How do you stop a child from sucking there thumb?

Question

My child is 6 now but we cant stop her from sucking her thumb.

Answer 1

Theres a gel or something you can buy at a pharmacy and apply to their thumb. Thatll stop it right away.....

Answer 2

Ask your dentist about a special appliance for thumb-sucking. It will only work if your child wants to quit. It's like a retainer with a little nobby thingy that hangs down from the roof of the child's mouth so the child can talk, eat, etc - but it breaks the suction.

Often, thumb sucking is a nocturnal habit - so the child is either sleepy or sleeping when the thumb slides in.

If your child WANTS to suck his/her thumb, then he/she can break the device easily. If the child is game for quitting, you will likely have a few sleepless nights, then it will be over with.

The appliance stays for 6 months, or until it falls out (my kids' fell out, but she had already quit)

_________

PLEASE don't use the bitter stuff. My mom used that on me and i couldn't eat anything i touched with my hands. Also, i wouldn't realize i was sucking my thumb until morning and the taste won't go away.

Answer 3

Thumb sucking sometimes is a psychological need for love and attention and is a sign of insecurity. Our oldest son was sucking his thumb from birth. We tried putting a glove over his hand, he would suck it through the glove and cry. We tried the orajel bad tasting stuff. We tried Tobasco...he like it. Eventually he quit when he went to school and his buddies teased him. Reward her for the good things she does and she will stop sucking her thumb on her own when she is ready. Sometimes sucking the thumb can make the baby teeth come in at a abnormal angle, I'd be concerned if her adult teeth were comingin crooked. Just give her love and she'll be fine. Make sure her hands are kept washed to prevent diseases from dirty thumbs.

Answer 4

My brother was 10 by the time he stopped sucking his thumb and he came out of it on his own just fine!!!

Simply leave her alone about it. When she starts school and sees others NOT doing this and experiences peer pressure about it she'll get the clue.

At this age (aside from being a HABIT) it's either an attention getting device or she's extremely insecure. I'd say BOTH!!!

BTW: my brother is now 43 with no orthodontic or mental problems at all.

Answer 5

Let her be at that age. Eventually she will out grow it. I did (I was 16 but I out grew it)
None of what the others suggested will work.
If you insist she stop use a reward system; a nickle for each day she doesn't suck her thumb. After about a month she will have stopped.

But I really think you should ignore it at that age. What harm is she doing? None other than embarrassing you.

Answer 6

Well I'm sure there's many "professional" ways to do it but if you want simple solutions try keeping mittens or socks over their hands, they may try sucking on that but if you rub something really nasty (yet safe to eat) on the mittens they will soon have a change of heart. That or wrap their thumbs to their hands with cloth of some type.

Answer 7

You can try to redirect her to do something else. Or everytime she does it put orajel on her thumb so it makes her mouth numb.

Answer 8

Tabasco sauce

Answer 9

Put bitter stuff on her thumb.. She'll stop...

Answer 10

there is this nasty nail polish that taste's horrible paint it on her nail's I have heard also Tabasco but the best is to keep correcting her when she is doing it until she is so sick of hearing it that she know longer does it