At Wit's End!!!!!!!!!!?

Question

This is a serious question, so please no smart @ss answers! My daughter is 11 years old and still sucks her thumb!! How can I get her to stop?! We've tried everything and nothing seems to work. Please help!!!

Answer 1

Embarrass her. That's what you have to do. Let her have a sleepover party thingy and see what happens. I doubt she'd do that in front of her friends...if she does then I really don't know what to tell you.

Answer 2

my daughter did this too.... not till 11. that poses some difficulties as she is often not with you. every time i saw my daughter with her thumb in her mouth, i tapped her under the chin, twice of biting her thumb and she quit. at 11 she will get teased by peers if they see her, some folks suck their thumb in their 30's but only in private. i wouldn't worry too much, next comes a passion for boys, sooner than you think, she'll find one she likes enough to give up her thumb. have you considered that she knows your in a knot about it, so she continues just to continue the drama, to get a reaction out of you.... nothing a young adult loves more than getting their moms all riled up, and some kids will take any attention good or bad. have you tried ignoring it, not mentioning it,,, maybe if it doesn't get a reaction from you, she'll stop. it can't hurt. but for sure, boys will influence this habit, then you'll have real issues to deal with!!! not that your concern isn't real, i can't imagine it going on so long..but it seems her comfort, what ya gonna do, time has a way of working some things out. how many grown ups do you see suck their thumb.what she does in private is her concern

Answer 3

I bit my nails for over 25 years. My daughter finally got me to stop when I was in my 30s (she was a wise 15 year old) by putting Mickey Mouse band-aids on all my fingers. I got lots of comments about being burned, but I was good natured about it. The hardest part was losing my fine motor skills. Plastic band-aids will do that.

Try putting Barbie band-aids or some other type that your daughter likes on both thumbs. It might help.

Whatever you do, DO NOT shame your daughter into stopping...it won't work. My parents tried everything, including the No-Bite stuff. I eventually got to the point where I could lick it off! The band-aids were the best thing.

Just be patient.

Her friends might be enlisted to help, too. But only her closest friend or maybe two friends. Have them talk to her, but not in a negative way. Just that they want to see her in her own beautiful self, not with her thumb in her mouth. It might help.

If all that doesn't work, try taking her to the dentist. Be sure he/she is a pediatric dentist (one who only deals with children). He/she might have other ideas.

Good luck!

Answer 4

I think you need to get to the root of the problem Psychologists and experts believe that people suck their thumbs because they are insecure and find it comforting. It could however just be a habit but i would have it checked out by a professional. Not only is it bothering you but is can also cause some serious dental complications.

Good luck and remember that this does not make you a bad parent...

Answer 5

i sucked my thumb until i was about that age. I was then asked to a sleep over with my friends and was worried how i was going to not do it. Well guess what i didn't. I had the best childhood and no stress. I was the baby of 6 so i was spoiled rotten.
So maybe plan a sleepover with her friends and make it fun. Do girly stuff, do hair, paint fingernails, toe nails. have a fashion show. Maybe then she won't realize that you are really having the sleepover to see if that wouldn't stop her from sucking her thumb. Then after it is over talk to her about it.

Answer 6

This topic has no best answer that fits everybody. I feel certain that you have discussed this topic with her at some length by now. On some level, she wants to stop the behavior, but once her mind zones out her subconscious takes over and the thumb goes in the mouth. Most children outgrow this habit by the time they enter grade school, others may continue for a few years after they start school. Usually Kindergarten naptime shames the child into avoiding the behavior.

Some of the suggestions you received so far make sense; others you should probably avoid. Anything you put on her thumb, such as hot sauce, can just as easily go into her eye or nose with potentially dangerous results.

Some successful remedies I have seen include putting a clean sock on both hands at bedtime, wearing lightweight gloves, using a teeth-grinding mouth guard available in the pharmacy section of most Wal-Marts, and wearing a shirt with sleeves longer than her arms for sleepwear.

My nephew, who just started the second grade, still sucked his thumb at the beginning of this past summer. After all of our tricks failed, I began checking on him hourly after he went to bed for the night. From the doorway of his bedroom, if I saw his thumb in or near his mouth, I quietly said his name and told him to quit sucking his thumb. I used a firm but loving tone, as I did not wish to wake him. This had some success, but he still managed to get his thumb into his mouth at times. By the way, this same method works well for teeth grinders. Telling the person to stop without waking them seems to work great. Unfortunately, it has no effect on those that snore loudly.

I usually try to avoid using shame tactics in order to change a behavior, but sometimes that is the only method that works. Finally, I took a couple of pictures with my digital camera and made them the background picture on the computer where he plays his educational games. Voila! His thumb sucking incidents dropped to nearly zero within a few days. He really wanted that picture off the computer.


Good luck!

Will D
Enterprise AL
http://www.notagz.com

Answer 7

It's simply a habit that needs to be broken with behavior modification. Could be obsessive compulsive in which Case you would need to consult a medical professional. My brother used to suck his thumb until he was 10. Fortunately we have a very good friend who is a staff therapist at a local hospital that recommended he be tested. They determined that he has OCD(Obsessive compulsive disorder), and requires medication. After the meds took affect it was like flicking a switch, he never touched his thumb again. This may or may not be your situation, but it's worth looking into.

Answer 8

My niece did that up until she was 12. She had been through some pretty traumatic experiences in her young life. She stopped on her own. You might try taking her to get her nails done. Telling her how much you love her and spend time with her. Tell her you do not ever want her to be embarrassed by what someone would say over this habit of hers so you want to talk about it and how you can help her stop. Quit yelling it doesn't work.

Answer 9

Wow! I can only imagine how frustrated you are. First, you need to ask her if she wants to stop sucking her thumb. If she doesn't buy in, it's probably impossible. For my son, our pediatric dentist recommended weaning the thumb sucking. First, limiting it to certain times, or only on the couch or in his bed, etc. They also provided a "Thumb Kit" which included a calender and reward stickers, etc. For an older kid, you might have to have her set her own goals and help decide on the rewards, etc., but if she's interested it just might help. Good luck!

Answer 10

If uve tried everthing then its a sure bet that it gets her attention. Try just ignoring her, I went to high school with a girl that still sucked her thumb in class but she stopped once she got interested in boys.

Answer 11

I don't think my sister ever stopped. She's 30! Ignoring it might make it less of an issue. Maybe she wants attention, but doesn't want to ask, so she uses the thumb-sucking. If one of her friends ever notices and comments, that could make her stop. Ahh, peer pressure.