How do you stop finger sucking?

[pbajgrow]

Hello! I am going to you guys again for parental advice! You got my boy to finally potty train before he turned 4, and now I have another child with another issue! LOL! My baby is 3 1/2 and we need to put a stop to her finger sucking. She has done it since birth. She sucks her pointer and middle finger all night and throughout the day. We asked our dentist if he had any lotion that we could put on it, but he didn't recommend it, and said to use positive reinforcement. What a joke! We do that all the time. It doesn't work for her. She now thinks it's a game to play! Help! Any suggestions welcome! Jen

[rafiki]

.

[Andie]

There's nasty tasting stuff you can try, there's this thing, but honestly? I wouldn't worry about it at this age. I've had three thumb-suckers and one finger-sucker. They all stopped at different ages and in different ways.

 

Does she do it when she's tired? Bored? Does she have a blankie or something that she holds when she does it?

[pbajgrow]

She does all the above. Bored, tired, watching cartoons, as she twiddles the tail on her Care Bear! When she has to have both hands, she isn't sucking. I can only entertain her for so long!

[Julie in CA]

They decided they wanted to stop, and they asked me for help. I think they were 3 and 5 yo. We tried the stuff from the pharmacy designed to help them stop sucking their thumb, and it had *zero effect*. Someone told me to go to the section of the store with the nail polish, and to buy the stuff designed to help people quit biting their nails. It worked like a charm! We painted it on their nails once, and neither one of them ever sucked their fingers again. The stuff tasted truly heinous. While I was painting their nails, I knocked the bottle over and wiped it up with a napkin and then washed my hands thoroughly right away. Later in the day I wiped my lip with my finger, and for DAYS I could not lick my lip without that horrible taste. (so be careful :ack2: )

[Andie]

She does all the above. Bored, tired, watching cartoons, as she twiddles the tail on her Care Bear! When she has to have both hands, she isn't sucking. I can only entertain her for so long!

 

 

I understand. :) I'd probably just try to redirect, gently, but not make too much of a fuss about it at this point. I know how maddening it can be, really. Some kids it's just a habit, and some attention and redirection and distraction work well. Others, though, are really emotionally *into* it and that could get ugly if you force it too young, IMNSHO. ;)

 

Perhaps, if you can manage it without turning it punitive or making yourself feel aggravated, make a point of saying, Oh! Your fingers are all wet. Have to stop watching X and wash your hands! Oh! You must be tired! Let's take Care Bear to bed till you feel ready to play.

If nothing applies, just popping them out matter of factly, and handing her something whenever you notice it... And there's always duct tape, of course. (I'M KIDDING!)

[jenn&charles]

My daughter didn't stop sucking her fingers until she was about 4 1/2. Before she decided to do it herself, I tried bribing her, etc. and nothing worked. Finally we bought that stuff you put on fingernails that tastes bad (after she decided she really wanted to try to quit) and she also put a sock on her hand at night, LOL (her idea). After about a week she stopped.

The only problem was that for YEARS afterward she chewed on everything! LOL...

We still have little mangled Playmobil from that time! ;)

[Tenaj]

My current 5yods stopped sucking the third and fourth fingers last summer when he was about 4 1/2. What we did, after trying all kinds of things, was I put a very thin piece of duct tape around each finger just tightly enough to stay on. We told him that we put it there to remind him not to suck his fingers and it worked liked magic. I think it only took about two weeks (maybe a bit less) to end the daytime sucking. I did put the tapes on at night for a few more weeks because he would do it without realizing it when he was sleepy.

 

If you do a google search for Thumb Guard, you will find that you can purchase a plastic finger guard for those two fingers, we were ready to shell out the $65.00 for that when we tried the tape. Much cheaper :)

[elise1mds]

There's a Berenstain Bear book out there about bad habits that really helped my son quit sucking his thumb at age 4-1/2. For every day that he didn't suck his thumb, he got a nickel. Once he got a dollar, we took him to the dollar store. He was on board with this and wanted to get his dollar, so he was motivated. If he hadn't been motivated, I know it wouldn't have worked because nothing else had! I still find his thumb in his mouth when he's sleeping on occasion. My daughter sucks her third and fourth fingers and has informed me she'll quit when she turns four (in two weeks). She's just as stubborn as I am, so I know she'll do it.

[kokotg]

I wouldn't worry about it too much, either, unless it's causing other problems. I have two very orally fixated kids, and I've noticed that if I manage to eliminate one quirky habit, another one pops up somewhere--often more annoying than the one that disappeared. With my 5 year old, who tends to destroy his shirts and his skin with his obsessive chewing and licking (uhh, he sounds kind of like an overeager puppy, doesn't he?), I bought some surgical tubing for him to chew on and keep his mouth busy.

[Susan in KY]

I met a mom who said that for the entire last sixth months of her daughter's second year, every night at bedtime she told her, "You suck your thumb now because you're two, but when you're three, you won't suck your thumb because three-year-olds don't suck their thumbs."

 

Fast forward to the third birthday, and she said, "Well, now you're three, and so you don't suck your thumb anymore!" Lo and behold, it worked!

 

So, I tried it with my little man, and it worked as well! I have to say, though, when he put his little thumb-sucking cloths into the box, and resignedly put his hand down by his side (strangely, it almost seemed like a relief to him that he was done with it!), I was the one who teared up, not him. :tongue_smilie: But, we never looked back and his teeth are perfect.

 

HTH,

Susan

[Andie]

I met a mom who said that for the entire last sixth months of her daughter's second year, every night at bedtime she told her, "You suck your thumb now because you're two, but when you're three, you won't suck your thumb because three-year-olds don't suck their thumbs."

