How can we stop our 5 yr old daughter from sucking her thumb?

Question

We have tried everything we have been told.
Mittens on the hand dont work,she takes them off.
Time out dont work, she does while resting.(all time out is any way is taking a break) Tried hot sauce at the insistance of family but she likes hot sauce now. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Maybe you can apply an edible, but bitter glaze on her thumb. They have a product like that to stop fingernail biting.

Sometimes, it may just be best to tell her what would actually happen to her thumb if she continues to suck it. Thumb sucking will deform her teeth and is very unhygienic. Whatever she touches will end up in her mouth (microbes, bacteria).

You can try a pair of latex gloves.

Answer 2

they sell products that make her fingers taste really really bad.go to your nearest drug store and ask the pharmacist about it
she will never like this stuff
Contrary to what most people think, in general it is not particularly harmful to a child's teeth to suck the thumb. As a physician suggested, sucking is a calming mechanism that many babies develop during infancy. Preschool children continue to use it as a comforting mechanism, particularly in preparation for sleep. Most children give up their thumb-sucking spontaneously at around age six or seven, usually due to peer pressure because they are in school. There are, however, some children who are like your daughter: they don't suck their thumb much during the day and just do it at night. Unfortunately, this also means that for her, sucking her thumb is how she has learned how to fall asleep, and in order for her to give this up she needs to learn a different way to fall asleep on her own.

In general, it is very difficult to get a child to stop sucking her thumb if she does not want to stop. If she is interested in stopping, then there are a number of things that you can do to help her with it. There are a few preparations that you can buy in the drugstore that are specifically made for thumb-sucking and nail-biting. You paint it on the thumb and it has a bitter taste, thus acting as a deterrent to sucking the thumb. Putting a mitten or other covering on the hand at bedtime may help. A sticker chart reward system would also be useful for a child this age: She gets a sticker on the calendar each night she falls asleep without the thumb in her mouth. When she accumulates three stickers she gets a special treat (an activity or a toy, not food); when she gets to six she gets another treat. When she gets to twelve she gets a final "big treat." By this point she will have learned how to fall asleep without sucking her thumb, and you can stop.

Answer 3

lemon jucie works usually but my kids liked it so it didnt work for her so takin the toys away and grounding worked yeah even that young lol her room stripped down to bed sheets and pillow was all that was in there and no tv no desert no anything extras till it stops then everytime she trys to ask her if she wants to lose all her toys agian. she is old enough to understand she isnt to do that anymore. dont know if you are for or against spanking but a light pop on the hand enough to let her know thats bad but not so hard it keeps hurting after more then a minute or two.

other then that its not too big or a deal lots of kids suck their thumbs and you dont see a graduating class in high school thats walkin across stage still suckin their thumbs she will grow out of it no matter what so try what you can if it doesnt work dont stress too much over it

Answer 4

My suggestion is to leave her alone about it and let her give it up in her own good time, which she will. When she starts school, the pressure to act like her peers will probably extinguish the habit when she is in public, and if she still soothes herself by thumb-sucking in private, that won't hurt her or anyone else. There is no good reason to get in an uproar about this harmless habit. I would much rather have a thumb-sucker than a kid who has tantrums or bigtime sleep problems or any of the other really troubling possibilities!

Answer 5

nicely, the pediatrician on the medical doctors says that they're going to many times end with the help of 6 years previous with the help of themselves because of their friends. the mummy also has the alternative of having the dentist positioned the field interior the right of her mouth and it stabs her thumb each and every time she tries to suck it. i understand a baby that had it performed. would seem cruel besides the indisputable fact that it worked. To be straightforward, the mummy might want to've broke her years in the past. She ought to've probably used the right chew stuff and make her thumb flavor nasty beforehand the toddler would were wise sufficient to favor to bathe her hands. If I were you, i does not difficulty about it. it isn't your duty, and why do you need to attend to her being a brat b/c you do not choose her to suck her thumb. I basically does not tell the mummy that i'm not bothering with it lol. basically sayin'.

Answer 6

Give her something else to do with her hands, coloring, playdough. Video games, But not the hot sauce too old fashioned. If none of these things work, then peer pressure will. She won't want to look like a baby in front of her friends.

Answer 7

I remember from when my sister was little, my parents used a product called Thumb Stop. It was basically a non-toxic horrible tasting substance that you apply to the child's thumb so they get that awful taste whenever they suck their thumb. And unlike hot-sauce, NOBODY will end up liking the taste of that stuff. :)

Answer 8

My 5 year old sucks her thumb. No big deal.

I talked to her dentist about it. He said that it doesn't matter until the adult teeth come. There are dental appliances that they can use that are more effective than hot sauce or any other nasty tasting alternative. He said, though, that if she doesn't want to stop, it won't work.

Just let her be. She'll stop when she's ready.

Answer 9

When I was five bribery worked. My mom and dad promised a cat if I stopped for six months. I quit cold turkey... They also bought me a calender showed me when the 6 months would be up and as each day passed I got to mark a day off the calender with a pretty sticker.....If they ever caught me they said the 6 months would start all over again.
I named my cat "Happy". Thought she looked like she was smiling.

If all else fails you can take her to your dentist and they can place a reminder bar in the upper part of her mouth, which will interfere with her ability to suck.
She should get discouraged and give it up.

**Also give her praise when she doesnt suck her thumb each day.**

Answer 10

i suck my thumb too what u can do is put hot sauce on their and if that doesn't work did try going to the denstist like whem=n she or he gets a little older and ask thjem waht u can do because they have this sucking divse somrthin like that and what it does is like for example if she put her thumb in her mouth and it will snap her finger it may sound bad but that works and i hope u find a way happy hoildays