How can I get my son to stop sucking his fingers?

Question

I have a 4 1/2 old son that sucks his two middle fingers and puts one on his cheek. He has a sore/scar and I can't keep his fingers out of his mouth he keeps putting them in when he is not around me. I have tried almost everything.

Answer 1

Don't put anything on his fingers to deter him, this isn't fair, the sucking of fingers or thumbs is a natural source of comfort and to be honest you won't be-able to stop him, he'll give it up when he's ready.

Answer 2

Most children use thumb sucking as a means of comfort, parents can try to identify and then remove the cause of anxiety. Parents have also had success using praise and rewards to encourage their child to stop thumb sucking. Also alternative means of pacification may help, such as a night-light, a special stuffed toy or blanket. These things can give the child a sense of security and comfort without detrimentally affecting their oral health. When these actions don't get the child to stop sucking their thumb early treatment may be aversion therapy. The child's thumb can be soaked in a pepper containing solution or some other unpleasant tasting food to get the child to stop their thumb sucking habit. Other treatments may include fabricating an oral guard that physically prevents the child from placing their thumb in their mouth or a covering for the thumb that also prevents the child from being able to place their thumb in their mouth.

Answer 3

I have 5 children and the youngest is the only one that has sucked her thumb.
When she started to do it I felt that I wasn't giving her enough comfort, and felt really guilty, as time has gone on I have realised that it is just something she does,it doesn't matter if she is curled up on my knee or running around, she will stop and have a little suck and off again.
As for making her stop, I will wait for her to do it in her own time, it is something that is obviously totally natural to her, she started when she was only a few days old, and forcing her to stop by applying lotions and potions seems a little barbaric to me.
Treat your sons sore and try to ignore the finger sucking, I am sure it is causing a lot of stress in the house which will be making him want to do it all the more. He will stop in his own good time.

Answer 4

He should grow out of it, but now may be a bit young to be taking extreme measures to stop it.

I sucked my fingers like that as a child, but gave up around 7 as I had a cold and cold not breath through my nose with my fingers in my mouth.

My brother sucked his thumb, and did it longer, so my Mum did do the sock over the hand thing.

Answer 5

There is a special nail polish that is designed to stop this. It leaves a very foul taste in the child's mouth until it wears off in about a week or so. Buy some and put it on his fingers when he is asleep and can't see you do it. Hope this helps--and the polish is safe.

Answer 6

This is a tricky one.Its the same when small children suck their thumbs,its sometimes impossible for you stop them.Hopefully your son will grow out of the habit,but for now to stop the soreness try putting moisturising cream on his hand,the taste might even put him of sucking his fingers.

Answer 7

They have something called Thumb you can find in most drugstores. It is usually used to get kids to stop sucking their thumbs. It is really bitter. My daughter is 6 and still sucks her thumb. I tried the Thumb, tabasco sauce you name it, but she just licks it off and keeps sucking it. My last resort is to have her dentist put a bar in her mouth. I know it sounds cruel, but like I said it is my last resort. It is a bar they put in the roof of their mouth that helps prevent them from sucking on their thumb or fingers.

Right now we are trying the reward chart. I made a chart with the days and every day she does not suck her thumb she gets a star. If she gets two weeks without a gap, she gets a trip to Toys R us.

Answer 8

My oldest did something similar. We used the fingernail polish that tastes bad (specially designed for thumb/finger suckers), hot sauce on his thumb (not good for an open sore obviously). Finally, for the few weeks leading up to his 5th bday, we talked about it every evening and he agreed to suck his thumb as much as he could but that on his bday, he had to stop. He was old enough to understand and never sucked him thumb again after his bday.

Good luck!

Answer 9

its prob confort as he hasnt got a dummy.

if he used to have a dummy this is prob why hes doing this.

Try doing a behaviour chart with him. where you write down the days of the week and everytime he does it put a spot on the chart and tell him that if he gets so many spots on the chart he doesnt get a treat at the end of week, where if he doesnt get many spots you can tell him that he will get treated to the pictures or buy him a small toy or something to show him that he has done well.

he will get used to having treats that he'll learn to come out of the habbit.

Answer 10

Sounds mean, but put a little tobasco sauce on his fingers, and I mean just a little bit. He will go to suck them and get an unpleasant surprise. Keep doing it and eventually he will altogether quit!