Six year old thumb-sucker?

Question

My six year old daughter has sucked her thumb since she was in the womb. She never took a pacifier. I've never had much problem with this, I think its kinda natural. however, she's getting a little old to be sucking her thumb. We've tried putting bandaids on her thumbs (she takes them off or sucks with them on anyway), tried the nasty tasting stuff and hot sauce (does not deter her in the least) but now its reaching "critical stages". Her thumbs are always nasty, like how your feet are after swimming all day. I'm also afraid she'll have buck-teeth.

When I got home from work yesterday, I had to tell her 6 times in less than ten minutes to get her thumb out of her mouth. I don't want to be mean, I know this is self-soothing, but good grief, she's too old to be doing that. I've tried to reward her, I don't know what else to do. Now, I'm threatening to spank her if I see it in her mouth (an empty threat by the way), and it STILL won't work. I thought she would grow out of it

Answer 1

She will grow out of it eventually. I hate for this to happen but eventually kids in school are going to make comments to her and that is sure to speed up the growing out of it!

Answer 2

Let the child decide it's a problem. If there's one message that pediatricians have about thumb sucking, it's this: The best way to get a child to continue thumb sucking is to tell him or her to stop. A better strategy is to wait until the child finds an incentive to quit the behavior, such as being teased at school about thumb sucking, and let him or her bring it up. Experts say that addressing the problem when the child is ready is more likely to be successful than attacking it head on and forcing him or her to quit.

Use a reward system. Pediatricians sometimes recommend a game-playing, reward-based system for helping kids stop sucking their thumbs. Try buying a calendar and placing it on the refrigerator. For each day you don't see the child sucking his or her thumb, you can put a smiley-face sticker on the day. At the end of a set period of time, say a month, you can offer a modest reward, such as a toy or dinner at the child's favorite restaurant.

Try ordeal therapy. How about trying a little reverse psychology? Point out to a thumb-sucking child that he or she isn't being fair to the other fingers -- so why not suck them, too? Give the child a timer and explain that it's important to suck all fingers for the same duration. Often, the child will grow so tired of the process that they quit thumb sucking altogether. The only problem with this type of approach is that kids are likely to see through it when it comes from a parent (they know the parent really wants them to stop altogether). If you suspect that this will be the case, a pediatrician or close friend of the family may be able to help.

Offer the child the option of thumb sucking in private. Consider your efforts a success if the child quits thumb sucking in front of you or in public. Don't worry, the relatively brief time a child can spend sucking on a thumb in private won't be long enough to cause other problems.

Never use negative reinforcement. If the child has a slip, it may be destructive to use a negative reward, such as placing a sad-faced sticker on a calendar date. Failure has a nasty way of perpetuating itself.

Try "reminder fluid." Although some doctors see it as cruel, others recommend the use of bad-tasting fluids that are put on the thumb to keep the child from putting it in his or her mouth. However, don't use this method as a punishment. Rather, stress the positive by telling the child that the fluid will help by serving as a reminder of his or her goal. As an alternative, parents can place a glove or mitten on the child's hand as a reminder to keep the thumb out of the mouth.

Start with the easy stuff, then move on. First, you might suggest that the child stop thumb sucking while in public, or some other time when he or she is most likely to comply. Then you can move on to the times when the habit is most ingrained, such as bedtime. You may want to double rewards if the child doesn't suck his or her thumb during the more challenging times.

Don't yell. Although you may feel frustrated when your child slides back into his or her thumb-sucking behavior, don't punish or yell at the child. You will only make him or her nervous and upset, which will probably lead to more thumb sucking.

Wait it out. You know what happens to most kids who suck their thumbs at four, five, or even six years of age? They stop. Parents often notice that children engage in the habit a bit less with each passing year, or perhaps only suck their thumbs at certain times, such as when they're tired or watching television. Pediatricians say that many children give up thumb sucking altogether by age six or seven because of peer pressure -- ribbing from friends and schoolmates shames them into stopping.

