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Thumb sucking

my 3yr old son sucks his thumb i have been told by the dentist to get him off his thumb which is hard than said i have tried plasters which is pulls off or bites and i have tried stop n grow which is to help them from stopping them suck their thumb but it doesnt work with my son he will stilll suck his thumb can anyone help thank you emmarist

Replies

  • Hi Welcome to PP!!! does your son suck his thumb all the time or just when he is tired?? I have a family of thumb suckers and when we were little we (my brother and I) were both told by our dentist to stop, I didn't and my teeth were fine!!! My oldest sucks his thumb and has perfect teeth as do my youngest two. I suppose it depends whether he's doing it all day or just when tired as to what effect it has. Mine only when tired or going to bed. Sorry but I have no idea how to make them stop as I have never wanted mine to! Sorry if I haven't been much help just wanted to let you know that for mine thumb sucking has been a problem with their teeth, although im sure you will hear another side...
  • I agree with Nicola.
    My eldest sucks his thumb.
    He has always done it. He used to suck his thumb and cuddle his favourite bedtime toy whenever he was tired or upset.
    He is 9 now and its more infrequent. He only does it as he drifts off to sleep.
    The dentist never said it would be a problem. And he has really nice teeth.
    My youngest son had a dummy when he was little and we had no problems with that either.
    I think if its a form of comfort then you should let him be and he will stop doing it in his own time. Forcing the issue will probably make him want to do it more.

    Welcome to pp by the way
  • oh the dentist asked this morning if they sucked their thumb, he could obviously tell (and he's seen tom for years so knows he does!) but didn't really say anything when I said yes they all do!!
  • thank you for your reply my son does it all the time he has his thumb in his mouth all the time i wouldn't mind if it was when he is tired he does it when he is playing or just walking down the road thats why we been told to get him off and he is pushing his front teeth out they are more worried what he will do to his adult teeth in a couple of years if he carries on sucking it all the time thank you it has made me less worried that he will do damage to his teeth
  • my other halfs brothers girlfriend sucks her thumb and shes 16! i sucked mine until i was about 8, bandages, plasters, stop n grow, mustard, non worked. i was sucking my thumb and that was that! i agree if you force the issue he will probably do it more (i know i did!), and i have straight teeth, in the unlikely event of it pushing his teeth out that far they could always be corrected with braces
  • I know this is probably an obvious or silly suggestion, but how about if he's got something to carry or hold so no free hands, especially if you are out? Would that work?? I sucked my thumb til I was a teenager I think. I think theres alot worse you can do to your teeth. oh whats yours and your little boys name by the way?
  • thanks for your help i will try that my name is emma rist christopher is 3yrs old he is the child that sucks his thumb and i have got stephen is 5yrs, mollie is 22months and abbie is 5months quite a handful but its lovely
  • Nicola , Thats a really great idea!!!

    Should be used in pp if they ever do a feature on it.
  • My daughter is two and seems to be sucking her thumb more and more, you can notice that they have been pushed forward which is worrying me as her adult teeth may protrude too.

    I would really like some advice on this in more detail, i'm going to try the mustard technique to see if this will work for her, i have been trying to give her an orthodontic dummy to see if this will leave room for the teeth to correct themselves.

    Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease can anyone help?

  • Hi Emma i was a thumb sucker who had a thumb in 24/7 and have been told that i still do when im a sleep sometimes

    as yumyum  said it can change the bite of the jaw, my teeth do not meet when i bite down the top come over the bottom and i have a thumb shaped pallet which is a bit higher than it should be

    the only real problem i have had with it is that where the jaw is out of alignment im always biting the inside of my cheeks,my tounge or my lip especially if i try to chew gum which can be painful this can also happen when sneezing which hurts more as your totally un prepared for it.

    my little sister also thumb sucks but she was given a retainer brace but there is a 10year age gap so maybe by the time she got seen they were doing things differently

    hope this helps

    jean

  • Im confused, i thought Emma had been on pp for a whileimage
  • Hehe,thats what i was thinking,maybe coz the others are reliatively new.

    What about trying a drop of fresh lemon juice.

  • i ahve been on pp for age i wrote that at the end of may i think its because the others are new
  • Oh yes, i didn't look at the dates of the post, so i was getting really confused!
  • I have a 3yr old daughter and when she was born she refused to take the dummy and started to suck her thumb at around 8 weeks, i started to panick thinking how the hell am i suppossed to stop her from doing it as i knew how hard my son was to get off the dummy. I mean i cldnt really chop her thumb off cld i lol. But she finally cut it out on her own just before her 3rd birthday, i think with her it was a comfort thing. I think some parents r lucky enuff if their child stops on their own but obviously gets alot harder if u have to try n persuade. Good luck.

    Mum to Rhydian-5, Amy-3 and 20 week twin bumpimage

    http://www.practicalparenting.co.uk/members/images/1479/Gallery/Rhydian&amy_2007.jpg

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