4 year old still sucks his thumb!

mojito14 · April 2011

Any suggestions on how to get him to stop?

He used to only do it when he had his "lovey" in his arms, but lately, I have found him in bed (w/o his lovey close by) and he still has his thumb in his mouth.

I have talked to him about it, but he said he can't smell his "night night car" without it...lol. Talking about it obviously is not working. Oy!

monkeyqueen · April 2011

lol! This is funny for me because I vividly remember sucking my thumb until I was around five. I don't suck my thumb anymore, but other than that, I have no advice!

HarrietNJMommy · April 2011

Can you put that stuff on it that tastes bad?

Or mittens? That's what my friend did.

I don't have any thumb suckers, so I can't really help. I was the one that sucked my thumb for a LONG time - I think I was like 8 or 9 before I quit.

GL!

howleyshell · April 2011

A friend had success with a thumb guard:

https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=thumb+guard&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=4307807957&ref=pd_sl_2cr5y3c1o2_b

JOEBunny · April 2011

If he is only doing it at bedtime, I would not worry about it. My nephew is 12 and still occasionally sucks his thumb at bedtime. It has not impacted his teeth or anything else. If he is doing it out in public or during the day, I would try some of the things the other posters suggested. If it is a symptom of other behavior issues, like anxiety, I would work on those, without involving the thumb sucking as a huge point. I think school really helped my nephew break his habit, once he hit kinder, he was done with the daytime sucking.

KGsky · April 2011

DS (who is only 1) sucks his middle two fingers. I'd like to think they'll come out before 4, but his 4 year old cousin is still doing it too. I'd love to know what the solutions are. Someone told me the stuff that tastes bad is not enough of a deterrent. Plus, as they get older, they figure out how to get it off. Any insight would be appreciated!

franciscaz · April 2011

Around that age my mother got frustrated and started spraying spray deodorant on my hands... I think she said I quit after two days. She said I had a horrible habit... I don't remember it at all.

mojito14 · April 2011

Thank you everyone.

I mentioned putting gloves on him tonight and he just laughed and told me he would take them off...lol. I did mention putting that icky tasting stuff on them a while back, but I have a feeling he would just suck through it. He only really does it at night or if he is watching t.v. and has his lovey with him. During the day, it is "only" when his lovey is with him, so we have been "conveniently" leaving it at home while we are out and about or leaving it upstairs in his bed (and he would have to go get it himself). :-) This has stopped alot if not all of the daytime sucking, but at night it doesn't seem to matter if he has his lovey or not.

I guess I'm struggling with this, because I know it's not good for his teeth, but at the same time, I would hate to take something away from him that makes him feel good and gives him a sense of comfort. kwim?

jlw2505 · April 2011

For me, nothing has worked. My girls are 4 (5 in June) and 3 and both still suck their thumbs. Older DD keeps telling me she stop when she turns 5 but I doubt it. We tried the nasty tasting nail polish stuff on her and it didn't even phase her. For now, we are just not talking about much. It was see her, we gentle touch her hand and she removes it. Her teachers remind her to keep her thumb dry if they notice it at school (only does it when she is tired). Not even dealing with the 3 year old yet as I know that she won't stop while her older sister is doing it.

Kristina052707 · April 2011

I sucked my thumb until I was about 6. At that time my parents "invested" in a "rake" which is a dental appliance that I would wear at night that has "rakes" hanging from the front of it which prohibits putting a thumb in the mouth. It works. On another note, my three year old still takes a pacifier at night... Embarrassed

It's her/my bad habit and I figure she will give it up when she is ready to.

Whoo · April 2011

My 6 year old just stopped. She only did this at night with her blanket and recently dropped her blanket on her own. It made me sad to see her growing up. I saw a natural decrease in this habit around 4 and a half. I was not worried about it. She does great in school and is very secure and social so I think that is most important. Just recently we went to the dentist and, without consulting me, he whipped out a little photo album with nasty before and after pictures of people's teeth and told her if she did not completely stop that this would happen to her teeth. She stopped that night for good.

4 year old still sucks his thumb!

Re: 4 year old still sucks his thumb!

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