Our daughter is 7 years old. we have tried lots of things to get her to stop. But now she has lost her baby front teeth and I am afraid that her new ones will grow in funny. Any suggestions???
2007-02-23 09:58:44 · 12 answers · asked by schrauf1981 2 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Grade-Schooler
I was about that age when I stopped constanly sucking my thumb. Mom says I still did at night way past that age. My front teeth came in about 7 or 8 and yes, they stuck out a little. They looked really bad at first, now at 17, 4 months after I had braces put on, people still think I never needed them. Sadly, I still can't get over biting my nails which replaced my thumb-sucking. That bitter stuff doesn't really work, at least for me. I heard an orthodontist can put in some appliance that prevents thumb -sucking, but it will probably cost a fortune. Encourage her not to suck her thumb. If she can go a week, treat her to frozen yogurt, then try two weeks. And if she does it at night, don't punish her, she isn't aware of what she is doing. Just pull it out and put on a glove. See if wearing a cheap pretty little ring on her thumb helps. Try gloves. And remind her. I never notice when I bite my nails or when I use to suck my thumb. Oh, and it helped me perfect my right and left. I can never figure out which hand I write with (left) unless I actually do it, but when mom did pigtails and I had to turn my head, I would feel my thumbs with my index finger to find the calloused skin on my left hand, and know which way to turn.
2007-02-23 11:24:42 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Well, you need to associate sucking her thumb with something bad. As an example, if your family is going out for dessert, and she starts to suck her thumb, then don't get dessert.
Or, you could give her a real life example. I actually have a neighbor who sucks her thumb, and she is 13 going on 14. It's rather disgusting as I take her to school everyday along with my daughter, and I know that she isn't the most popular in her grade.
2007-02-23 21:41:34 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
tell her that her teeth will end up all crooked, maybe even show her pictures... and tell her that braces are painful, cuz they are and I had them for 2.5 years. You could always make a chart and for every day she doesn't suck her thumb she gets a sticker and once she gets 10 stickers she gets to pick out a small toy or accessory. If all else fails, you could rub vinegar on her thumbs but that's usually most effective with younger kids
2007-02-23 18:29:20 · answer #3 · answered by Donna 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You could buy some nail polish at a local gas station and put it on her fingers (this should taste bad--but not harm her at all.)
Or, if you are desperate, you could buy a thumb-sucking "tool" that fits over the finger, and is big, so it is hard to fit it into the mouth. I'm sorry that I don't know where you can find them!
Good Luck!
Positive Reinforcement works, too.
Maybe go out to eat at her favorite restaurant every week that she doesn't suck her thumb.
Check every morning to see if her thumb is "pruned" and wet.
2007-02-23 18:09:27 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
my 8 year old son sucks his thumb, mostly at night....and we've also been seriously fighting this for about a year....what seems to work the best is a plastic device called the thumb-guard....look it up online....it's pricey, and we've actually been through three sets....and there for a long time my son had pretty much cut waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy back, but here in the last two or three weeks I've noticed him doing it more and more....I sucked my thumb for like forever, and it didn't affect my teeth...had to have braces anyway, but my sons' dentist says we need to try to get him to stop....
2007-02-23 18:11:18 · answer #5 · answered by reddevilbloodymary 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Check with your dentist and see if he or she would be willing to talk to her about it. I sucked my thumb until 5th grade and nothing suggested here made me want to stop. But having to call my dentist once a week and report how often I'd broken down worked. It's worth a shot anyway.
2007-02-24 18:53:37 · answer #6 · answered by Critter 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You could buy her some of the nail varnish which when put on tastes horrible Can be bought from boots Normally used to stop biting nails, and also promise her if she stops for so long then she could get a certain thing she wants!
2007-02-23 18:06:51 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I know an old woman who said if you put turpentine on a kids thumb they would never suck on it again.
2007-02-23 18:20:58 · answer #8 · answered by ஐ♥Julian'sMommy♥ஐ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
tabacco sauce?
tell her in a nice way if dont suck your thumb, you will have a pretty smile?
postive reinforcement
also You could paint her fingernails
by painting them she might not want to suck on them.
2007-02-23 18:03:48 · answer #9 · answered by Lynnrose2 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bribe her with her latest fad. If she doesn't do it for a week, give her one thing. 2 weeks another. It may sound like bad parenting, but it works!
2007-02-23 18:03:27 · answer #10 · answered by posing as me 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