Thumb Sucking
Submitted by jlcampbelliv on September 17, 2008 - 9:36am.
Hello,
My almost to be 4 year old girl does fairly well during the day
without sucking her thumb, but, when she starts getting tired and or
falls asleep that thumb goes right in her mouth!
I've tried baseball gloves and homeopathic remedies to no avail. We
talk about the thumb sucking and she simply says she likes it too much
and doesn't want to stop.
Help!!! I'm pretty sure braces will be in the mix regardless, but, I'd like to help her kick this habit sooner than later!!
Thanks for any tips or tricks!
James
Re: Thumb Sucking
My son battled cancer from the age of 3mos to almost 2 yrs old. He survived the very harsh treatment and contnues to saty healthy. His biggest comfort coming out of surgeries and all the treatment was his thumb, even the doc always made sure it was always uncovered. He still does it but he lacks no maturity the chemo rotted his teeth anyway and I think when he is ready he will just stop. Just too many other things to worry about
Re: Thumb Sucking
James,
This is a extremely interesting topic, here is what I am thinking.
The child is thumb-sucking for a reason. To me that is the fundamental here. It is possible that they are doing it because they hang out with younger children and see the younger ones doing it and thus they identify with and prolong their own childhood. In which case I imagine they will naturally grow out of it as they begin to want to be more like an adult. It could be because of an emotional response to stress or trauma, in which case thumb-sucking is their resource. Removing that resource may cause them to either a) become unresourced and repress the thumb-sucking thus disconnecting from their mouth and possibly developing oral issues later b) find another way (possibly more harmful) of resourcing their emotional self either i) actively (crying, punching etcetra) or ii)dissociating, disconnecting emotionally.
The fundamental is that they are doing it for a reason and without knowing the reason. Being really curious as to when she does this may give hints to the underlying reason.
The following site is what is generally found as advice to parents and really scares me.
--------------------
The following content is from the site:
http://children.webmd.com/tc/thumb-sucking-topic-overview
* Talk to your child openly about the effects of thumb-sucking.
* Put gloves on your child's hands or wrap the thumb with an adhesive bandage or a cloth. Explain that the glove, bandage, or cloth is not a punishment but is only there to remind him or her not to thumb-suck.
* Develop a reward system, such as putting stickers on a calendar or otherwise recording each day that your child does not suck his or her thumb. After an agreed-upon number of days, have a celebration for your child.
* Use a special nontoxic, bitter-tasting nail coating, such as Thum. Apply it like fingernail polish to the thumbnail each morning, before bed, and whenever you see your child sucking his or her thumb. This treatment is most successful when it is combined with a reward system.
If these treatments aren't successful, other methods-including behavioral therapy, thumb devices, or oral devices-may be used.
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Only the first of the suggestions sounds non-violent to me. Children as amazing beings, magical beings, and can become magical adults. But if as a child you got a bad taste in your mouth (bitter-tasting nail coating) everytime you needed reassurance imagine the effects it'll have on you forever. The adult who whenever they have an emotional issue feels like throwing up, or gets a bitter taste in their mouth. And reward systems... every time the child sucks their thumb in hiding they will feel they are committing a sin, they now have to hide their actions or their feelings.
Very interesting topic James, and equally interesting is a discussion on the role of the parent.
Much love to you and your girl
P.
Re: Thumb Sucking
Greetings James,
Children do a myriad of things which us adults, be it parents or doctors, don't understand.
I get the impression that your desire is that your child stop sucking their thumb; I imagine you believe that that is what is best for them. And I think that a healthy look into the reasons why you want that would be beneficial.
As I said in the first sentence children sometimes know what is best without having to read books, simply because they are way more in touch with their bodies and hold that importance over what others' judgements may be. And recently(ish) many mechanisms, such as thumb sucking and suckling, have been shown to be forms of the child self-correcting the bones of their skull (palatine bone, mandible, maxilla).
So my tip would be to look at what the child is doing instinctually and saying to yourself "Isn't that curious! I wonder why".
P.
Re: Thumb Sucking
Thumb sucking alters the way teeth come in, that's why I want it to stop.
Re: Thumb Sucking
I liked these paragraphs from this dude:
http://www.drgreene.com/21_856.html
"Many parents are concerned that thumb sucking at a late age is a sign of emotional immaturity or lack of self-confidence. When investigators have looked at late thumb suckers for common traits, they found only one thing in common that distinguished them from other children -- a prolonged history of a strong battle with thumb sucking at an earlier age. It is striking that many well-meaning parents have actually encouraged thumb sucking by trying to forcibly take the thumb out of their children's mouths.
How do you get children to stop?
Children have control of their own thumbs when you are not looking. Pressure applied against thumb sucking can turn a natural developmental phase into an ingrained habit. "
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