How stop thumb sucking?

I have a 5 year old that sucks his thumb pretty bad. My husband and I have been going back and forth on the yucky nail biting stuff. Well after buying it and keeping it for weeks we finally did it. Well it was a really tough night last Monday. He was so uncomfortable needless to say the stuff was so disgusting . It was all worth it.He hasn’t even thought about sucking his thumb and it’s been a week.

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Help a mama out and respond anonymously on our forum. How stop thumb sucking? - Mamas Uncut

If you already stopped it then I don’t know why you’re asking how to stop it?

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What’s the question?

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That quit biting nails stuff became my first addiction… Just let your kid suck his thumb …

Most kids stop naturally. But why would you snatch away his comfort?

I think she has to put it as a question at first, but just wanted to let everyone that it did work and might work for children with the same issue.

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Randi Lynn & Margaret Smith ., Seems she posted this for anyone else having issues with thumb sucking
Maybe sharing some helpful info for other mummas.

Good job mom! Be proud of your little one! I’ve heard it’s a hard habit to break!

What stopped me was. HOT sauce.

I’m 28 and still suck my thumb :person_shrugging::person_shrugging:

I never bothered with my kids. They all figured out when it was not ok to suck their thumbs an when it was ok to do so. Far as I was/am concerned their ability to self soothe no matter how they do so is not something I should be trying to control or dictate. They all still do it and in most cases it’s only when they’re sick or super tired now. My oldest is 19 and if she’s really tired or nit feeling well she will suck on her thumb or hug her baby blanket she’s had since birth. Yes she takes her blanket everywhere with her when she travels but not like grocery shopping or to pick up food. My 15 y/o does it the same as her older sister. An my youngest as well. An although she’s 12 she does do it more than the others do but she is also physically disabled and slightly mentally delayed so that’s why she does it more. They’re not hurting anything or anyone by doing it so I see no value in taking that comfort away from them.

I think it sucks to take away a child’s comfort object. They grow out of it eventually on their own. I know a family that had 5 kids that all sucked their fingers and thumbs and they’re all fine now (in their 20’s and 30’s). Their parents let them grow out of it naturally.

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Great! Keep up the good work

I think y’all know this is meant as a piece of advice🙄 Pretty sure it’s the Admins who label it as “Fan Question” Y’all either dense or miserable and wanna be mean.

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At least his teeth l be OK now.

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I went to an orthodontist and got a thumb detergent put in. No nasty taste and definitely works :blush:

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You literally don’t need to

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Why is he sucking his thumb? Has there been a trauma recently? Is there tension in the home? Any recent changes?

1 of my kids sucked his thumb after we lost our aunt & mom/gma. My GP said to leave it alone. It’s a coping mechanism. The dentist was on me something awful. So I got some strawberry wanted lotion. Told him it wasn’t good for him to suck it off. It worked. But in return my peaceful child became angry, defiant, started stealing, became numb to emotions. Mental wounds are more difficult to fix than teeth. My daughter sucked 2 fingers for awhile. Her father was abusive. It was her way to cope. She’s the happiest person I’ve ever known. Just leave him be. Let him cope with whatever is going on in his own way.

My daughter was born sucking her thumb. I was worried about her teeth and I took her to the children’s dentist and he told me about how as a small child he sucked his thumb and his parents did everything they could to get him to stop. He told me when she got to the age of 7 he would build a little brace with a throng behind her front teeth that would would not make it conformable to suck. He said it is cheaper in the long run to repair teeth than psychological issues like he did as a little boy. I am happy this worked for you.

We put a sock on my daughter hand while she slept, and took away her old baby blanket to put in a safe place because that was the main thing that made her suck her thumb. She took that blanket everywhere too! Also, a trip to the orthodontist who gave her 3 month to stop sucking her thumb or they would have to put an uncomfortable device on the roof of her mouth that helps her not suck her thumb. Neither of us wanted that! She stopped within a week!

Sooo what helped?? My 4 year old is not stopping and i tried everything!!

I’m a hygienist of a 3.5 year old, and it’s killing me what it’s doing to her teeth. But I’m not sure what the best thing to do is. :woozy_face:

My daughter sucked her thumb till she was 9. It was the worst battle ever. Nothing worked! Then I gave in and bought that yucky nail polish like stuff and over night she quit! Best money I ever spent

Well done parts kick it before they get made fun of for it and there teeth have more issues than needed I have had professionals tell me that it will destroy teeth and cause the need for braces and still possibly not fix it great parenting :+1:

I was a thumbs sucker as a kid and so was my little brother I grew out of it at about 10 and my brother at a little old im so glad my parents didn’t do this as I think I would have lost my shit we both still sleep with are hands up by are faces and I still sleep with a special blanket.

Sounds like you’ve found the answer.