Answer 3

I sucked my thumb until I was 8. I don't have buck teeth, I don't have issues, and I quit because my friends at school asked me why I sucked my thumb. I just figured it was a good time to stop. Don't hassle her, just let her find her own replacement for the emotional aspect of thumb sucking. Peers are a great place to start. How often is she allowed to play with friends? The more socialization she has, the faster she will want to quit.

Additionally, use the reward system like this: "Grown-up's don't suck their thumbs. Do you want to be a little mommy today and help me cook dinner (or what ever you are doing)? Then you can't suck your thumb, because little mommies don't do that. Come help me. If you see me sucking my thumb then you have to ground me to my room ok?"

Answer 4

I had the metal contraption put in my mouth at the age of 10, and it did not hurt as has been reported. All it does is keeps from getting the suction you crave when you suck your thumb; there is basically no room in your mouth for your thumb to be. There are no metal spikes to poke you, so there will be nothing to hurt your daughter. It is worth checking into. By the way, after 10 years of sucking my thumb, my teeth are in perfect shape, even without braces! Your daughter will be fine... Good luck!

Answer 5

I sucked my thumb until I was 14. My parents tried everything from gloves to hot sauce to therapy. The therapist said I was insecure and that sucking my thumb comforted me. My parents finally stopped trying to stop my thumb sucking.

At 14, I decided on my own that I did not want or need to suck my thumb anymore and quit doing it. I just outgrew the need.

I remember my parents doing everything you talk about, the shaming, the threats, bribes, pleading, hotsauce, golves etc. Those things hurt me and made me feel like I was a bad child and it made me wonder what was so wrong with me. If the therapist was right and I was sucking my thumb from insecurity, the way my parents reacted to thumb sucking made me feel more insecure.

We all, even adults, have our comfort items. You may like a certain food or music or take a bath to comfort and soothe yourself. She sucks her thumb.

At this point, she may even be doing it as often as she is because its a way to get attention from you. My advice is to ignore it. She will stop sucking her thumb as often if she realizes that you won't give her attention for doing it. When she is a bit older and more emotionally mature, she will outgrow it.

Answer 6

Well, I probably wont help much but I used band-aids and I would get stickers (on a calander) if i went an entire day with the same bandaid (or only changed if fallen off) and after a week I would get a (little) present. I had to get braces because of my thumb sucking. Have you tried telling your daughter that? That is what got me to stop! Also try having your dentist or Orthodonist talk to her... She might listen to him/her more!Good LUck !

Answer 7

A friend of mine told me that she sucked her thumb until she was in school - but finally stopped when a few kids in her class started to tease her about it. She didn't want to seem like a baby, anymore, so she stopped just like that. I'm guessing that if you just ignore it - she'll figure it out for herself when she goes to school in Sept. - her teeth aren't going to change all that much in the next couple months.

Please don't threaten to spank for something as minor as this - even an empty threat - it just teaches your child to not trust you. Save the non-empty threats of spanking for things that are important for safety - like don't run in the street - you might get runover by a car...

Good luck!

Answer 8

this might sound cruel to you but it worked with me, I sucked my thumb all the way up till i was 14, My mother finally put an end to it, You know what she did, She took my picture while i was sucking my thumb, And went into school the next day, and showed the picture in front of the teacher and the whole class room, She embarassed me, The kids picked on me for days, and they never let up, I quit sucking my thumb after that, But the trick is not to tell her to stop and after you took her picture , tell her and remind her how emarrassing that is, She will stop

Answer 9

Did u Say u tried nail polish called no bite??? its amazing stuff to get u to stop with biting nails and it works for thumbs too. If that doesn't work try this..
give her a small squishy ball or soft cloth or something to hold. Tell her every time she needs to suck her thumb grab the ball and squeeze it. it is a different habit she will come to know

Answer 10

lol, i did not stop until i was 15!! Nothing my mother did would make me stop. I just had this urge to need to suck my thumb. my thumb went nasty aswell after i used to suck it. it's just something you grow out of. i dont even remember how i stopped and i'm only 20. i just stopped one day, she'll do the same

Answer 11

I knew a girl that didn't suck her thumb but two of her fingers instead...and she still did it at age 12 but only around those she was comfortable with.

Don't make empty threats.