Does/Did your child(ren) suck their thumb? How did they stop?

I have 2 friends that thumb suck up to know. They're already 19. We always spend time together in each other's house. But they only thumb suck in private. I think thumb sucking is not a good habit. Their fingers always smell bad. Our fingers are not always clean, we always use it whenever we do something. I recommend not letting your daughter thumb suck. It will be hard to get her off it if it becomes her habit.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Most children will stop by the time they enter school. Just so you know many children start sucking their thumbs even in the womb. There is nothing wrong with it. It's a way for them to self comfort. I sucked my thumb for years and eventually stopped on my own. I forget what age I was but I only sucked it at that time at night when I went to bed. My mom said she could always tell when I was actually asleep because my thumb would be out of my mouth. I think I was around 7 when I stopped. You don't have to worry about it effecting her teeth. Until the permanent teeth come in there is no damage to them. You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumb_sucking Hope this helps

I wouldn't be any help to you. My son is 30 years old, he still sucks his thumb when he is alone and tired.

My son used to suck his thumb all the time when he was younger and it is a really hard habit to break . We tried everything to get him to stop and it was really difficult . You can take a soother away from a little one but you can't take their thumb away from them and they often suck their thumb when they go to sleep at night making it harder for you to watch them all the time . If you can get your daughter to stop it would be a good idea to be able to stop the habit as soon as possible because the longer she sucks it the more the habit will be hard to break . The best you can try is to find something that she can take comfort in besides her thumb such as a teddy bear of blanket or anything that she seems to like . I am really not sure when my son stopped but it took us a long time to break the habit and it was something he had to do on his own as we tried all the tricks they suggest and even bought the medicine they say to try on their fingers and he would still suck his thumb even though he didn't like the taste of the stuff . When they suck their thumb it causes damage to their teeth that may become quite expensive years later . I was lucky and this wasn't a result with my son but for years he had a permanent lump on his thumb from sucking it that wouldn't go away because we think he would also bite on his thumb which caused him to have a callus . Best of luck !!

I actually did it myself till I was like 10 or so, haha. Now that's some diehard thumb sucking :). But I wasn't the only one in my class on primary school who did so, so it wasn't really out of place or anything. Asides from that I had a really good excuse as my new teeth were growing backwards in the middle and sucking on my thumb for that might save me on braces later on in life which it did :P. I eventually stopped by myself and switched it in for nail biting, not much better, but it doesn't look as weird as when I'd go thumb sucking now ;).

You are so lucky to have a thumb sucker! Mine is almost the same age,and still demands a bottle of milk every time she is tired, or gets bummed out over not getting her way.While I'm not making light of your issue, cause I know it's a real concern for you. i guess the best advice I could give is that maybe she will grow out of it, gradually. I'm sure you're aleady talking to her, and asking her if she's ready stop sucking her thumb. One day it'll just stick. She's probably using it for comfort as you say, cause that's why mine wants a bottle, when she is way beyond that stage and into feeding herself. Kids have different coping mechanisms. And, maybe she sees her baby sister doing it and is trying to identify with her, more so than the other way around. Just keep talking to her. When she goes to preschool, in a year or two, she'll see that the other kids don't suck their thumbs and she'll be embarrassed to suck her thumb and she'll quit! It'll happen like magic. Kids tend to model each other's behaviors. Hope that info helps. I'm sure things will work out. Best of luck.

Please don't even worry about it. It is a natural pacifier and kids who sucked their thumbs are generally quite peaceful kids. Thumb sucking is also NOT the cause of "buck teeth". My son was a thumb sucker and I was given advice to simply ignore it 'cause he will eventually grow out of it. I was asked "have you ever seen an 18 year old or a 25 year old walking down the street sucking their thumb?"....think about it. Don't try to break the habit, it will break itself.

My daughter is 8 and she still sucks her thumb but only when she has her blankie and is tired. I honestly dont know of a way to get a child to stop. I have been trying to get my daughter to stop for years now.

I sucked two of my fingers from the time I was born until I was in head start. I stopped because I didn't want my friends to make fun of me. My sister sucked her thumb though and now she is in her 30's and still sucks her thumb, when she is upset or scared or even tired. I make fun of her for still doing it. I was worried that my kids would do it, so anytime when they were babies and would start to put a finger in the mouth, I would stick a pacifer their instead. It was much easier to break than finger or thumb sucking. Good luck to you with this. P.S Bitter Nails never worked for my sister, she like the taste of it.

