Thumb Sucking - Keller,TX

My 8 year old son started putting his fingers in his mouth when he was around age 6 and he had never sucked his thumb; it was just a new nervous habit. We talked to him about where his hands had been, what he had been touching, and how gross it was that he was now eating whatever that was. Constant talking about how gross it was, reminding him to take them out of his mouth, and liberal use of hand sanitizer stopped the habit.

Just gently ask her to take her thumb out whenever you see it, and be consistent in not letting her suck it. Hand sanitizer can also work since it tastes bad. Maybe you could buy her a new stuffed animal to hug instead of sucking her thumb. Since this is a new habit it shouldn't be that tough to break, but don't let her get used to it because thumb sucking is a hard one to break once they get 'addicted'. My daughter was a thumb addict for 4 years, we finally had to get a special guard to break her habit. Good luck!

I have four kiddos and 3 of them sucked their thumb, but it stopped by the time they were 3ish. One thing that helped them stop was when they visited the dentist and he explained to them that they really needed to stop because they were getting older and it could possibly affect how their teeth were coming in... That did the trick for two of my kids. I think once they realized that they weren't babies -- they were big kids -- they became determined to stop. I know each child is different... So you might have to try a variety of things to see what motivates your daughter.

~ Ann

I know that at one time you could get something to 'paint' on the thumb that didnt taste very nice and therefore discouraged the child from sucking. I dont know if there is anything like that available now.
My brother sucked his thumb to the point that he complained it was 'sore', our mum suggested he suck the other one. My brother said he had tried that but the other one didnt taste the same. At the time my brother was 5 years old, he is now almost 53 years old and on occasion, when he has been particularly tired or stressed the habit returns.
Perhaps being a little girl she might respond to some girly treats like nail painting or a manicure , you could then tell her that sucking her thumb would spoil the effect.
Good luck with it.
K.. [spain]

Well both have mine have always been thumb suckers, but at about age 4 I told my oldest she was too big to be doing that everywhere. We weaned her down to where she could suck - first just at home, then only in her room, then only in her bed. We didn't give her a hard time for doing it, just reminded her of the appropriate place. Usually she would choose to stop sucking her thumb rather than have to go and sit on her bed to do it, but it gave her control and now I haven't seen her do it in months (and last time was when she was sick). Good luck!