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My daughter is 5 and sucks her thumb. Is has gotten to the point where her adult teeth are coming in and will be affected. Not to mention the fact that I am started to get worried I will have a 15 year old thumb sucker. We have tried many subtle and not so subtle methods to get her to stop but she is very dependant on this habit. When I am subtle and sweet there is no response but I can tell she is happier. When I remind her on a regular basis or start actively pursuing the topic she goes the opposite direction. We have tried everything charts with prizes to sock puppets and band-aids on the hands to informing her of the consequenses of prolonged thumb sucking (like braces). Not much progress. I don't want to traumatize her by pushing too hard but maybe I am being to soft. Got any advice?
She will indeed grow out of it, but not if you make a huge issue of it. It provides her comfort (I know because both my brother and I were longer-term thumb suckers...I still have warm and fuzzy memories about thumb sucking LOL) and making a big deal about it will cause her anxiety. In my case, as soon as my mom stopped harping about it, it made the thumbsucking less desirable and I stopped altogether by age 6 or 7.
My mom encouraged me to stop gently by complimenting me when I dealt with stress in ways other than thumbsucking and by keeping me busy during the day so I'd not think about my thumb.
As for the teeth - you just never know. My teeth are a mess and my brother's are perfect, yet we both sucked our thumbs for the same length of time. Perhaps heredity plays a role here too?
She will indeed grow out of it, but not if you make a huge issue of it. It provides her comfort (I know because both my brother and I were longer-term thumb suckers...I still have warm and fuzzy memories about thumb sucking LOL) and making a big deal about it will cause her anxiety. In my case, as soon as my mom stopped harping about it, it made the thumbsucking less desirable and I stopped altogether by age 6 or 7.
My mom encouraged me to stop gently by complimenting me when I dealt with stress in ways other than thumbsucking and by keeping me busy during the day so I'd not think about my thumb.
As for the teeth - you just never know. My teeth are a mess and my brother's are perfect, yet we both sucked our thumbs for the same length of time. Perhaps heredity plays a role here too?
Hope that helps!
All I can say is wow and thanks. My kids are 6,4,2 & 8mos. They've been sucking their thumbs since they were in utero. I've noticed that they only suck when they are tired now. My 6yo is very aware that it is not socially acceptable and tells me that she tries to stop but can't. My husband constantly harps on this behavior to me and tells me that I have to find a way to stop it. I just ignore him. I hope that she will eventually stop but I'm going to take Sears' advice on how to deter it and see if it helps.
My five year old son is a thumb sucker. I always thought it was a great way to soothe himself emotionally. He's a somewhat anxious child. But when he lost his lower baby teeth and I saw the way his adult teeth were growing in, I'M the one who is anxious now. They're coming in much further back than where his baby teeth were positioned. I will read the attached article in the post above...gotta go pick up the kids from school....
I was a thumb sucker and have perfect teeth, never needed braces. None of my siblings sucked their thumbs and they all have horrible teeth. My kids never sucked their thumbs and 2 of the 3 need braces. I wouldn't worry about it, kids tend to stop on their own when they are ready. As for the teeth, chances are she will need braces anyway and not because of the thumbsucking.
Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it to much. I agree that the bigger of a deal you make out of it the longer it will take for her to stop. She will stop eventually and right now it is providing emotional comfort for what ever reason. I really wouldn't worry about her teeth to much, chances are she would need orthodontics either way anyway and she will still have a beautiful smile when she is older.
Ok, worry I won't. Good to hear no conclusive evidence that it will affect her teeth. That way when we have to buy braces in 10 years and my husband says "why didn't you stop her from sucking her thumb" I have you all to fall back on.
My almost 13 year old son still sucks his thumb. We even did one of those appliances that went in his mouth so he would stop pushing up the roof of his mouth. It was also supposed to stop the thumb sucking by not allowing suction. He still figured out a way to do it. He wore that for a year when he was 6 or so.
I tried not to worry about it too much. He knew when to do it and when not to to avoid peer pressure. This past summer though I was over it. I told him on his 13th birthday it must stop. He must make the decision to stop and I would be all up in his grill (his phrase) until he stopped. (This is also how I did potty training because he had no interest in that either. I told him on his 4th birthday that was it, I wasn't changing him anymore, he would have to do it himself and on that day he was potty trained.)
I actually haven't noticed him sucking his thumb lately - like in the last 2 weeks. Maybe he decided to stop. His birthday is a month away. Maybe he decided early.
I remember other moms trying very aggressive approaches when their kids were about to enter kindergarten to get the thumb sucking stopped. Maybe I should have done that - been more proactive about stopping it. Not everything will resolve on its own when left up to the kids. Sometimes they need guidance, force, direction, firmness. Sometimes you have to make them stop doing things they can't stop themselves. We stopped the bottle cold turkey when he was 2 because I suddenly realized he couldn't stop himself.
So I vote for a little action perhaps.
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thumb sucker
