thumb sucking

If only it was that easy for my daughter she is 8 and still sucks her thumb when she is tired or upset we have tried different things and she had been told by the dentist to stop by the time her baby teeth grew in so they could grow straight but she is quite stubborn about it I have two boys who never sucked thier thumbs one had a dummy that was easy we put it in the bin and theyoungerst is happy with niether which makes me happy. I will have to try bribing my girl to i think

mine didn't go thru the thumbsucking age altho they were on pacifiers for the first 3 years of their lives. and how i got them to stop? at 3 yrs of age, i always take them to the dentist for a practice visit and the dentist would tell them to stop already. amazing enough that they listen to the dentist. worked for the 3 of them!

My daughter never really went through the thumb sucking phase. I thought your idea was awesome though! You tricked her into doing this, I mean you were out $20 but it worked! I would never have thought to do that! I agree that hands can be so dirty and that it will lead to being sick all of the time if she keeps putting her hands in her mouth. So good for you for putting a stop to it, us stepmoms know more than they think we do!

My son was a huge thumb sucker as I was and I chose to get him to stop by pretty much the same way you did. He chose a gift and had to not suck his thumb for 30 days, which was extremetly hard for him. He did succeed and never went back. I didn't stop until I was almost in high school and that was only because on my grade 8 class trip other students took a picture of me sucking my thumb and I found out about it. I was so embarrassed I stopped instantly. My sister is also a thumb sucker, she is 39 yrs old and still sucks her thumb out of habbit.

I don't know why it's so important that they stop. It's not a moral, safety, or health issue. If finger-sucking is the worst thing I have to worry about with my kids, I'll feel successful as a mom. My 3rd child sucked his thumb. I didn't allow anyone to harrass him about it and around his second birthday, he stopped on his own. Over the course of a couple months, he just needed it less and less. I think a stressed out child is probably more likely to need this habit much longer than a secure, happy one. Honestly, I didn't care if he sucked his thumb until he was 20. It's his thumb and his mouth. A couple things in your post stood out. First, I seriously doubt she was getting sick from sucking on dirty fingers. Unless she had GI infections from her fingers being contaminated with poop, it's pretty unlikely. Colds and etc. are much more likely to be picked up just by being around someone who has one. Kids can tolerate a lot more dirt than we think. The other thing is that you said you didn't care if stopping her ruined your relationship. I find that hard to believe. It sounds like you really love this girl, and I can't imagine finger sucking being so important that it's worth giving up on your relationship with her altogether. I do think your method was pretty effective for an older child.

Mine did not use pacifiers, we decided before they were born we just would not use them. The thumb thing came and went when teeth came in because they didn't like it when they accidentally bit themselves. Apparently she found it comforting. I have seen kids that do it as teenagers even! But the fact is..usually it's the parent that is trying to come up with a way to shut the child up LOL. There is nothing wrong with sucking your thumb but if you do it in public after about five people look at you funny. She probably did it for security reasons. My son is 7 and still has his blanket but he is not allowed to take it out of his bedroom. My daughter has a stuffed elephant that she has had since birth. (She's only four) but she is not allowed to take it from her bed most of the time unless we are going somewhere that she may take a nap or something. One of the things we made sure of is that they had other comfort tools besides their fingers ...and it worked wonders. Your idea to get it to stop was a great one! My step mom tried to get me to stop chewing my fingernails by painting my stubby nails with clear nail polish...(I just peeled it off and went right on nibbling) Now, if she had promised me a manicure..or something instead of just trying to make my nails taste bad to me she might have had more success. She didn't believe I was old enough to have a manicure at age 10 I guess. (Don't know why not). However..she had to cede that I wasn't getting much help..my dad is a nail biter..my older sister is a nail biter. I think some of it is learned just from watching other kids. But, my kids while I catch them nibbling nails now and again, or sucking a finger sometimes..its not a big deal because when they are doing it a lot of time its out of boredom..nervousness etc. I ask them if there is something better they could be doing with their hands instead of that and they usually admit that yes there is and go find something else to do.

i have a niece and she have a tendency to suck her thum but its still not that big a deal right now since she's just a year old but my mom told my sister-in-law to prevent my niece from thumbsucking. so everytime, she tarted to suck her thumb we'd give her something to eat. and it works cause this month i dont see her thumbsuck again.