Talk to Your Doctor about How to Stop Sucking Thumb
Talk to Your Doctor about How to Stop Sucking Thumb
The habit of thumb sucking is natural in a baby. It is where the baby places his thumb onto his mouth and sucks on it repeatedly for several minutes. But the habit of thumb sucking doesn’t actually mean the thumb only. Thumb sucking also includes the other fingers even the toes for a baby as long as it is within reach.
The habit of thumb sucking is natural to a baby. But would you want see your child thumb sucking even at school or having a good quality time of playing with his friends? The habit will became a nuisance when it is being done by a child even after five years. Aside from that the prolonged performance of the habit may cause some damages to the child’s oral development.
When a child who is preferably five years or more continues to suck his thumb it may mean something. Your child might have experiencing a social trouble. The negative feelings of insecurity, anger, self pity and boredom are some of the reasons why this habit still continues. To make sure of the reason behind the prolonged habit why not consider talking to your doctor about how to stop sucking thumb.
Most doctors will tell you that thumb sucking is not a symptom of any psychological problems and there is actually no drug that can cure this habit. But doctors will be sure to tell you certain ways to stop the habit of thumb sucking.
There are several steps that can help you rid of these habit. The following might help you and your child solve the problem.
- Acknowledge your child for not doing the habit– positive reinforcement will make a child feel better about not doing the habit and it can also help encourage him of submitting to his age and give up on the habit itself. The positive feeling that your child will experience will make him feel the security and comfort of being loved.
- Give your child and yourself a time together– boredom is one of the reasons for thumb sucking, so one of the solutions for this habit is to introduce your child to certain activities that you think will make them enjoy and forget about doing the habit. A wonderful tip to this is to select an activity that uses the hand more like drawing or playing.
However these steps may not always work on every child and if this happens you might want to try another set of methods that may apply a little of the parents will.
- Use and object that will be placed or that may cover the thumb or any finger of the child without any discomfort. For example, the GloveyHuggey (https://www.gloveyhuggey.com), prevents any contact between the thumb and the mouth of the child.
- Place something that doesn’t taste pleasurable for a child such as substances that are bitter or doesn’t taste anything like sweet. But always bear in mind that you have to be sure to only use edible substances like multivitamins solutions, the extract of the alligator gourde or the juice of a very sour lemon.
Most parents find it alarming in children when they tend to suck their thumbs even after the age that the habit supposed to have disappeared. Before the habit continues even after the growth of the permanent teeth certain complications might occur and you might need to talk to your doctor on how to stop thumb sucking.