Sucking Thumb?

Question

Is 6 years old too old for this behavior? My niece is driving me nuts in public places with her thumb sucking. Her mother says she's working on it.

Answer 1

If her mother is working on it, why make an issue out of it, she's not your child.

Answer 2

Get her a thumb guard. It will make it impossible for her to suck her thumb.

Here is the web site:

http://www.thumbguard.net/english/ourpro...

Answer 3

i had a friend who sucked her thumb until she was 14 years old. her teeth were atrocious. she ended up getting braces and had to wear head gear to bed. she spoke with a lisp for about 6 months coz she also had to wear a tongue guard to stop her tongue pressing into her teeth. i sucked my thumb till i turned six. my mom told me that if i sucked it past the age of five i'd have bugs bunny teeth.

Answer 4

Put some hot sace on her thumb and she will halt. Ya i'm no help. Just try distracting her with other objects that require two hands to use.

Answer 5

You think that's bad 6 years old sucking her thumb is not that bad I have a friend who is going to be 14 years old and sucks her thumb non- stop and is not even trying to stop.

Answer 6

I would really try and break the habit ASAP! My little sister is 14 and still sucks her thumb. It is a very bad habit for her and her psychologist says that once the habit reaches that stage, it's one of the hardest habits to break because there's really nothing anyone else can do to "help". She's gotten braces many times just because of this problem (it messes up the roof of your mouth very badly) and she now wears a retainer and has a large bar behind her teeth. I truly believe that if the habit was broken earlier that she wouldn't have nearly as many oral problems. Try convincing your sister that after this it will get much harder for her to break her habit. Also suggest that it will cause problems with her oral health. If this doesn't work, I hope your neice will eventually figure it out on her own. Just try to help her out when she's young!

Answer 7

my daughter sucked her thumb up until sometime last year(around 5). i think one of the things that helped was whenever someone saw her do it they'd point it out to her. after a while of it she just stopped. in fact she stopped and nobody realised it!

Answer 8

I guess sucking her thumb isn't THAT bad but I understand. I still remember when I was little my parents told me "If you suck your thumb you will mess up your teeth and you'll get braces, and braces hurt a lot!" It helped a little. Also try to tell her that big girls don't suck there thumbs. or try something cute like "I guess you cant eat this candy because your thumbs in your mouth"

Answer 9

Give her things to fill her hands, so that she doesn't have a thumb free to suck.  I would not put hot sauce on it, what if she rubs her eye?  Bad idea.

Answer 10

No she is not too old for it.  She is only 6. Leave her alone.  It's not the child who has the problem, if it's driving YOU nuts that would be YOUR problem, my advice, don't go near your niece if you have such a problem with it.