Thumb Sucking: Time To Stop
September 16, 2009 Posted by The Wanna Have Fun Hen
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.
I was becoming more concerned when he started loosing his teeth and the new ones were coming in. I did not want these new teeth to come in incorrectly. He was six at this point and I spoke to our dentist again. I asked the dentist to talk with my son about how his habit could damage his new teeth that were coming in. My son is very proud of his new teeth. Very gently and quietly the dentist spoke to my son. We left the dentist’s office that day and he has not sucked his thumb for 2 months. Yeah!!
This may not work for everyone, but it worked for my son. Does anyone else out there have thumb sucking success stories to share? We’d love to hear them.
Megan says:
September 17th, 2009
As of the beginning of this past spring my 5 yr. old who will be 6 in Feb. was still sucking his thumb. This was causeing his bottom teeth to push in and he has a “thumb print” in the roof of his mouth! My solution was to find an activity that was very important to him and with hold it for a day every time I saw the thumb in his mouth (ie. suck it three times today loose the activity for three days). His most looked forward to activity was to ride his 4-wheeler, and it didn’t take him long to catch on. I think he lost 5 days total but not in a row. I still catch him on occation but it is no longer a regular thing! Thankfully! I have used this tactic for other correcting also. Such as when there are days when he is being very mouthy or disobiedient he will loose his favorite evening show, then his after dinner treat etc… It works well.
Sarah J says:
September 17th, 2009
My daughter sucks her thumb when she is tired, and only when she is chilling with her blanket. She’s 5, and I really don’t mind that she does it. Forcing, or trying to be really convincing to a child that young will probably only make them want to do it more. At least my daughter is that way. I figure she’ll stop eventually.
Stephanie Hanson says:
September 17th, 2009
I recently found this on a website and maybe it can help. It’s called Many Ways to Give Childhood Habit the Thumb and it is at this website http://halife.com/family/tips_to_stop_thumb-sucking.html. It has some good advice on how to stop thumbsucking
The Wanna Have Fun Hen says:
September 23rd, 2009
Recently I have spoken to some mothers about thumb sucking and their children. What I have mostly heard is that it is a common problem, even in the teen years, but a small problem compared to so many others us mothers encounter with our children.
Thumbuddy to Love says:
October 21st, 2009
Hi,
I have developed a positive teaching tool that helps children ages 3-6 stop sucking their thumb. You can read more about it here: http://www.thumbuddytolove.com. Parents are having great success using it.
Thanks!
Kindly,
Andrea