several friends who found their kids felt the relief too. :)!!

I too was a thumb sucker and I know my mom tried very hard to get me to stop but it wasn't till Iwas older that I did. I would 1st start by not letting her do it during the day. I would also ask your dentist for advise on how to get her to stop. Good Luck

I used Thumz to break my kids of thumb sucking. In fact I think it was only one who actually needed it. The stuff tastes awful. If that doesn't break them I don't know what will.
As for the sore, I would try Calendula ointment and a band-aid. It's difficult to get a 2 year old to stop habits. And I'd be more concerned if it were the 4 year old sucking her thumb. You might be jumping the gun just a little with the 2yo.
Be consistent whatever you do.

My thumb sucker stopped on her own by age 4. We never called attention to it, and she outgrew it. She did not want to do that at school, and when she went to preschool, there was no more of that. She doesn't even suck at night. Personally, I think the less attention to it, the better.

If it were just the thumb I'd say let it be, but picking is not good. If seeing the pediatrician gets no quality advice, I'd seek advice from a child psychologist. www.trich.org

I'm afraid you can't stop it. I have 2 thumbsuckers. My son is still sucking and about to turn 6 this month. My little girl is 2 1/2 yrs, and she is a vigorous sucker. There is absolutely nothing you can do. When my son was little we tried putting a sock on his hand when he slept. Find the sock off and thumb in in morning. He said he would quit sucking when he turned 5. We got a book called David decides. We read it to him a few times and he stopped for a couple of weeks. He's back to it again as my husband moved in with his mom (marital problems). This is his comfort and I'm not saying a word now. The dentist talk to him at every cleaning. My little girl would just put up a fight and pop it right back in. I'll wait till she's 4 or 5 so I can reason with her. The sore she picks at, I would keep her fingernails super short, and tell her stop touching it's going to bleed. My daughter doesn't like bleeding. Otherwise, there isn't any other advice from me except waiting until the age of reason. Good luck.

Hopefully like most, she will outgrow this habit. My son is a thumbsucker too, big time. I tell him to take his thumb out of his mouth when I see him suck it, but it doesn't always work! Actually, in my son's case, it's a hereditary habit. My nephew who is 17 still sucks his thumb...and...once in a while my hubby will suck his thumb when he sleeps! Go figure! LOL:) A friend of mine's daughter sucked her thumb and the dentist gave my friend a picture to show her daughter of what happens to the teeth of people who suck their thumbs. The picture must have been pretty scary because once she saw it, she never sucked her thumb again.

M.

well, there really isn't a lot that you can do to break the thumb sucking, although i have heard of people breaking babies of pacifiers by dipping them in a very tiny amount of hot sauce, but, i wouldn't recommend it very much, as far as the sore picking, well, try to put some neosporin on it and putting a small square band-aid on it that seals all the way around.

My youngest is a thumb sucker. He's 8 now and only sucks his thumb to relax himself to sleep. Once he falls asleep he doesn't suck it anymore so I'm not too worried. He'll give it up when he's ready. As for the sore picking, my youngest also has one on the side of his mouth he won't leave alone. His issue is sensory and he often picks at it subconciously when he's trying to concentrate or is stressed. It's an obsessive compulsive disorder (he has other issues, too). You might want to consider giving your dughter a "fidgit" whenever she starts picking or sucking her thumb. At school my son was given sticky tack to play with and keep his fingers busy so he didn't pick at his sore. At home he carries around a large bead or a Lego guy or two to keep his fingers busy when he isn't playing his video games. Anything he can pull apart and put back together works. It's finally almost healed but unfortunately there will always be a bit of a scar there due to the length of time (couple of months) he did pick it and re-open it.

I hope this helps - S.

Hi there. What we were suggested to do in parenting class and has worked well for us is to not let him suck his thumb in the daytime, only when he goes down at night and for naps.

Sure he wants to suck it all the time, mostly when he gets tired or bored. But when he does that, I pull it out gently and say no and redirect him to a toy. He doesn't suck it if he is upset, but I suppose you could employ the same tactic and give him a hug, for example, instead to teach him that is a better method of comforting.

I don't think there is anything wrong with them doing it into childhood, I did... so long as it isn't ALL day because that is bad for their teeth development.

I wish you luck with this one! I have a 9 year old boy who still sucks his thumb! Because he is old enough to know better, we have tried to take things from him just to get him to stop; nothing works! No matter where he is, if there is a blanket around him he sucks. He used to drag his quilt around the house with him. We took that! Now he just goes into his room and uses his comforter. We can't take that because he needs something to cover up with.
I will definetly be looking on here to see what others recommend, and maybe I could use it too!! LOL!!

A.