I was a thumb sucker into early adulthood. It was clearly a MAJOR comfort for me obviously since I did it for so long. I finally our grew it. Occasionally I will wake up at night and find it in my mouth and realize it’s when I am under a great deal of stress. And yes I did need braces.

My mom tried everything on me I did it till 7ish then only did it at night time til 11 . Nail polish distractions prize charts. It’s a comfort thing I’m 27 and I’ve caught my self waking up doing it without knowing I was doing it alot trauma in my life last year’s I think that’s why I’m sub conscious trying to self soothe idk. But there are groups with moms that have advice specifically

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Good luck :woman_shrugging:t3:

I’m 25 and still suck my thimb

My mum tried everything, lemon juice, nail polish, replacing the thumb but nothing worked.

I have tried everything and nothing works for my daughter. She doesn’t care if it tastes gross, is hot, makes her mouth numb or anything. Her teeth are too close and now she has cavities so she has to have some dental work done-maybe that will work. If not, then she just keeps doing it till she’s ready to stop, I’ve waved the white flag

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l get paid over $145 per hour working from home. l never thought I’d be able to do it but my buddy makes over $17985 a month doing this and she convinced me to try. The possibility with this is endless.

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I was a thumb sucker and my mom tried everything, nothing worked. Eventually I did stop but even as an adult at 45yrs old, when I’m beyond stressed I have been told that in my sleep I will be sucking my thumb, I had no clue I still did it. But I was told by a doctor it’s a self soothing thing from trauma I’ve had in my life and theres nothing wrong with it. It never messed up my teeth.

I sucked my thumb until I was over 6 yrs old, My parents put everything on my thumb to stop me, But it didn’t, It was my smoother when I needed it, I had no buck teeth at all, And I stopped by myself. But why would you ask this question, if you stated you put something on his thumb & he hasn’t sucked it in over a wk. ??? Let your son be, If that is the worst thing he ever does, in his whole life, be grateful. If he still is doing it , he is not hurting anyone

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So glad you found something that worked so good for you. I tried the bitter nail paint, my daughter(5 at the time sucked her thumb regardless). I thought when she started school she would stop(didn’t happen). I showed her pictures of kids who’s teeth were pushed out due to it(didn’t care). Finally at the age of 7 she started noticing her teeth and her speech was different from her peers. She started slow, not sucking her thumb through the day. The minute she went to bed, she’d pop it in and she was exhausted went right to sleep. Once she mastered that I bought her a baseball glove put it on her hand of the thumb she used(she was a willing participant lol). She had a rough 2 weeks with very little sleep but it was summer. After 2 weeks she managed to learn other techniques to fall asleep, but we still used the glove for a couple months cause habits are hard to break. Before she had started school again she had quit completely and her teeth were starting to move back into place naturally. She is 10 now, her teeth aren’t perfect but we are waiting for her to loose the baby teeth and she will get braces.

I was on a pacifier till I was four and sucked my thumb till I was 11 my mother tried everything including wrapping my hand in a mitten and taping it to help me stop it was a comfort thing and I always found my way around everything the nail polish I could bite off the tape I would peel off nothing helped… I had to wear braces due to sucking my thumb and I had to physically widen my mouth with tool I had to put into a bracket they placed in the top of my mouth it hurt so bad I needed up taking my braces off myself I’m 32 now and my teeth are a lot better then before but still very crooked and have grown in weird I’m known as a vampire by kids bc my k9 teeth are so large :woman_facepalming:t2::joy::joy::joy::joy:

At about that age I would tell my kids, “if you need to suck your thumb you must need a nap, so you have to go lay in your bed.” It discouraged thumb sucking at non sleep times; kids never want to admit they might need a nap.

What did you buy?? I’m trying to get my 5yo daughter to stop chewing her nails!

we had the nail polish stuff as well and it never worked for us.

I had tried EVERYTHING. wrapping it. bandaids. socks over hands
etc. nothing worked.
my son would only suck his thumb if he quit moving.
it got so bad his thumb was callused, and had was ripped open.

it took him 5/6 years to finally stop on his own.

Buy no bite for nails, I bought it to stop chewing my nails and my god it worked. Stuff taste awful.

as a child I was forced to stop. eventually I stopped on my own. but that was my comfort. from the time I was about 8 until my early 20s I just avoided the ones who were adamant that I stop. so I just stopped seeing them as much. I wasn’t going to be uncomfortable around anyone because they don’t like it. I’m 42 now and I still don’t see them as much. it stayed with me much longer than anyone thought. now I don’t give a shit what they think.

I tried everything with my daughter to get her to stop sucking her thumb. I even asked her dentist to tell her it would hurt her teeth. He wouldn’t do it. He said she didn’t suck it hard enough to do any damage. I just had to leave her be and let her quit on her own.

good better to stop with yucky stuff then have mega dental bills for oral surgery and braces, I have a friends daughter, I tried to convince them to work on the thumb sucking, they didn’t and she now has a very ugly mouth.