What to do with a thumb sucker?

Greener_Grass

I still suck my thumb at 25, my teeth are perfect and i have never had a brace or anything. I would never dream of doing it in public and would only ever do it in front of my OH. I would say as you get older you naturally suck it less anyway. I only do it when in bed or if i'm really stressed and don't do it while i'm asleep. I doubt i will ever stop, it brings great calm to me although i'd say 99% of the people who know me don't know i do it!

anniestar

Greener_Grass wrote: »

I still suck my thumb at 25, my teeth are perfect and i have never had a brace or anything. I would never dream of doing it in public and would only ever do it in front of my OH. I would say as you get older you naturally suck it less anyway. I only do it when in bed or if i'm really stressed and don't do it while i'm asleep. I doubt i will ever stop, it brings great calm to me although i'd say 99% of the people who know me don't know i do it!

Snap!(although sadly, I am considrably older than you.:(:()

vixarooni

wahay to the the thumb suckers!!!

Im 23 and i suck mine Only in bed though, but my thumb sucking comforted me and still does. Dunno why it would be something i need to change. Im a happy bubbly person but its just something ive always done. I was never one of these thumb suckers who done it in public though, i would never show anyone!

Ettenna

My DD is nearly 18 and still sucks her thumb. She can't get to sleep without it. She has never had problems with her teeth, lovely and straight, until the dentist discovered that she still had a baby tooth left and the adult one was growing across the top. She has got a bar across the top of her mouth now waiting for surgery but this still doesn't stop her sucking her thumb. My middle DD had to have braces (dummy sucker) and the youngest DD has to have them in a few months (dummy sucker). Both my sister and I sucked our thumbs. I had the same problems as my eldest DD (tooth out of place) and had to have a brace to pull it down. My sister never had braces. Go figure.

Let them suck thumbs That's what I say.

lolly1981

i never sucked my thumb or had a dummy...neither have my children (ds2 did for about 2 months till he learnt to settle himself at night).
My ex boyf did at 25 yrs old and im sure he still does...he had awful teeth! but then again as pointed out my bron never sucked his thumb..had to have braces.

My OH eldest son (this sounds awlful lol) annoys me...but only because he chews EVERYTHING....there isnta toy in the kids playromm that doesnt have teethmarks...his clothes get ruine..he is also a tag fiddler...we cut the tags out..the ones inside tshirts at the bottom....he always has a sore face especially in the winter when he is chewing his coat.
I find it an awful habit...he is such a sickly child all the time (that also might have something do to with the fact he will only eat chicken nuggets and smiley faces lol) he chews his fingers till theyre red raw. i even caught him chewing a watch battery and a screw!! he obviously doesnt always know he doing but occasionly he will. hed been at his nannys, we went to pick him up but he was hiding bethind the sofa...because his tshirt was soaked...hed been chewing on it so much it was all stretched and soaking wet. so he obviously knew what he was doing to have the need to hide it.

It is something he will probably never grow out of, but we remind him everytime we see him to stop chewing..one day it could have serious consequences...i.e the screw! in all fairness i think i would rather he sucked his thumb...sems the lesser and least dangerous!

Toothsmith

Whether thumb sucking affects tooth position depends on how they do it!

There are all sorts of different thumb sucking habits. Some quite passive, some which put quite a bit of pressure on the teeth.

Personally, I would say that 20 months is a bit young to be getting too heavy about giving up. I wouldn't worry too much until it's nearer adult teeth time - about 5-6. But you could be dropping gentle hints about it being babyish, and not what 'big' girls do.

spendaholiceejit

Thankyou Toothsmith,
She curves her thumb upwards so that it rests up in behind her gum and she sucks really quite hard. She has got a gap between her two front teeth and a further gap between her Canines and the two teeth in front of them... let's just say she's a vigourous thumb sucker, her front teeth have now got a very slight angle to them and I fear she is making it worse.

Anyway, I think I will just leave taking action for perhaps another year. I dont know how I am going to do it, but i'll do it!

WestonDave

I used to do it until into secondary school - I stopped overnight due to shock! I'd had some teeth taken out due to overcrowding and unfortunately the gum had torn slightly so had to be packed before being left to heal over. I was warned under no circumstances to suck my thumb but of course having gone to bed I resorted back once I was asleep. I woke up a couple of hours later to a peculiar catarrh sensation in my mouth so went to the bathroom to spit it out, only to realise my mouth was full of blood (as later it transpired was my pillow). I never dared put my thumb in my mouth for ages by which time the habit was broken. Before that all sorts had been tried - foul nail varnish, - I even had a thumb cover thing (probably for injured thumbs) that mum made me wear, but none of it worked.

1sttimer_2

My eldest DD sucked her right thumb + also pulled her right earlobe at same time with her left hand! (only when she was sitting LOL). Youngest DD had a dummy but 'lost' this to the baby rabbits when she was about 30 months.

Both had to have braces on their teeth so don't know if it was hereditary or because of the sucking? Got DD1 to stop when she was 13 (at least openly) by bribing her:o. Dentist wouldn't fit brace till she stopped and I tried all the pastes etc to no avail, then I asked her what she wanted most of all (fortunately it was pierced ears) so I said if she stopped thumb sucking then she could have it done, but she had to have stopped first.

It worked for her and she's now 28 with lovely straight teeth!

Good luck!

Invasion

I sucked my thumb (only at night after about 6 or so, I only really liked to do it when I had my blanket!) till I was about 10 or so, I think the way I did it must have been different, though my dentist did say she could see a bit behind my two front teeth where my thumb went, but it wasn't noticeable and it fell out when I'd gone to sleep anyway. I didn't have any issues with my teeth from that but had to have braces anyway when they found I was totally missing 2 adult teeth.

There are times when I still suck my thumb (I'm 18 now) but that's normally when I'm in extreme pain, it's still comforting even now!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do, but bear in mind that there are so many things beyond our control that she may have other issues that require her to have braces at an older age anyway!