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Thumb Sucking

David1
Posts: 8
 Joined: 2008-06-30
 Dad Points: 28

Guys - Any great advice for how to stop thumb sucking? I have a 5 year old that sucks his thumb constantly. It is making me feel like a bad parent (just like the fact that I can't get him to sleep w/o Mom and me).....He's going to Kindergarten in the fall, and I want to help him quit sucking his thumb before that. He seems to want to stop and is now pretty good about not doing it around his friends....BUT, does anyone have some grand idea of how to help him? We've tried the yucky tasting stuff and we've tried saying something to him when we see him doing it......The bad news is that his little almost two year old brother sucks his thumb now too.....

Thanks!!


‹ Sleeping at night--NOT Advice on Child Throwing Food ›

Submitted by David1 on Sat, 07/05/2008 - 7:09am.

brianc
brianc's picture
Posts: 286
 Joined: 2006-11-02
 Dad Points: 370
hmm...

Well, we sort of lucked out in this department.

Our son never sucked his thumb.

Our daughter did. It was usually associated with her blankie. So we reduced it by not having her take her blankie out of her bed or out of her room and downstairs with her. On her first visit to the dentist when she was three, our dentist, "Dr. Debbie" simply said in a most friendly (but stern enough) way, "Marisa, you have absolutely have to stop sucking your thumb!". Marisa looked up at her almost as if she was caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "OK". Don't get me wrong. She was not scared by Dr. Debbie. She LOVES her! (actually likes to go to the dentist)
She stopped sucking her thumb that night and hasn't looked back.

Is there any behavior associated with the thumb sucking? (Like Marisa had her blankie) Perhaps removing that would reduce the thumb-sucking simply due to the association. Maybe have your dentist tell your child to stop, if he or she hasn't already.

Good luck!

brianc


Sat, 07/05/2008 - 8:30am

David1
Posts: 8
 Joined: 2008-06-30
 Dad Points: 28
Thanks, Brian! He

Thanks, Brian! He definitely sucks his thumb when he's tired and often times throughout most of the night. The Dentist tells at each visit that he needs to stop and that he'll even get a surprise from the Dentist when he does stop. Still, my 5 year old is so stubborn that it will probably just be up to him to decide when he's going to stop. He has started being more alert of when he's doing it.........Says that he tries not to do it in front of other people any more and only around Mom / Dad. The Dentist recommended popsickle sticks around his thumb but he's not open to that yet....unless I could somehow do it when he's sleeping. Also have tried the gross tasting stuff but that didn't work.

Guess time will tell.........He's also recently started grinding his teeth..........think he must have some anxiety issues or something!

Thanks again for the note!


Wed, 07/09/2008 - 7:35am

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