Parents of Thumbsuckers: Unite!

[Karly]

Parents of Thumbsuckers: Unite!

Anyone else out there with a kid who still sucks their thumb? :scan: Or is it just my Alexis?

I tell you, the kid LOVES her thumb. When she was born, I was thrilled that she discovered it so quickly because at that time, it was much easier than a pacifier. She would just find her thumb and she'd be in la-la-land in a matter of seconds. And really, in comparison to her older brother who had no pacifier, no lovie, nothing to calm him but me nursing him, she was a breeze.

Fast forward. She's now three, almost four, and she sucks her thumb all.the.time. :disbelief We've tried all different sorts of things, and have gotten no where.

My biggest concern is her major overbite that the dentist commented on a few months back. I can see braces are in her future...

How about you?

[tuesdayswife]

HERE!!!!!! Mia is only 19 months but has been a thumbsucker since about 6 weeks old. She's pretty good about it though. It's her cue to us when she's tired. As soon as the thumb goes in the mouth, she goes to bed, and that's really the only time she sucks it - when she's tired. Hopefully it stays that way... BUT NOT FOR TOO LONG!!!! :lol:

[TtownAnne]

I'm here - Caroline is heading towards SIX and sucking her thumb. Not constantly, but she still does it to go to sleep, when she's spacing out (i.e., riding in the car, watching TV, etc.) She ended up sucking her thumb because she simply would NOT take a pacifier; we had enough different sizes, shapes and textures of binkies to pacify a Third World Nation! DH is more freaked out about her teeth than I am; I figure with the intense dental crowding I had as a kid braces will be a necessity for her anyway. :dunno: We've tried reward charts and the like, but she doesn't care - giving her the choice between a star towards the reward and sucking her thumb, she chose her thumb!

[Mandi]

I've got 3. :bawl:

Melayna is over 4 and still sucks her thumb. She seems to be phasing herself out of it though. She only does it when she's tired. Occasionally I catch her doing it when she has her special blanky, but usually not. I've already been told by the dentist that she's going to need major dental work when she gets older. (small upper palate, tongue thrust, etc). Although thankfully, outwardly her teeth look pretty straight.

Brayden sucks the knucke of his index finger. He mostly only does it when he's sleepy or when he needs some comfort. His teeth are jacked. :( Totally crooked.

Arden sucks his middle and ring fingers. He does it all.the.time. It's hard to even feed him b/c after ever single flippin' bite of food, he sticks his hand in his mouth. :gah: He's only got 3 teeth so no visible jackage yet. :lol:

I'm at a loss on how to stop it too. I think I'm going to just go with the let them stop it themselves approach, at least for now. If they are still sucking their thumbs/fingers when they are several years into school, we'll do take more drastic action. But for now I'll just remind Melayna and Brayden that they are big kids and don't need to do that.

[sheila]

Oh lord, am I here. And I think I'll be here for a looooong time. Maggie sucks her thumb pretty much whenever she is not using her hands or mouth to do something else.

[Cami]

Addison will be six in January and still sucks her thumb when she's going to sleep. It pretty much stays in there all night. We haven't done anything to stop it and I'm not really that concerned.
B will be three next month and is a major thumb sucker too. His teeth appear to be a disaster anyway, coming in all which ways.

Aubrey was a binkie girl and that was hard to eliminate but we did it last year :whistle: after she turned four. :blush: It was hard for me to mentally justify pushing away her binkie when I had an older thumbsucker going strong.

[Jayne]

Alyssa will be 6 in December and still sucks her thumb. She usually only does it to go to bed but if she has her Lovie she will do it. The Dentist told me her teeth looked fantastic for having a thumb sucker so I am honestly not that worried :dunno:

[Clare]

Here :rolleyes: Harry is 6 and sucks his thumb constantly. I really don't have any idea how to stop it. The dentist isn't concerned, she says his teeth are fine. Sam has just taken up thumb sucking at nearly 4! :rolleyes: I know he is just copying Harry and it drives me crazy. Wierd how I have a problem with him doing it and not Harry. I guess it's cause I know that he doesn't need to do it, he's just doing it to annoy me :lol:

[kalm]

My sister sucked her thumb til she was 12. Amazingly, her teeth are straight without braces. My mom tried every remedy she could think of, but in the end, it was just time that did the trick.

