How to Stop Finger/thumb Sucking

Every child should have the first dentist appointment at age one. This begins the relationship with the dentist, alleviates fears and allows the dentist to assist you in these kinds of areas. Make him an appointment and let the dentist advice you. Good Luck!!!

Hi J.,

My daughter when she was 2 started the pointer finger sucking. I would tell her it's not good for her teeth but she kept doing it. Her Godparents took her to Sea World for a fun day and when they saw the walruses they told her that even though the walrus was very cute and sweeet, he had bad teeth and if she didn't keep her fingers out of her mouth her teeth would end up looking like that walrus. They bought her a stuffed walrus to remind her and let me tell you, it worked! It was the funniest thing. Some people may think it's mean, but my daughter was a very well adjusted little girl. I didn't think she would be tormented by it, and she wasn't. Our kids can handle more than we give them credit for. It's usually the parents that can't handle it. :) Good luck!

I have a 3 year old thumb sucker. I have been working on getting that thumb out of her mouth for the last 2 years. I thought I could talk her out of it on her third birthday, but sometimes if she is upset she will tell me off and stick that nasty stinky thumb right in that mouth.

Not that it works, but what I do is either ask her to remove it until she does or quietly walk up and remove it with my hand and walk away. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It is a guarentee that she will stick the thumb int he mouth when she is tired.

Good luck ~ probably better start now.

It's normal for teeth to grow in crooked. They straighten out as they grow.
I'd say leave your kid alone. If you harp on about the thumb you'll get into a power struggle with him and he'll hold on to the haboit to show you he can. He'll stop by himself eventually.

Hi J., I'm not sure there is a whole kot you can do, except just take itout everytime you see him do it, if you are not already try rocking him to sleep so he is being nurtured to sleep, and maybe won't feel the need to suck his finger, I honestly believe that none of my kids sucked their finger or thumbs is becasue form day one, we rocked our babies to sleeping, they had the comfort of our arms, and didn't really need the finger or thumb. J. L.

What's wrong with sucking? Nothing. I had 4 kids, they all sucked their thumbs. They all have grown with children of their own. Wathing TV, so I'm not spelling as good. Love your little one, they grow up so fast. Good luck, A. age 85

We're going through this right now too with our 21-month-old daughter. Something we're trying is telling her that thumbs are for sleeping, and she can only suck if she's sleeping or going to sleep. We ask if she wants to go to sleep, she says no and we say "then you have to go pop!" (go pop means remove the thumb from the mouth). Usually it works but now and then she doesn't want to.

She has been sucking less, but I don't know if it's making a permanent difference. You might want to try it though!

I do not have a finger/thunb sucker, but my friend did! At a young age you should have luck stopping this before it gets too complicate. My friend did not make an early stop with her first one and that child was a thumb sucker until she was almost 5, so when the next child started in with the thumbs she put a stop to it early. Her baby sucked only at bed and in the carseat, so she placed a bandaid on the finger prior the car or bed. This worked great for them and only took a couple of weeks before the bandaid and sucking stopped. Good luck to you!

I have a 3 yr old son, and he is a thumb sucker. And, I was as well when I was a child. We don't bother him about it, because, it is a comfort type thing. He does'nt do it at pre-school, and it is, as with your son, an evening type of behavior, for the most part. I know that it may seem a bother to you, and other people, especially strangers, feel a need to comment on it. But, it is a child's way of coping with stress, and relaxing themselves. I wouldn't worry too much about it, kids are, even at a very young age now, expected to display a level of behavior that is beyond their developmental age. We, as parents, should help them realize, it's okay to be frustrated, scared, angry, perplexed, and out of sorts.

Okay the tooth is growing in crooked, but it is not from sucking his fingers. That is a genetic problem with the teeth and would happen even if he didn't suck his fingers. This is something that some small children do. Don't sweat and don't make an issue of it. My son was a really committed thumb sucker UNTIL he got a really bad infection in the thumb and the doctor said that he had to stop while we treated the really gross infection (his finger was swollen to twice normal size and was purple and green!), so I sewed clean socks to the arm of his Tshirts so that he could slobber on the thumb but couldn't really get the secure thumb sucking feel that he wanted. We had to do this every day for two weeks and I had to change his Tshirt and sock attachment at least three times a day. Well, his infection healed and he stopped sucking his thumb and he took up nail biting. Eventually all this stopped about the time he went into junior high. All my kids needed braces but only one sucked his thumb. So if you are really committed to it, you can try my approach, but it's gross and we just replaced one habit with another. Most thumb suckers get over it by preschool. If it lasts beyond age five THEN I think you have a problem.

"Stop" by Mavala is a product that goes on the finger like nail polish. Its tastes terrible and stays on for a day or two. It worked for my 3 year old. You can find it online for about $9.00