- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Success after IF
Thumb Sucking advice?
Hi. I have a question about thumb sucking. DD is about to be 21 months old. She's never taken a paci or sucked her thumb until this past February. They moved her to a new room at daycare, and one of the girls there (that DD loves) sucks her thumb. So DD started sucking her thumb. She does it mostly when she's tired or bored/riding in the car.
How can I get her to stop this? It's not like this has been her comfort mechanism her whole life...it's something she just picked up a couple of months ago. Would it be mean to use the stuff that goes on her nail that doesn't taste good? I read an article that it's not fair to do that to them and take away their comfort mechanism. I'm kind of at a loss, but I don't want it to be just a bad habit that she continues to do (and cause problems down the road with teeth/jaw, etc).
Thanks for any advice or suggestions!
Warning
No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Thumb Sucking advice?
DS doesn't suck his thumb (but is addicted to his WubbaNub paci) so I don't have experience with this as a parent. But I sucked my thumb until the 2nd grade (yup, 2nd grade!). At that point I decided it wasn't cool and made myself stop cold turkey, lol! I didn't have issues with my jaw or teeth because of thumb sucking. (Not that that's true for everyone who sucked their thumb).
I don't think it's a huge deal at this point. I wouldn't put anything on her thumb to make her stop. I like the approach that Supernanny takes when getting rid of pacifiers. She does the whole Paci Fairy thing where they give the paci's to the little babies who need them. It's a positive approach rather than a negative one of taking it from them. Now obviously your DD can't give her thumb away (that sounded weird) but I would wait until she is a little older and can understand that thumb sucking isn't for big girls and try to approach it that way. Again, I don't have experience with it but I'm just throwing out ideas here!
Me (32) Dx PCOS, DH (32) SA = Normal/mild morph issues
TTC#5 July 2017 - 3rd cycle TTC = BFP on 11/12/17 at 9dpo Beta #1 = 96 at 13dpo - Beta #2 = 207 at 15dpo
3 rounds of Clomid + TI and 3 rounds of 7.5 mg Femara + IUI before our BFP on 11/8/10 at 12dpiui
TTC #2 3rd cycle of Femara 7.5mg+Ovidrel+TI = 4 follies = BFP on 10/12/12
TTC#3 July 2014 - Metformin +TI = BFP at 9dpo - Twins, one baby lost at 5.5 weeks
Macy Annabelle born at 37w4d on 4/29/15. Diagnosed with Cri du Chat and passed away on 6/6/15. Forever in our hearts.
TTC#4 3rd cycle of Metformin + Femara 7.5mg+Ovidrel+TI = 3 follies = BFP on 12/24/16
honestly, i'm probably an outlier with this opinion, but i think that if you can afford braces, it's okay to let kids suck their thumbs.
my reasoning with this is probably basically what that article is arguing, which is that it's GOOD for them to have something that makes them feel secure.
i sucked my thumb until i was six, when i was old enough for my parents to motivate me to be a big girl and quit. we had a star chart to help me quit and i quit in a month. i did need tons of orthodontic work to fix my teeth, but i feel okay about how the whole thing worked out for me.
that said, if you don't want to risk messing her teeth up, i don't think there's anything mean or cruel about putting bad-tasting stuff on her thumb. i think this is just a parenting philosophy question about whether you want to encourage sucking for comfort, and there are good arguments in either direction.
good luck with however you decide to handle it!
I'm going to stop my DS from thumbsucking when he gets to be closer to the age of 2. He's only 10m right now. At this point, he needs it for comfort and only does it while he sleeps....literally sleeps with his thumb in his mouth. But I do not want him to have to go through extreme dental work. Not only that, if his mouth and jaw is all misaligned and weird looking, that is going to affect his self-esteem in the long run.
I'm hoping he stops on his own before I have to interfere, but I'm trying to give him a blankie or something else that will comfort him in the meantime. I don't push it or anything.
If he doesn't stop, I plan on purchasing some device that you stick over their thumbs. It apparently is a thin plastic sheet thing...and when they try to suck their thumb...they can't get any "suction" to stick. It's kind of like sucking an empty straw.
However if I were you, since she only just picked up this habit in the past week or two...I would definitely try to stop it. Right now it can easily be broken, probably within a week. Up until now she's coped with a different comfort mechanism...blankie, or something else.