Thumb or pacifier.....

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Permalink Reply by Charlotte Greene on April 13, 2009 at 8:52am

My daughter is almost 5 and still sucks her thumb. We are trying to get her to quit but it's hard to do so. Any ideas would help. We've tried putting finger nail polish on, putting that no suck or bite stuff on, putting bandaids on her thumb but it doesn't stop her. Help!

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Permalink Reply by Laura Gilson on April 13, 2009 at 11:13am

maybe she could suck her thumb only in bed at nite, nite time. and then, as she has broken the habit she'll have the ability to stop herself. she needs the control . I must confess I think I have it easier with a pacifier.

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Permalink Reply by Charlotte Greene on April 13, 2009 at 12:00pm

We have tried that. We do notice that she will suck it when she's tired or bored. So I have to say that's gotten better but still I'd love for her to stop over the summer before she heads to kindergarten. I'm almost thinking of doing a prize if she stops sucking it all together like taking her to a movie or buying a small toy or something like that. Do you think that's a good idea?

Laura Gilson said:

maybe she could suck her thumb only in bed at nite, nite time. and then, as she has broken the habit she'll have the ability to stop herself. she needs the control . I must confess I think I have it easier with a pacifier.

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Permalink Reply by Laura Gilson on April 13, 2009 at 4:33pm

we are all driven by positive motivation , so why not try it!

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Permalink Reply by Monique Stewart on April 13, 2009 at 11:04pm

I took the nookie away from my son at 8months old. I did not like seeing children walking with nookies in their mouths. I had to deal with him crying for it but after a week or two that crying went away and he had forgot all about his nookie. it may be too drastic for you to do that now, to just take it away from her. It is hard to make the decision as to how, I just decided to do what I did to eliminate what I knew would be a hard choice when he was older. You can take it away from her and replace that void with a toy or teddy bear, something to comfort her when she cries for it.....I do wish you success with that as I know it is a hard issue.

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Permalink Reply by Monique Stewart on April 13, 2009 at 11:06pm

My oldest sister starting sucking her thumb after her nookie was taken away as a kid, she is almost 30 now and still ocassionally sucks her thumb....we tried everything to get her to stop. i will ask her what she did to make herself stop doing it so frequently...

Charlotte Greene said:

My daughter is almost 5 and still sucks her thumb. We are trying to get her to quit but it's hard to do so. Any ideas would help. We've tried putting finger nail polish on, putting that no suck or bite stuff on, putting bandaids on her thumb but it doesn't stop her. Help!

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Permalink Reply by Laura Gilson on April 14, 2009 at 4:54am

sucking is self comforting, for you child. and I do think they need it ,because there world is changing ever day. the key is to teach them to self comfort and feel safe with out it. I think cold turkey seems harsh.

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Permalink Reply by Laura Gilson on April 14, 2009 at 4:58am

Some people cut the end of the pacifier off...and the child ends up leaving it behind.

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Permalink Reply by Mindi on April 14, 2009 at 10:20am

Hi Charlotte, I am the mother of four, three boys and our littlest is a girl age 6. All of my boys were pasi babies, I made sure that they were not thumb suckers because I knew the thumb can't be taken away when was time to stop. But when my darling little girl was born she started sucking her thumb from the word go and admittedly I just didn't have the heart to stop her.... she was just too darn cute. That's a lame excuse I know, but its the only one I've got. :~) Anyway, my boys did well with the transition from paci to no pasi but my daughter of course had her thumb with her at all times and when she was 4 I knew I had to do something to help her to stop. Soooo, I introduced her to Baby Thumb. I drew a face on her thumb and showed her how to wrap her fingers comfortably around Baby Thumb to make her cozy and I told her that Baby Thumb is afraid of the dark and doesn't like to be put in her mouth because its too dark in there. (Are you laughing yet?!) Well, amazingly this worked great for her! She hardly sucked her thumb after I did this for a couple of days. It really made her think about what she was doing and we broke the automatic cycle of her absent-minded thumb sucking habit. If you decide to try this be sure to look for a non-toxic pen and nothing erasable because that would just rub right off. Good luck! Please let us all know how it goes for you.




Charlotte Greene said:

My daughter is almost 5 and still sucks her thumb. We are trying to get her to quit but it's hard to do so. Any ideas would help. We've tried putting finger nail polish on, putting that no suck or bite stuff on, putting bandaids on her thumb but it doesn't stop her. Help!

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Permalink Reply by Laura Gilson on April 14, 2009 at 11:12am

Mindi----I like it, very clever !

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Permalink Reply by Jen Ellsworth on April 20, 2009 at 8:57am

Does it really matter? As long as your child does not do either at age 14 I am sure the kid will be fine.

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Permalink Reply by Colleen Woodcock on April 27, 2009 at 1:49pm

I realized to late that taking it away earlier is best because if you wait to long they become too attached to it. if your little one is still under one I would advise taking it away now as it will save a lot of hassle in the long run. My little one was only using it during the night and at nap time then when she turned 6 months she started to want it all the time. Take it away before 6 months is my advice it will save you the screaming for it all day long!

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