Stopping the thumb-sucking

pea-kay

I have one boy (Oliver) who sucks his thumb. Boy, was I glad a year and a half ago when I made the other two get rid of their binkies. But now how do I get him to stop sucking his thumb? It makes me sad to take away that source of comfort, but then again, his brothers survived without binkies, so I guess he'll be fine.

Any advice?

cmh06

They make thumb guards you can put on their hands.  DD only sucks her thumb at night when she has her blankie.  When I go in to check on her I gently pull her thumb out if I see it in her mouth.  Her dentist recommended us getting her to stop sucking her thumb as it's changing the shape of her mouth.  She told us we should just get rid of her blankie since that's the only time she sucks her thumb, but I don't have to the heart to take away her blankie.

CareBear0607

I haven't done it yet, but it is on my "do it soon" list.  My neighbor had a thumb sucker and she used that clear "no bite" nail polish (made to help you stop biting your nails_.  Because it tasted bad, her DD didn't put her thumb in her mouth.  I may try that, but not sure if your DS would let you put nail polish on him!

AgrippaRidesAgain

DS still sucks his when he has his blankie too but I can't take the blankie from him either. He does refuse to suck his thumb if he has anything bad tasting on them (esp antibacterial wash) but then can't get comfotable or go to sleep, so I think it might be a while.

jay-tea

Cut his thumb off.  As a bonus, you'll be able to tell him apart from the other two.  Unless he has mittens on.