thumb sucking almost 6 year old

[Celtain]

Any one have any ideas on how to get him to stop!!!!!

[emmaline]

my 13 yo ds still sucks his thumb in his sleep though I did manage to convince him to stop doing it "in public" at about age 4 or 5. He noticed when he started kindy that no one sucked thumbs there . I don't think you canstop it altogether though various people told me about mouthguard type things I didn't fancy that sort of idea

ds has slightly protruding teeth but the dentist says it is not a problem so we don't worry about it, he looks fine to me

[ccohenou]

I don't know what to tell you except that I sucked my finger A LOT for a LONG TIME -- quit when I was maybe 8? 9?
And I am reasonably well-adjusted and happy today, and I never had braces .
My mom tried EVERYTHING to get me to quit -- scolding, reward charts, painting my nails -- nothing worked. When I was six she told me if I would quit for two months, she would take me to Disney world. I went underground! :LOL I would secretly suck behind her back! And when I came back from Disney world, I started right back full speed again.

Sorry if that's discouraging, but I hope it encourages you that I did eventually quit on my own, and suffered no lasting harm.

[witch's mom]

Both my DDs suck their thumbs and have since they were six weeks old. One's almost 8, the other's almost 5. My 8-year-old cut way back about halfway through kindergarten; I'm hoping my little DD will do the same. My older DD is going to her first sleepover this weekend and is a little nervous about being caught sucking her thumb--she sucks it every night to fall asleep, and sometimes if she's really upset about something. I guess I don't care that much; it's comforting for her. I felt a lot better about it after our pediatric dentist admitted that her daughter sucks her thumb--and at big DD's last checkup said she saw no need for orthodontia. Little DD might be a different story in terms of the teeth, but in my mind she's just little: If she still needs her thumb, so be it. Plenty of time later to give it up when she's ready.

[anothermama]

well, why do you want him to stop?

my daughter is 4 and we've told her than she can't suck her thumb and eat or talk (gross) and that she must wash her hands before sucking after preschool.

That said, I was a thumb sucker till I was about 13 and the more my parents forced it, the more I did it. I personally feel that dental issues are really more about genetics than anything so I'm not worried about my dd's teeth.

I would say that if you feel strongly that he needs to stop, maybe try to wean him off........start with some rules about where and when it's ok and work from there.

[CTMOMOF2]

Confession: I'm 31 and still suck my thumb! I never saw anything wrong w/it... why such a big deal about *makeing* kids stop? My parents would threaten me w/all kinds of things, including spankings... that only made me hide it from them! Now, the only people who know are my close friends from childhood, my husband, & my kids.

It really isn't a big deal. I had braces, but i think i would have had to have them regardless... I often wonder if no one tried to force me to stop if i would have stopped on my own at some point? Now, i figure what's the point in trying, i only do it when in bed or sometimes when watching TV.

[Celtain]

The big deal is, he does it all the time. He gets made fun of at school. I would really like to help my son. I'm just looking for some ideas to HELP him stop, so he ISN'T made fun of and hurting.

[momsgotmilk4two]

I would think that being made fun of in school would be enough to convince him to stop at least while he is in public. I'm sorry the other kids are making fun of him though My youngest sucks his thumb and the dentist could tell right away. She knew from his bite that he was a paci or thumb sucker. We haven't tried anything to get him to stop at this point though. Everyone I have talked to has been discouraging when I've asked them about ways to get a child to stop. I think you pretty much have to wait until they are ready, although you could try a convo about it messing up his teeth or being something that other kids make fun of.

[1xmom]

My dd is 4 and she sucks her two fingers. It is really hard and my family (mostly my mom) really make an issue out of it. I just ignore them though. My dd likes her nails painted and she will go hours w/o sucking them, but then when it was time for bed she asked me to take the polish off b/c she was sleepy and wanted to suck her fingers. I believe she will stop when she is ready and that is just not something I can or am not really sure if I want to force.

[Anmarie]

I think there's a lot of us suckers.... I'm 34 and still do it. Ugh. I hate it so much. I've tried to quit several times. I can go days and then stress hits and I HAVE to do it. I REALLY REALLY wish my mom had been more proactive in helping me quit before it was such an ingrained habit.

To keep my dd's from sucking I popped a boob in their mouth constantly. I figured that at least I can eventually take those away. LOL.