thumb sucking

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  • February 10, 2011 at 9:46 pm
    alice
    Participant

    My 7 yo still sucks him thumb, and I’m not sure how to get him to quit.  All day I’m reminding him…of course that’s not worked well.  A few months ago my husband talked told him he needed to stop, since he was way too old to keep doing it.  For a while (couple weeks maybe) he did really well, but now he doesn’t seem to be trying at all.  I’d rather not buy an expensive mouth piece if I can avoid it! 🙂  Any help is appreciated! 

    February 10, 2011 at 10:03 pm
    6boys1girl
    Participant

    We had two kids who sucked their thumbs this long. Drove me nuts!!

    For each of them, we had to find their “trigger”.
    For the first one, what worked was the orthodontist (he was about to get braces) telling him that the last child he had in his office didn’t ever suck HER thumb again after leaving and was he going to let a girl beat him? We don’t generally do the “s-xist competition” stuff but it worked.
    For the second one, I told him that once he had stopped sucking his thumb for 2 weeks, I would take him to the dollar store and he could pick one thing he really wanted. He never sucked his again. When we went to the dollar store, he spent FOREVER picking something out but he was SO excited. He did ask what would happen if he went back to sucking his thumb after the treat and I told him that he’d have to pay me back the dollar I spent plus an extra one. It worked. He’s 9 now and has never sucked his thumb again.

    Is there something like that that would work? A special book, toy, treat, activity?

    HTH,
    Rebecca

    February 10, 2011 at 10:04 pm
    6boys1girl
    Participant

    Oh yeah, the orthodontist did tell my oldest to keep his hands busy to help too. Drawing, playing with a toy, etc. worked for him.

    February 10, 2011 at 10:41 pm
    alice
    Participant

    That’s a great idea.  How did you make sure he didn’t suck his thumb during the 2 weeks?  I mean, I don’t have my eye on him 24/7.  Did he make it perfectly the first try, or did he have to start over?  I can see that working well with him, I’m just wondering how to monitor him, or what to do if he sucks on the 1st or 2nd day…do I just start the 2 week time frame over every time I see him doing it? 
    I’m going to see what my husband thinks.  I’m sure he’ll think it’s a great idea, too.

    Thanks so much!

    February 11, 2011 at 12:35 am
    6boys1girl
    Participant

    We decided to take him at his word. I figured that if he was trying to sneak to suck his thumb it would become evident before the two weeks were up. It’s impossible with a habit like that to sneak it sometimes and not do it at others.

    You could maybe start it over once. But I would guess if you have to start it over more than that you haven’t found his “trigger”. You could always ask him what he would want if he could stop (within reason of course).

    -Rebecca

    February 11, 2011 at 12:49 am
    alice
    Participant

    Ok, I see.  I’m pretty sure that he’d tell us if he started again.  Thanks again.

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