I had posted about my daughter's addiction to her thumb sucking awhile back which you can read here. My 3 year old daughter has been a thumb sucker ever since she was a baby. I have tried to get her to stop but it seems like every moment of the day her thumb is in her mouth.
I haven't posted much about her health on my blog but she is a sick child. She has an immature immune system. Several tests have been run to see why she gets sick about every 3 weeks. The tests show that children typically have 17 immune cells that fight off colds, viruses, etc. she only has 2 of these immune strands. Makes sense why she is always sick. Plus on top of it she has asthma.
I have implemented alot of changes in our home to help her - air purifiers, we are changing out our carpets to wood flooring next month, I have changed her diet completely (no sugary foods), homeopathic products I use on her daily (probotics, elderberry, etc) and now my biggest problem - her thumb sucking!
Touching things and then putting her thumb in her mouth is a fine way for her to get sick. Now that she is potty trained it's time to work on the thumb sucking. When we are not home and she will be some place where she is touching everything I wrap band-aids on both thumbs. She typically only sucks one thumb but I do not want to give her an excuse to suck the other one.
My remedy for this problem --- BAND-AIDS! I have to buy band-aids in bulk!
How have you stopped your thumb sucker from sucking their thumbs?
Thankfully she doesn't take them off. Next step will be a reward system for her to stop altogether and I will not use band-aids anymore!
a friend of mine has a daughter who is 8 and still sucks her thumb. She has now had to go in and get her a thumb guard i believe from her doctor. I have also heard of something they put in the roof of the kids mouth so they cant suck. they keep it there until she no longer has the urge to suck her thumb.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! Genius in fact!
ReplyDeleteMy sister in law instituted a piggy paint nail party...it is a non toxic nail paint for little kids.Her daughter thought is was sooo pretty but my sister in law told her that if she sucked her thumb the paint would come off. Her daughter wanted to be like mommy with pretty nails so the thumb sucking stopped completely.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great tip! I hope your daughter's health improves too, that must be horrible :(
ReplyDeleteWe tried the band-aids, and the slightly hot pepper brush on stuff. bitter tasting thum sucking/nailbiting stuff. NONE worked...She was a true Linus, and quit on her own in kindergarten.
ReplyDeleteI think it was a few other kids teasing her. her teeth were not damaged either. but she had a callus on her thumb that took a year to go away.
She is almost 25 now. :)
Best of luck,
Susan
This is a great idea! your daughters habit and my daughter habit would have went well together, when she was younger and we would go to the store she wouldnt as k for treats or toys she had to have bambaids. I rationalized and gave in thinking a huge stock never huet but that was never the case, by the end of the day she would have them all used up and wrappers everywhere. She is 15 now and still has a fascination with band-aids haha
ReplyDeleteSo sorry that you daughter is going through this. My son is a thumb sucker and it is definitely a way that carries a lot of germs to their mouths. What a great idea using the band aids. I will have to give that a try with my son. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteOur son sucked his two middle fingers - surprisingly common. We tried everything and nothing worked. To break a habit, it takes three straight weeks without doing it - tough when the sucking is almost unconscious. We got a finger guard and it comes in a thumb guard as well. Clear plastic cover that her wore for three weeks straight - only off at bath. After three weeks we took it off, and he never did it again. I HIGHLY recommend it! Hope you have success breaking her habit - it's a tough one!
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