What to do with a thumb sucker?

Rachel83

Man, some of you guys are mean!
I'm a thumb sucker.... Proud to admit it! haha

I have perfect teeth all this rubbish about you'll ruin them, it'll give you an overbite blah blah

I had 4 siblings none of them sucked there thumbs yet 2 had braces, its all scaremongering! You might not like them doing it but they might not like your bad habits :P they don't try stop you doing them, and you'd prob say get lost anyway :P

btw the horrible paint stuff doesn't just stay on thumbs, fingernails or whatever it transfers... So you end up with it everywhere especially when you eat, you even end up with your drinks tasting of it yuck!! and it never stopped me from still sucking mine Oh and while your at it probably trying to stop it during the day I'm pretty sure you won't stop the night time habit unless your planning on taping gloves on or something

Sorry not a really helpful post I guess..... Goes back to her thumb sucking

tanith

Both my daughters were thumb suckers and one 37 still does it frequently when tired or stressed.. the other one is 41 and although she doesn't admit it I have caught her once or twice when tired.. its never done them any harm and at least they don't still pick fluff off the blankets to rub the nose while they suck the thumb... hahahaha

jackomdj

We have the same problem with out DD who has just turned 3. We tried stop & grow which she got used to. I try to stop her & take it out, which she thinks is a great game. She also fiddles with lables, so you will usually find her with thumb in her mouth & other hand tuched inside her t-shirt or down the back of her trousers fiddling with her trouser or pant lable...we have been known to cut these off!

For those saying let them carry on at a young age....I would rather she did not have to have a brace etc when older (& all the potential bullying that goes with that...she already has glasses for a severe squint & a big scar on her face where she scratched herself on the day she was born so we don't want to add to the differences that children can pick up on) and also she will mumble when thumb sucking so we can't understand her properly (I would prefer her to talk so we can understand her).

I will be watching with interest for idea's....

jinky67

Rachel83 wrote: »

Man, some of you guys are mean!
I'm a thumb sucker.... Proud to admit it! haha

I have perfect teeth all this rubbish about you'll ruin them, it'll give you an overbite blah blah

I had 4 siblings none of them sucked there thumbs yet 2 had braces, its all scaremongering! You might not like them doing it but they might not like your bad habits :P they don't try stop you doing them, and you'd prob say get lost anyway :P

btw the horrible paint stuff doesn't just stay on thumbs, fingernails or whatever it transfers... So you end up with it everywhere especially when you eat, you even end up with your drinks tasting of it yuck!! and it never stopped me from still sucking mine Oh and while your at it probably trying to stop it during the day I'm pretty sure you won't stop the night time habit unless your planning on taping gloves on or something

Sorry not a really helpful post I guess..... Goes back to her thumb sucking

no its not....my son has ended up with a permanent support on his teeth due to sucking his bottom lip incessantly for 12 years:mad:
he has ended up with a really sore face in winter due it constantly being wet
he has only really stopped in the past 2 years, but still does it when he is stressed

So I would be taking any sucky thing my baby got a attached to off them ASAP:cool:

spendaholiceejit

Thanks, plenty to think about.

Also, for those "I sucked my thumb and I have straight teeth" answers. While I thank you for responding; I have spoken with her dentist and he agrees the gap between her canines and her 4 front teeth is due to her pulling them forward with her thumb. And also has told us to make sure she has stopped by the time 2nd teeth have come through. Our ex-dummy sucking son has the most beautiful teeth. Genetically there's no other reason for her teeth to be the way they are.

When I say she sucks her thumb, she really goes for it. If you pull her thumb from her mouth while she is sleeping it takes a little force as it is behind her teeth.

spendaholiceejit

jackomdj you made me laugh, DD is a label fiend as well. While she is sucking her thumb she will be fidding with a label somewhere too. They are so alike.

Rachel83

jackomdj how about asking your daughter to remove her thumb before mumbling to you Or ignoring her behaviour until she wants to talk to you properly, thumb sucking isn't an excuse to not talk to you without mumbling.

Jinky67 I still stand by the fact its scaremongering like I said 2 siblings didn't suck thumbs and they had braces one of them had a brace for about 4 years as she used to break it often :S And I can understand how your sons lip sucking made his face sore and why you'd chose not to let another child do the same but to be honest if they are determined to do something then how do you impose forcing them to stop?

My youngest sucks his thumb, its damn cute. He does it when tired sits there with his blankie and his thumb, I won't be forcing him to stop as I wouldn't want anyone to force me to And if he does turn out to have wonky teeth or anything as such they will be delt with, but I'm not about to take away his comfort.

clairibel

My son is nearly 8 and shows no sign of stopping sucking his thumb or letting go of his teddy and blanket in private...so we are resigned to the fact that he will have a brace later on in life and just let him stop naturally, but saying that i never sucked my thumb and still needed a brace x

SkintGypsy

My DD is 4 1/2 and is a VERY vigerous thumbsucker! Again, she was sucking it in the womb, so I can't blame her for doing what is clearly very well ingrained in her subconscious. She did, however, sleep better than any other child I know, because her comfort was always there.

My husband gets very annoyed, but nothing we do or say makes any difference. She is frequently reminded at home and at nursery and by family members, but it makes no difference.

She does have an overbite, but the teeth are very well aligned in that overbite. I have resigned myself to the fact that she will probably need braces.

No advice, as I really can't seem to think of anything to stop her that she can't undo or work her way around. Sorry.

jackomdj

Rachel83 wrote: »

jackomdj how about asking your daughter to remove her thumb before mumbling to you Or ignoring her behaviour until she wants to talk to you properly, thumb sucking isn't an excuse to not talk to you without mumbling.

This is exactly what we do.....she will mumble something & we will say, "sorry we can't understand what you are saying" which is all very well & good when we are around, but there are other times like pre-school or creche where they may not have the time to make her do this (although they say she does not do it much in either locationa as she is always so busy).

The thing is she is a switched on cookie & knows that it is something we would prefer her not to do & she makes a joke about it, trying to sneek it in by turning round the laughing!

Spendaholic - glad it is not just us with a "label fiddler" as we call her!!!