My almost 6 year old still sucks her thumb...?

Question

what can i do to make her stop! She doesn't do it at school, but i've seen that thumb her mouth alot more lately than usual.

any suggestions to make her stop? I tell her that her teeth are going to stick out like a donkey or that i'll put tobasco on it, but nothing seems to work!!

Answer 1

What about the special fingernail polish I've heard (and even seen before at a Kmart years ago).

This special polish has a very nasty taste.  The concept is the same as the tobasco, but tobasco wears away too quick.

[Edit]

While I find Dr.Spock to be way too liberal, here's a link to her ideas on the subject.

http://www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,39...

Specifically she too suggests finger nail polish.  But the idea is to encourage her to act like a big girl by placing "pretty" finger nail polish on her nails and encourage her to basically keeping them "pretty" by NOT putting them in her mouth.

Answer 2

there is a nail polish for butting nails it should help for that too.

Answer 3

Stop telling her old wives tales, her teeth will not stick out like a donkey's because she sucks her thumb!  My 10 year old is a thumb sucker and my other two 7 and four suck their fingers.  I still suck my fingers sometimes at night when I'm not feeling well, and I'm past 6 years.  Why is it so important to YOU that she stops sucking her thumb?  It's a source of comfort for her obviously something is stressing to her which is why she is sucking her thumb more often lately.  Maybe YOU need to get to the bottom of what is stressing your child rather than you stressing over something as harmless as thumb sucking

Answer 4

That's tough!  Thumb sucking is typically a 'safety measure' for a child. They do it when they feel insecure, scared or sad. In theory, if you find the trigger, and deal with what makes ehr insecure, it will help.  Or finding an alternate security measure.

But - we're talking real-life - and that doesn't happen often! Sometimes 'mom' can't do it - coming from someone else can sometimes make a difference.  We're moms - what do we know?!?!  I had a friend that had a little girl who wouldn't stop sucking her thumb - and nothing mom did worked.  she was about 7. I took her out one day for a 'girls day'. We got ice cream, went to a movie - and got our nails done!! We got a professional manicure - just like all the big girls do - with fancy polish that she picked out. I made over her like a princess!  She was so proud of her new nails that she wouldn't put them in her mouth!

Answer 5

I sucked my thumb until i was 9 and a half, at that point my dad had tried everything, even one of those horrible mouth gaurds called a rake. what ever U do don't do that to her, i cried for two weeks strait after getting mine because it was so painful, bad tasting things never work, just let her do it, she will stop when she is ready. BTW, I have perfect teeth, no braces needed. mostly the whole buck teeth thing is a wives tale.

Answer 6

When is the bithday? This has worked for me on several issues: Just before my son's fifth birthday we hyped up the fact that turning 6 meant you were big enough to make your own sandwich and you didn't need a night light anymore. It worked like a charm. The night of his sixth birthday the light wasn't even an option, he was suddenly a very big boy! On his 7th birthday, he was rewarded with "new" big boy responsiblities and rewards. Make it fun and keep telling them how proud you are for all the other great accomplishments! Try not to focus on the negative.

side note: is there a reason that she is doing these? insecurity? problem that she is having trouble with? problems at home? There may be root problems that need to be handled as well...

Answer 7

That is a tough one. I know it drives me insane to see an 8 year old sucking their thumb. I know they sell bitter stuff to put on the thumbs. Maybe you could make a reward chart? Every day she goes without the thumb she gets a sticker and then after say 10 stickers, she gets a special treat?

Answer 8

We tried everything - the pretty color nail polish, the yucky tasting polish, socks over her hands at night. Ultimately she didn't stop until she was ready. She stopped doing it when anyone could see her around 7 years old out of embarrassment, but continued at night until almost 11 years old. I don't even think she knew she was doing it. When I would check on her at night I would pull it out of her mouth. She currently wears braces, of course. Good Luck.

Answer 9

use the nasty fingernail polish or you can take her to an orthodontist and they will put this pronged appliance in the roof of her mouth and everytimeshe puts her thumb in her mouth she will get poked i had one a while bac....and it made me stop immdediatly!