♥ Thumb suckers?

Question

♥ My daughter is four and still sucks her thumb. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get her to stop sucking her thumb? I think right now its more of a security thing since her daddy left to go to Iraq.

Thanks for the help

Answer 1

My brother sucked his thumb until he was 12. It is a security tool.  I would advise not trying to stop it until she is good and ready.

Answer 2

Thumb sucking is usually discouraged as it is said to deform the tooth growth. Whether this is proven science or not, I am not sure.

IMHO, unless u have any social objections to it, let it be. Even if she doesnt outgrow it, its ok. I mean whats d worst..?

Answer 3

I dont know what to do to stop the thumb sucking, But you have to get your daughter to stop though cause it causes buck teeth.

Answer 4

She'll stop once her friends notice it and start teasing her about it...

Answer 5

Well, though I haven't had this happen with any of my children (thank goodness), I can still offer some insight here...

First, no, thumb sucking or sucking on a paci into the toddler years isn't good for the teeth. And take that from someone who had a paci until age 4, and had buck teeth until she got braces at 14.

Now, there isn't much you can really do. And there is no use in punishing Autumn, because she will simply do it when you're not watching. It comforts her, and you can't blame her, she misses her Daddy.

What actually got me off my paci is my parents bought me a new doll house. And I gave them my paci. And I didn't have any dolls with pacis (like you mentioned when we were IM-ing). But, since you can't juts remove her thumb, that method won't work.

Unfortunetly, what is boils down to is this: There is nothing you can do, and just pray that once her Dad gets home in a few months, she won't need that comfort object there anymore(her thumb.)

But, she will probably grow out of it with time, if she doesn't stop when her Daddy gets home.

And that's just about all I can say...

~Kate

Answer 6

My neice did this. Her parents actually had her jaw wired shut when she was 14 years old! This did not help. She's 25 now, and still sucks her thumb when she sleeps, or settles in to watch a movie, etc. I don't think they even know that they're doing this. What if you offered her a soother, when you're alone together? That way, her hands would lose the habit of going to her mouth. Then, take the soother away. Good luck.

Answer 7

you can try offering other things for her to use as security instead such as a soft blanket or stuffed animal however most kids will suck until they don't have the need for the extra security anymore. One of my sons sucked his two fingers until he was 7. He finally just stopped doing it. It got less and less where he would only do it while watching TV or going to sleep. Then eventually he just stopped. He's 13 now.

I think with this type of thing you have to just wait it out. Try and discourage it by keeping her hands busy during the day and try to keep it only to nighttime going to sleep.

as far as affecting the teeth...let me tell you this...my son who sucked his fingers is a twin, his twin did not suck anything and yet they both needed braces so....go figure. they just got braces a couple weeks ago.

Answer 8

It's a security thing. If the child is encouraged to build greater self-confidence it might help. I don't think the old saying about it affecting the growth of teeth is true, that is probably just a way to discourage it in children.