Stopping a thumb sucker??

Question

My daughter will be 8 in October and has sucked her thumb since 'wombdom'--we have u/s pics with her sucking her thumb!

What can we do to curb this? She only does it when she's tired or upset (like she was hurt physically or we punished her). Every time I see her doing it, I ask her to stop. I've tried that fingernail polish that tastes nasty for nail biters, but it doesn't work for her. I'm concerned about her permanent teeth and damage thumb sucking can cause. Any suggestions/tips?

Answer 1

I sucked my thumb until I was about 10, and what finally got me to stop was the dentist told me that I had warped my teeth so badly that they were going to have to put braces on my teeth and include a sharp needle that would sit on the back of my mouth so that when I tried to suck my thumb it would stab me.  This scared the c**p out of me and I stopped immediately.  My younger sister is actually 16 years old and hasn't stopped sucking her thumb yet and we have tried everything. It is a very hard habit to break with stubborn children!!

Answer 2

Step One makes and attachment to put over her thumb so she can't do it!

Answer 3

i have a younger brother who is also 8 and we have tried everything like hot sauce, putting tape anything you can think of we have tried. I guess they will eventually just stop sucking it. i think emberrasing them in front of friends might help idk

Answer 4

My little brother was a thumbsucker. My parents tried everthing! Making him wear gloves to bed, using hot pepper, threatening, spanking, telling him his teeth would be messed up. My brother is now 24, and can still be seen sucking his thumb at night when he is asleep. It is unconsious, and he can't control it. It is hard to know if my parents efforts to make him stop actually made it worse (a stress reaction). A child will eventually stop doing this in public because of peer reactions, and will probably stop doing it at night when she feels secure enough.

Answer 5

Thumb-sucking is extremely bad for the teeth. Since you've let it continue this long, she's probably going to need braces if she doesn't have them already.

If the nasty nail polish doesn't work, you could try dousing her thumb in vinegar, lemon juice, chili sauce, or some other non-toxic substance with a very strong flavor. Or just let the orthodontist straighten her out (literally and figuratively).

Answer 6

Mix Cayane pepper and water. trust me we use to have a rottweiler the chewed on the hot tub cover and we sprayed it on there and he never bothered it again.

Answer 7

I agree with "im just a girl".  I was a thumb sucker as well, my parents tried everything too make me stop, nothing worked.  when I was in third grade (9yrs old), there was an unfortunate accident in my home.  I had an electric blanket on my bed that had developed a short and caught on fire.  No one was hurt, but everything on my bed was destroyed (including my favorite blanket)  I immediately stopped sucking my thumb.

I too have a daughter who sucks her thumb, but her attatchment is her ear, so I have no idea what to do.

Answer 8

As a kid, I always twirled my hair, and still do to this day, as a nearing 29, mother of two.  I do it when I'm nervous or stressed.  

My son didn't suck his thumb, but he chewed the skin on his fingers to the point that it would bleed!  I began making him apply lotion to his hands several times a day, he hated the taste and eventually stopped.

Answer 9

my daughter is 6 and still sucks her thumb we have tried everything even the dentist has spoke to her about it as her teeth only her baby ones are a bit squint she stopped for about a day and started again,my brother was a thumb sucker and stopped at the age of 10 so hopefully she will to all these people who say to put nasty tasting stuff on her thumb dont know what they are talking about its a comforter and she is going to do it whether you like it or not i know grown women who still do it when they are tierd but if you can find something that works let me know as ive tried everything.

Answer 10

My sister and I were both thumb-suckers.  I know it sounds silly but, we put socks on our hands at night so we wouldn't suck our thumbs!  During the day, (only at home) we would wear gloves!  It worked!  In just a couple of weeks, the habit was gone!

Answer 11

my cousin twirled her hair while she sucked her thumb, so they cut her hair short and she quit. my daughter sucked her thumb and always had a silky shirt when she did so i finally threw the shirt away and she quit. most kids have something that goes along with it so if you can pin point that and eliminate it , she may quit.

Answer 12

Tabasco Sauce, or some other HOT sauce.