[sheila]

Maggie's teeth are being affected. Well, that may not be true. I had a huge overbite and overjet and I never sucked my teeth-- it just looked like I did. And Stagg had major orthodontic work done, too. So I don't think that not sucking her thumb would do much to ward off braces for her.

Oh, Clare! I know just what you mean! Katie sucks her thumb now when she wants to copy Maggie and it drives me up a wall! She thinks its cute and funny, but ugh. I'm so glad that she's not the only one!

[mcox]

Olivia will be 6 in February and she still sucks her thumb. Before she started school she would only suck her thumb while watching tv, riding in the car, while going to sleep or when she got upset. I really think peer pressure is keeping her from sucking her thumb at school. But now the minute she gets off the bus and comes in the house her thumb goes in her mouth and stays there the rest of the evening. :lol:

[Jayne]

My Sister was still sucking her thumb into her freshman year of high school. She needed braces and they also put an appliance in her mouth so she couldn't suck her thumb. It went up behind her teeth and the roof of her mouth so the contact couldn't be made. She hated it but it broke her of sucking her thumb.

And for those of you who really want to try and get them to stop they make special nail polish and such that you can try that taste awful. I know the Dentist recommended lots of stuff.

[TtownAnne]

We tried the nasty nail polish - it shortened her sucking time, but then once she had worn through it the thumb would go right back.

[Clare]

My best friend had that nasty nail polish all through high school and it didn't work. She just got used to the taste.

[Missy&Maggie]

Here! Maggie is 4 and still is a nighttime thumb sucker. She used to have her fingers in her mouth all the time and we developed a code-word reminder to have her take them out. The fingers very rarely go in during the day now. Recently she had croup and I've reminded her again that the way the bugs get in is most likely on her thumb. She is pretty good with it most of the time now.

[Jillian]

How old were they when they started sucking their thumbs/fingers? We are really hoping Travis finds his sometime soon cause this me being his pacifier thing is driving my crazy, Janelle had a pacifier till 3 1/2 and Kincaid still has his, but we've tried every one possible in every size made and Travis will have nothing to do with them.

[Karly]

Jillian, I'd say Alexis was around three months or so when she found her thumb for good.

You know, it seems that the more that I'm after her about having her thumb in her mouth, the more she sucks it. :furious: It used to not bother me, but lately it has been.

Jelly Beans have worked for her for everything else - from potty training, to no nail biting. However, now with the thumb, she couldn't care less about the promised bean. She just wants to suck her thumb.

[Karin]

Katie sucks her thumb at naptime and bedtime. I don't think it stays in all night, but I could be wrong. She'll be 2.5 in a month.

[sheila]

Jelly Beans have worked for her for everything else - from potty training, to no nail biting. However, now with the thumb, she couldn't care less about the promised bean. She just wants to suck her thumb.

Here, too. We had a reward chart for a while where she got a sticker for every 15 minutes she didn't suck her thumb. After 5, she got a prize. When she wanted a prize (this usually coincided with Katie's earning a prize), she could rack up the stickers pretty easily. But if she wasn't all that interested, she could care less.

I need to go back to focusing on not sucking her thumb when we are in public and letting her go hog wild at home. And the public thing is largely because of the germs. Ick, I get all :errr: when I think about what she is putting in her mouth when she sucks her thumb!

[Karin]

Yes, Katie too! There have been times that we've been out running errands, and when we get home I put her down for her nap, which means the thumb will be in action. I have to remember to wash her hands thoroughly before naptime, otherwise who knows what she'll catch :dunno: I guess if I really nudged her to use the potty more (she now uses it a couple of times a day, but will still go in her pull up if she feels inclined) she'd have cleaner hands. It is a thought...:nod: