For today’s Ask Dr.Mom, we will be talking about thumb sucking. This is a topic near and dear to my heart because I was an avid thumb sucker as a child and I certainly recall having difficulty kicking this habit. Fortunately, most children who suck their thumbs give it up on their own volition and without any adverse effects on their teeth.
Still, I get plenty of questions from parents wondering what they should do about their child’s thumb sucking. While most parents realize that sucking is a natural and soothing reflex in babies, they worry about prolonged thumb sucking. So, let’s get to the bottom of thumb sucking and see if there is anything to worry about.
Why do babies suck their thumbs?
- Sucking is a natural reflex and is a potent soother in babies.
- Babies and children suck their thumbs (or pacifiers) when tired, bored, or need comfort
- Children who suck their thumbs are typically easier to put to sleep and tend to start sleeping through the night earlier than their non-thumb sucking peers. That is certainly a plus.
When should I expect the thumb sucking to stop?
- This certainly varies, however, 85-99% of children who suck their thumbs will stop by 4-5 years old.
- Many will give it up before this age. The key seems to be this: to not make thumb sucking a big issue. Apparently nagging your child to stop sucking her thumb can have the reverse effect.
- Most children who are still sucking their thumbs by the time they enter kindergarten will soon give it up. Guess this is one of those rare instances when peer pressure may work in your favor.
Are there any reasons to worry about her teeth?
- According to the American Dental Association, thumb sucking will not have any adverse effects on permanent teeth as long as the thumb sucking stops before those front permanent teeth erupt. This typically occurs around age 5 or 6.
Any tips for encouraging my child to stop sucking her thumb?
- First and foremost, make sure your child is ready. If she is age 4 or older and has shown signs she wants to kick this habit, then yes, there are ways you can help her.
- Praise your child when she is not sucking her thumb. Create a reward chart if necessary.
- Avoid nagging or embarrassing your child about her thumb sucking. Instead, try distraction and engage her in a game or other activity in which she is using her hands.
- Involve her in the plan. Have her come up with some of her own ideas on how she can avoid sucking her thumb. Come up with alternatives to thumb sucking when she is bored or tired.
- Use her dentist or pediatrician to help bring home the message: she is getting to be a big girl and you want her teeth to grow in properly.
Above all, try to remember not to put too much pressure on your child. Soon enough this thumb sucking habit will be but a fond memory of her childhood.
Have any of your children been thumb suckers? Any tips to share on helping them kick the habit?
original publish date: 1/19/2011
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Both thumb sucking as well as paci use is such a mixed blessing. Neither of mine ever did, which made their infancies a lot more difficult. But the flip side is I never had to wean off of some kind of suck/soothe behavior.
I was worried about my older son, who was devoted to his thumb from six weeks to 4 yrs old – but one day he decided on his own to quit, and he did – no fuss!
I was so into sucking my thumb it was actually deformed. My left thumb was smaller than my right until I quit at age 4, just before starting kindergarten. I thought for sure my daughter would be genetically predispositioned to suck her thumb, but she never had any interest in it.
My daughter sucked her thumb in conjunction with pulling hair out and sucking on the hair (Trichotillomania). We hated the hair pulling. She literally pulled out her hair on one side of her head. I figured that if the thumb sucking stopped, so would the hair pulling. We used a reward chart and gave her BIG presents to stop sucking. It worked. She was totally ready to give up the thumb sucking–she just needed a little push in the right direction. She immediately dropped the habit. The hair pulling also stopped. She now has a gorgeous head of hair!
Thank you for this post. My daughter is almost 3 and our dentist has been pressuring us to make her stop, but honestly, she's just not ready. I appreciate the insight and advice.
My 1 year old sucks her thumb and I catch all kinds of grief about it from well intentioned family, friends and strangers. I kind of like the fact that she can self soothe and I see it as a sign of her being independent as she grows older. This post is very reassuring. She'll stop when she's ready.
Oh, my! I could write a book about thumb sucking. Both of my duo sucked their thumbs. I was able to coerce my son to quite around age 3. Without much fuss. My daughter, however, was 6 and there was lots of fuss.
Lots of fuss.
I may not have approached it perfectly, but did the best I could — I
bribed,charted, coerced, threatened and tortured her for 2 years. We did charts and books and knitting (something else to do with her hands). We wore gloves at night. And put a band aid on it. And the yucky tasting stuff. Truly everything anyone has ever suggested, I tried. It was hideous. I am not proud. But it just seemed like it would never end. Never.
What finally did it (at 6 and 1/2) was the concession that I would let her get her ears pierced after 45 days with no thumb. She did it cold turkey that day. Clearly it was when she was ready. She asked me to help her by painting the yucky tasting stuff on it, but she truly had no problem stopping once she put her mind to it. She is a force. And always teaches me a lot.
I sucked my thumb til I was 7 and therefore strongly encouraged the pacifier. But I think I might have already told you this in another post. Anyway, so much easier to cut the paci at age 3. Can't cut a thumb.
We helped our daughter break the thumb-sucking habit when she turned 4. She sucked her thumb during sleep only, so even though she was interested in quitting, she was pretty powerless. We put band-aids around her thumb before she went to sleep and if they were still there when she woke up, she got a sticker on her chart. We started with small, frequent rewards and worked up to larger rewards for longer stretches of time without thumb-sucking. It took about 6 weeks and the cool thing was within another month, her top teeth straightened out on their own. I've also found helpful tips on this Mom's Guide to caring for little teeth (copy and paste: http://www.1dental.com/moms-guide/)
My 3 yr old son will be a whole different situation though. He sucks his thumb day and night! We're not doing anything about it yet since we have a baby due in a few months and that thumb will help him through the transition! And I am not kidding when I tell you that I have an ultrasound pic of my soon-to-be-born baby… with his thumb in his mouth!