 

Fast forward to the third birthday, and she said, "Well, now you're three, and so you don't suck your thumb anymore!" Lo and behold, it worked!

 

So, I tried it with my little man, and it worked as well! I have to say, though, when he put his little thumb-sucking cloths into the box, and resignedly put his hand down by his side (strangely, it almost seemed like a relief to him that he was done with it!), I was the one who teared up, not him. :tongue_smilie: But, we never looked back and his teeth are perfect.

 

HTH,

Susan

 

 

Do you know my friend Jennie? She did just that with her dd. :D

[Macrina]

DD sucked her fingers until age 7, then we used a reward system for stopping. DS and DD 2 still sucked their fingers and when they start losing baby teeth we'll do the same thing....I'd say 3.5 is still really young.

[pbajgrow]

For those who didn't get them to quit early on, how are their teeth and speaking doing? Are they crooked? Do they have a lisp? Jen

[Andie]

For those who didn't get them to quit early on, how are their teeth and speaking doing? Are they crooked? Do they have a lisp? Jen

 

 

All fine here. Two have had minor unrelated ortho work, all speak perfectly well.

[Ria]

We took our son to the orthodontist, and he made a relatively inexpensive appliance for him that made it impossible to suck his fingers. It was necessary because his teeth and jaw were beginning to be affected. It worked wonders.

 

Ria

[Andie]

We took our son to the orthodontist, and he made a relatively inexpensive appliance for him that made it impossible to suck his fingers. It was necessary because his teeth and jaw were beginning to be affected. It worked wonders.

 

Ria

 

 

How old was he when they did that, Ria?

[Reya]

I met a mom who said that for the entire last sixth months of her daughter's second year, every night at bedtime she told her, "You suck your thumb now because you're two, but when you're three, you won't suck your thumb because three-year-olds don't suck their thumbs."

 

Fast forward to the third birthday, and she said, "Well, now you're three, and so you don't suck your thumb anymore!" Lo and behold, it worked!

 

So, I tried it with my little man, and it worked as well! I have to say, though, when he put his little thumb-sucking cloths into the box, and resignedly put his hand down by his side (strangely, it almost seemed like a relief to him that he was done with it!), I was the one who teared up, not him. :tongue_smilie: But, we never looked back and his teeth are perfect.

 

HTH,

Susan

 

 

Tried--and totally failed! :-P My 6-y-o sucks his fingers still. It will HAVE to end when he gets his permanent teeth!

[Reya]

For those who didn't get them to quit early on, how are their teeth and speaking doing? Are they crooked? Do they have a lisp? Jen

 

Speaking is perfect. Teeth look good so far!

[Mom-ninja.]

This thread really really makes me want to prevent my baby from sucking his thumb. He's almost 4 months old and just figured out how to get his thumb in his mouth. He loves it. Neither of my older boys sucked their fingers/thumbs, nor did they take a paci.

 

I can't decide if I want to stop the habit from even forming in the first place.

[Reya]

This thread really really makes me want to prevent my baby from sucking his thumb. He's almost 4 months old and just figured out how to get his thumb in his mouth. He loves it. Neither of my older boys sucked their fingers/thumbs, nor did they take a paci.

 

I can't decide if I want to stop the habit from even forming in the first place.

 

Yeah, good luck with that. :-)

 

I tried to keep DS from forming that habit! Another failure!

[KidsHappen]

One of my dd started sucking her thumb when she was 5. Yes, you read that right. She did it because she was mad that grandma wouldn;t let her suck on the baby's binky. Anyhow, once it was a habit we start with the you are too old for this, when are you going to stop? She announced that she would quit sucking her thumb when she was 7 and she did, and she is the only child that doesn't need braces.

[Ria]

How old was he when they did that, Ria?

 

Dh and I think he was 4 or 5. It was well before any of his baby teeth had fallen out. Orthodontists will give free consults.

 

Ria

[pbajgrow]

I'm the one who originally posted this. I wouldn't stop it. I still would prefer the fingers to the pacifier, because it saved me many nights looking for hte paci. She loves it and I know that it was a God given gift to her do it. She was a really good baby. I know my sil got a special lotion from her dentist and it made my nephew stop within a week. My dentist doesn't believe in the stuff so I can't get it. I was just thinking that maybe someone else would have a bit of wisdom that would work. They did. I am going to buy the fingernail stuff this week.

[Macrina]

For those who didn't get them to quit early on, how are their teeth and speaking doing?

 

Fine and fine!

[Tutor]

We talked it up with each of our kids. About a year before we wanted them to finally stop (we wanted them to stop by age 5), we would say, "Wow! You're four. One more year, and you'll be a big kid! You'll get to help with the dishes [a big deal to help with in our house] and you'll stop sucking your thumb." We would periodically mention it through the year and by the fifth birthday, the kiddo in question would often say, "I'm five! I get to help with the dishes and I am big and don't such my thumb any more." It worked like turning on a switch with 3 of our 4 kids. One had about a month's transition of sucking her fingers only in bed before stopping all together.

[Andie]

Dh and I think he was 4 or 5. It was well before any of his baby teeth had fallen out. Orthodontists will give free consults.

 

Ria

 

 

I was curious because *none* of the dentists in the area (well, we've since moved) would consider that when we investigated it for our oldest son. (He was in speech therapy, learning to talk, after having a profound hearing deficit corrected, we thought it would be helpful to get the thumb out.) He took off speaking and the thumb wasn't an issue so we didn't press the issue, but you'd have thought we'd asked them to wire his jaw shut, or remove his thumb or something. One ortho said it was "downright barbaric" :glare: and they *all* said it just wasn't done anymore. Obviously, it is!