What should I do with my 9 year-old ???

try painting her nails a pretty light color maybe if she sees how pretty they look and you tell her that if she sucks her thumb the color will come off. that or they might even make something you can out on there that tastes bad if she puts he thumb in her mouth.

I had this problem, but I sucked my finger. My mom try everything from putting this stuff on my finger that tasted like finger nail pollish remover. It tasted horrible. She yeld at me. Told me my finger was going to fall off.Nothing worked. I think I was 14-15 and I got a boyfriend. He would call the house, she told me that she would tell him if I didn't stop. Well that did it.I stopped. lol I had a problem with my daughter pooping on the potty. she wouldn't do it. So she loves to swim, so I bought her a pool, set it up,fill it with water, and left her brother get in. ( she was not aloud to get in till she pooped on the potty.)It wasn't even a half an hour and she went on the potty. lol So maybe you could find something that her loves buy it for her, but not let her have it till she stops sucking her thumb for a week. And tell her if you see her the week starts over. Or after she get her toy, if you she her you will take it back. It is worth a try.

That's a tough one. I would recommend using an incentive rather than a punishment. I think a person needs to be in a positive frame of mind to overcome an addiction. If she is working toward a reward, then you and she are on the same team, working together to move past the problem. If you take away things, thumb sucking becomes a "good thing" -- something that she'd be able to enjoy, if you weren't imposing your control on her. She'll see it as something she's being denied, and may also try to get away with it, whenever you aren't looking. This isn't exactly the same, but I ended up offering a reward to my daughter who was refusing to learn how to swim. It was a saftey issue with me, because her best friend has a pool, and we also live near the ocean. I don't normally like the idea of using bribes, but I was so concerned about her, that I finally broke down and did it. It turned into a very positive thing in the long run. She learned how to swim, even though she was terrified of the water, and she now feels proud of herself, every time she looks at the gift she earned as an incentive. Now whenever she's afraid to try something, we point back to how well she did at overcoming her fear of the water, and it helps give her courage. I think this an opportunity for you to help show your daughter how strong she can be, rather than that she's weak and needs someone else to take charge of her. At any rate, good luck. My sister sucked her thumb and had a security blanket until age 11. My parents just let her give it up on her own, but she did do a lot of damage to her teeth, and needed braces.

I'm sorry, but the more you fuss, the more she will do it. It is like a security blanket. I promise you, in time she will stop on her own.

When I use to suck my thumb one day my mother put a paste of chilly powder on my thumb and from that day onwards I stopped sucking.

My now 20 year old daughter was the same way. We tried everything including painting her nails etc. Sometime around age 15 she forced herself to give it up as she would on occasion forget and thumb suck in public, and get teased by her friends. I wish I had some advice for you, but all I can say that is in our case our daughter had to want to kick the habit herself. Best wishes!

wow now that's scarying me, my one year old is a thumb sucker, I'm trying to get him to stop but I don't really know how, I hope he doesn't get to nine and still doing it, I know someone who is in their teens and still sucking their thumbs, maybe you should leave her alone for a while ans she if she breaks it on her own, good luck : )

try to go online and find pictures of orthodontic patients. show her the worst cases you find and tell her that is what happens when people suck their thumb for long times. do you know any kids with braces? if so, have them explain to her all the pain involved with having those on. (it hurts like nothing else in the world) and this might sound a bit mean, but tell her that she doesnt want other kids to make fun of her for sucking her thumb like a baby. the stuff the dentist gave you wont do anything. i bit my nails for years. tried everything to stop. the only thing that came even close was handling hot peppers with my hands because it REALLY burned when i tried to bite my nails after that. you may want to try that. she would stop because it would burn her mouth when she put her thumb in there. good luck, hope this helps some

my mom just ignored me and I stopped at 6 years old. My 3 year old daughter still sucks her thumb and my 10 month old son does too.

First, her sucking her thumb won't do anything to her teeth. I got that straight from the Orthodontist because my mother was worried because I sucked my thumb. He stated point blank that it was an old wives tale and nothing to worry about. Some kids suck their thumbs, some of them even start in the womb. They don't know why but it's just how some kids are. Don't nag her on it. She'll stop when she's ready. Making an issue out of it will just make it worse. However if you still feel the need to get her to stop I would suggest some compromises. For example let her only when she goes to bed and not while she is out and about. Something like that. Let her pick when though so that way she feels she has some control over the issue. Kids, if they think they have control of it all will usually respond better, even if it is just an illusion of control. Hope that helps