5.5yo DS still sucks thumb - how to curb this addiction?

[busymama77]

DS#1 will be 6 in January and he's still an avid thumb sucker and we are trying hard to help him break the habit, but can't come up with good ideas that are sticking.  Any suggestions at all??

[lifeguard]

I sucked my thumb until I was 6 - exactly. For whatever reason whenever it was brought up I would simply say "when I'm 6 I'll stop" & the day I turned 6 I stopped. Weird - wish I still had that ability to suddenly stop a habit!

What I can say is that putting hot sauce or bandaids or any other detriments on the thumb doesn't help.

[lifeguard]

Oh, & fwiw - my teeth are perfect - never needed any corrective dental work.

[JollyGG]

I firmly belive that the decision needs to be in the child's hands. I sucked my thumb until I was, at least, 7. My family tried cotton gloves, foul tasting concoctions, nagging, telling me the kids would make fun of me...... I honestly think that I held onto that habit for so long as a way of establishing my own control. I was stubborn and the more others tried to make me stop the more I was going to keep sucking that thumb.

My daughter is 5.5 and she still sucks her thumb. We talk about the day when she decides she is ready to stop. I tell her that when she is ready I will help her. She's show glimmers the last year of being ready, so I think it will be soon. But whenever it is, it's her decision when it happens.

[SweetSilver]

Originally Posted by JollyGG 

My daughter is 5.5 and she still sucks her thumb. We talk about the day when she decides she is ready to stop. I tell her that when she is ready I will help her. She's show glimmers the last year of being ready, so I think it will be soon. But whenever it is, it's her decision when it happens.

Ditto with my daughter, who stopped sucking her thumb on her own, and quit entirely when her teeth started to loosen.  I don't know why she decided she was going to do it, but I think that I mentioned the dentist wanting her to stop sucking her thumb by the time her "big girl" teeth came in.  I did mention it was entirely her choice, that I wasn't going to make her stop.  Sucking her thumb and cuddling with her lovey were her main calming devices.  She's 6.5 now.
 

[julie128]

There are a number of products that fit over the hand or thumb that work pretty well.  There's also the nasty tasting stuff that paints on like nail polish.  You have to be consistent and make sure those thumbs are covered all the time, except when bathing.  My dd was 10 when she finally stopped sucking her thumb, and her teeth are all crooked and the kids teased her like crazy.  I am so sorry that I didn't work on her when she was 3. 

[Eresh]

I sucked my thumb until I was 6-6.5yo. My parents tried everything from the nasty tasting stuff to bribery with no success. I stopped on my own when I didn't need it anymore. What teeth problems I do have don't have anything to do with thumb sucking.