is the doctor right?
By aretha
@aretha (2538)
United States
February 28, 2007 3:46pm CST
my 6 year old sucks his finger not his thumb but his middle finger. he started when he was about 4 months old sucking 2 of his fingers then went to just his middle finger. he has it all bent from sucking it and i asked the doctor when he was about 4 if there was something i should do to stop him. she said no that he would stop when he was ready. now he is 6 and will be 7 in aug. and still sucks it but not alot anymore mainly when he is tired and after we tuck him in to bed at night but he will suck it like all night. i asked the doctor here if there was something we could do and she said no he will grow out of it. my middle son took a binky but stopped not long after he turned 1. this bothers me i hate seeing him do it. am i wrong should i let him keep doing this? what do you all think?
2 people like this
6 responses
@defeated (141)
• United States
28 Feb 07
Well obviously something is wrong if the finger it all bent wrong - and at almost 7 years old, it isn't doing his teeth any good either. I had a younger sister that sucked her thumb - at 2 years old, my parents got something to put on her thumb to make her stop sucking on it - was a liquid of some sort especially for thumb sucking problems. I guess it tasted nasty - after about 10 days she no longer sucked her thumb lol.
Don't know if they still make things like that or not nowadays - that was back in the 1960's and my "baby" will be 20 in May - she never took a binky or her thumb so I guess I was lucky lol. You might want to ask your pediatrician to see if he has something to recommend along those lines maybe?
1 person likes this
@defeated (141)
• United States
28 Feb 07
Thing is though - his permanent teeth are coming in (I assume) by now - and it isn't helping those any by the finger sucking....and sometimes they don't "quit when they are ready" - have a friend with a 15 year old that still sucks his thumb! It's one thing when it's a baby/toddler doing it to comfort themselves - JM2CW on it though. :)
1 person likes this
@MakDomMom (1474)
• United States
28 Feb 07
I agree! I have a 20 year old sister-in-law that used to suck her thumb whenever she was watching tv or tired until she was about 18 years old. I also have a 26 year old brother-in-law that I will see still do it once and awhile.
@beckyomg1 (6756)
• United States
28 Feb 07
I think you should do what you feel is right. Sometimes kids just take longer to grow out of things than others. So you do what you feel is right.
1 person likes this
@tad1fan (3367)
• Canada
1 Mar 07
Stop him now!My doctor told me the same thing about my daughter when she was 3,she sucks her thumb.....she will be 10 in June and the thumb is still there,along with a lot of problems with her teeth.....they won't stop doing this on their own,it's a 'habit' that needs to be broke.....
1 person likes this
@mrsanderson (271)
• United States
2 Mar 07
My daughter had a binky unitl just after her second birthday. The doctor told me that it was fine but would like to see her weaned by three at the latest as it would start to affect her teeth any later than that. I would definately try to put a stop to it at 6 yrs old! It seems to have become more of a habit than a source of comfort, and a bad habit at that! Good luck, and you might also want to consider a different doctor, because that just sounds like bad advice to me! Good Luck!
1 person likes this
@marlyse (1056)
• Switzerland
2 Mar 07
lol dont worry your doc is right.my son did it till he was 12 and started to look at girls. ( when he was more than 5 years old he did it hidden)
it was like a lil habit and he dont have problems with his teeth or something else because of that.
i tried all what i could think of to stop him, but nothing worked. so i waited till he stopped himself
@aretha (2538)
• United States
2 Mar 07
i am worried about his teeth, he has very nice teeth and i want his adult teeth to come in just as nice. the other thing is his finger, it is very messed up.
i think i am gonna see what i can do with out making it hard on him and hope it works but we'll have to see. if not all i can do is wait and hope he stops on his own.
thanks much
1 person likes this
@sunshine4 (8703)
• United States
27 Mar 07
A friend of mine had a daughter that did the same thing. The dentist is the one who told my friend that they had to do something about this because it was changing the way her teeth were growing in. There is something that can be purchased at WalMart that you put on the finger and it tastes horrible. Ask the pharmasist, they will know what it is. My friend put the liquid on her daughters finger before she went to bed. The behavior stopped pretty quickly.
