Thumbsuckers?

[JaneDoe]

My dd sucks her thumb like it's a crack habit. I'm starting to think about weaning her from it, but I'm not sure how to go about it. She has mentioned that she has "stopped" sucking her thumb, but 10 minutes later she is doing it again. For the record, Dh and I sucked our thumbs until we were 6.

Ds was a thumbsucker too, until I had to put a band-aid on his thumb due to a sore. That stopped him cold turkey. The band-aid is gone and he hasn't done it since. That trick won't work so well with dd. Have any of you been through this? How did you do it? Thanks.

[poky]

Re: Thumbsuckers?

my sister sucked her thumb, and my parents eventually put the nasty-tasting stuff on it; I think it worked pretty well (I wasn't that much older than she was, though, so I'm not sure what-all they went through).

[peggyfromwastate]

Re: Thumbsuckers?

WHere did my post go??? Apparently not here. It was *incredibly* insightful, it's really a shame...

Anyway, what I said was that Luke (3) and Isabel (6- 1st grade!!) both suck their thumbs. We have taken the approach of not bugging them about it, which apparently has done nothing to stop the habit... That's where peer pressure comes in- Izzy really tries not to suck her thumb at school b/c I think they tease her about it (and it really bugs some of the teachers) and the preschool teachers have Luke wash his hands way more than everyone else, for sanitary reasons...

Ultimately, they'll suck their thumbs till they don't. My mom sucked her thumb until 3rd grade, primarily b/c her parents tried and tried to get her to quit from age 18 months or so....

[houseelf]

Re: Thumbsuckers?

Not much help, but for those of you who may go down this path in the future, here is what worked for us. My dd came out sucking her thumb and wouldn't take the pacifier for love or money. At six months, I practically force fed her the pacifier. We've talked about taking her pacifiers away from her but everytime we start to cut back, her thumb creeps back in her mouth. :huh: I'm hoping that the pacifier will eventually prove to be easier to lose than the thumb.

I wish you all the best, these sort of things are hard to break.

Kelly

Re: Thumbsuckers?

We told our dd that when she started getting her adult teeth she'd have to stop. Our dentist says it's not really an issue until then. It worked great.

A friend has taken the same approach and that seems to have worked. Her kids continued through kindergarten but they didn't do it all the time. Mostly at night and when they were tired.

My brother was in it for the long haul. I can't remember when he gave it up. Attempts to make him stop just caused frustration for him and my parents. I remember it being sort of a battle.

Re: Thumbsuckers?

I was a thumb sucker. My parents never made a big deal over it and I remember deciding one day on my own that I needed to stop. Maybe it was peer pressure; I was in 2nd grade.

On a positive note, it could be worse... My brother used to roll up the corner of his bedsheet and stick it up his nose... Gross.

[alison]

Re: Thumbsuckers?

On a positive note, it could be worse... My brother used to roll up the corner of his bedsheet and stick it up his nose... Gross.

Really? I wonder what that was about.
I have always picked my lips. I've mentioned this before, and have tried to quit. I do it when I'm stressed out. My husband does it, and a friend of mine does it too.

Re: Thumbsuckers?

Just a thought...I wonder if you could ask/encourage/reward her for keeping the thumbsucking to her bedroom. That might be a compromise.

A friend of mine did that with pacifiers. Such a good idea! We weaned off the pacifiers because my kids would never talk when they had them because the binky was always in their mouth. I'm trying to keep the pacifier to the crib and car. We don't seem to lose them as often either.

[PrincessFiona]

Re: Thumbsuckers?

I have no suggetions...just a giant

kris

[JaneDoe]

Re: Thumbsuckers?

Just a thought...I wonder if you could ask/encourage/reward her for keeping the thumbsucking to her bedroom. That might be a compromise.

This is similar to what my parents did with my sister and I. They apparently permitted us to suck our thumbs only at home, but in public we were not allowed to. I don't remember it at all. :huh: I guess my real question (which I didn't really pose in the first place) is whether I should even start to attempt to break the habit. To be honest, I'm not 100% convinced that I'm ready to wean her from it. I think that I will continue to talk to her about it and if in a year (start of the next pre-school year) begin working with her to break the habit.

Re: Thumbsuckers?

I don't have a thumbsucker but my 6 yr old DD sucks her middle and ring figers together and has since she was in utero. She does it now at night and when she is tired or watching TV. Her dentist has told her to stop but she won't budge.

[Tenacious_D]

Re: Thumbsuckers?

Beware of the habit...I was a thumbsucker until...
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The age of 14 I know....pitiful (I couldn't fall asleep w/o it). I was wearing braces at the time because I convinced my parents and orthodontists that I had stopped and the only thing that made me stop was my roommate in high school telling me I looked silly. After that I was like...oh yeah...it is kind of immature. So whatever you can do to stop it early...please do. That's just my opinion...so mortified that I just shared that

Re: Thumbsuckers?

So...this reminds me. My friend with the thumbsuckers who I mentioned above is ok with the thumbsucking about 90% of the time (her 7 yo still does it occassionally).

A few months ago the mail lady saw my friend's 5 yo son sitting on the front porch sucking his thumb. She said "Oh, that thumb tastes good, doesn't it." My friend was initially relieved that the mail carrier didn't say anything bad about it. And then....she told my friend, "Everyone thought I quit when I was six but the truth is that I sucked my thumb until I was 21." My friend's reaction: :horror:.

[alison]

Re: Thumbsuckers?

I posted it early on, but removed it... When dh and I were in California, we went to an outlet mall, and there were huge gaggles of teenagers. One teenager in particular caught our eye - she was pushing a stroller with one arm, pregnant, and sucking her thumb.

[DCJenn]

Re: Thumbsuckers?

We have a finger-sucker in this house and our dentist told me not to worry about it until the big teeth start to come in. and I sucked my thumb until I got a head-gear for the pre-braces stuff- I'd guess second grade or so.

Jenn