My girlfriends daughter did it till she was 13 years old. I couldnt believe it. She would sneak it. When we were watching tv she would lie on the floor and hide behind a pillow and suck her thumb. And her teeth in the front started to stick out from it. The dentist told her to stop it or they will get even worse. She eventually stop it but her teeth are bucked out now.LOL What a shame she is so pretty too. I hope you can get your child to stop it now. Before she gets any older.

thumb sucking is a normal thing that kids do. tell your child that she msut stop thumb sucking. explain to her about the germs and the viruses present in the thumb which she will ingest whenever she thumbsucks. i can remember taht we used to tell my kids that it is dirty practice to thumb suck. thus, whenever we see them doing it, we would immediately say 'hey that's dirty'. then the child will immediately realize taht we are reminding her/him about thumbsucking to be a bad practice. it will take sometime until they will have fully grown out of hte habit. it will take a lot of patience.

Hi,babygurl,My youngest daughter always suck her thumb when shes still a baby until she reached the age of 5yrs old but only when she is sleepy and got to sleep.I pitty her coz her thumb has a little callos around because of her teeth. I hardly stop her, I'll do some advise of my mom that here in my place we have here some organic medicine from the juice of the root of a tree that taste is so bitter I put it into her thumb and when she suck it she taste the bitterness But it doesn't work it all comming back. So one time I thought of something that maybe worked, I get a piece of band aid or plastic tape and put it on her thumb every time she go to sleep I put it. And it atlas It works thanks to the band aid tape.

My kid did not suck her thumb nor used any pacifier when she was a baby. What I did was take it off her mouth and told her No-No...several times then she would stop. If she was hungry I just gave her milk or something to chew on like cheerios, etc. Another suggestion my friend had given me was to put salt around the thumb. The salty taste discourages future sucking. I did not have to this, but I had kept the suggestion in mind as my Plan B.

My son wasn't a big thumb sucker. He used a pacifier, which was fairly easy to put away. With a paci, we had him put it in a drawer over and over until he eventually would forget about it and not go back for it. He just needed to leave it somewhere safe. I have heard of a cure for "thumb sucking". What is supposed to work is putting a little dab of Oragel on each thumb. It is medicine...so don't overdo it. Just try it once. I think I read it in one of the parenting magazines.

Try to put some bitter things around her thumb. When the taste does to her mouth, she will stop gradually.. Thanks

well if you could try soon that would be great. I myself was a thumb sucker and I didn't quit til I was 12. I got lucky my teeth didn't go buck but its still better to have your child quit sooner rather than later.

My daughter sucked her thumb from infancy until she was 11 years old. She took it upon herself to stop. She would always suck her thumb when she had her bunny so if she was watching tv and had her bunny, she would suck her thumb. She'd pull her thumb out to ask a question and then put it back in. Apparently her friend also sucked her thumb and announced that she had stopped so my daughter decided she would do it. I didn't even know she was doing it. She just put her bunny on the shelf and stopped carrying it around and stopped sleeping with it. She stopped in no time. She will NOT get rid of the bunny. She has had it since infancy, but she does not carry it around with her and she does not suck her thumb. I am so proud of her as she took it upon herself and did it all by herself. I was concerned about it when she was still sucking her thumb and mentioned it occasionally, but I realize now I needn't have worried. She started feeling like she was a baby so she didn't want to do it anymore. I don't think you need to worry about it. You can talk to her when she gets older if she is still doing it, but there is no point in causing a great big ruckus over it. It could make things worse. Good luck.

I think most of the children have this habit. Not specific reason behind this thumb sucking. Some leave at early age, some children do it till 4-5 also. When children starts playing outside the home, this habit slowly stops. Need not to worry much on this matter. Only think you need to teach her about clinliness all the time. Make a practice of keeping her hand clean. So she may not get affected by any virus. Some parents do it forcefully which is not fair on children's part. As they are innocent and no nothing about the impact of thumb sucking, they do it. I find most of the parents do not like this habit. Though when they were tiny-tots, used to do the same.

Well, I don't know how much this will help, but I was a thumb sucker and I didn't stop until I was twelve and I have a daughter who still sucks her thumb and she is nineteen. Now my mother tried everything she could but I didn't stop until I was ready and my daughter only sucks hers when she is sleepy. Sometimes the more you try and stop children the more they do it, I know that you can try and substitute her thumb with a pacifier or when she is sleep take it out. When she is awake and puts her thumb in her mouth give her a fruit or vegatable snack instead make it a routine like her thumb sucking is change one to another.

I don't think you can break her-her thumb is always with her. My 3rd child was a thumbsucker. We didn't allow anyone to harrass him about it or pull his thumb out of his mouth, and he stopped over the course of a couple months, just about his second birthday. When your daughter is just a little older, you can talk with her about sucking her thumb and how it can affect her teeth. If she wants to stop, you can get a dental appliance that makes it feel different and reminds them to stop (it's usually an unconsious habit).