My son is a thumb sucker.  I did not know how to get him to stop and what damage it may create.  I asked our pediatric dentist his opinions on this subject.  He told me that the critical ages for stopping is 5 and 6.  Before and after these ages it can be much more difficult to stop.

I explained to my son that he would be starting Kindergarten and it would not be good to suck his thumb in front of his friends.  He seemed to understand the social ramifications of this habit.  He stopped sucking his thumb whenever someone was around but, when he was in his car seat, watching TV and at night time, he was still sucking.  I would try to remind him, but I did not push too hard.  Read the rest of this post...