Stop Thumb Sucking | How To Overcome This Habit
Thumb sucking can be quite a relaxing habit for your child. This comfortable and relaxing habit for your baby is going to put them into major repercussions including teeth and jaw damage. They need to stop thumb sucking when they are young, otherwise, they will learn this reflex and it will be harder in the long run to wean them.
As a responsible parent, you must curb the thumb-sucking habit in the best possible way. If you were to ask around other parents, they would tell you how difficult it is to see their baby stick to thumb sucking. They understand how bad and harmful it is but at times, they just have to go with the situation. This happens because they are unable to find an effective solution to this.
Why Do Children Suck Their Thumbs?
Children even at the age of 7 or 8 continue thumb sucking because they were not taught how to overcome this habit in their early childhood. They go back to thumb-sucking as a means to feel safe and secure in their surroundings. A child should stop thumb sucking completely by the time his/her permanent teeth are due i.e., by the age of 6 years.
How Does Thumb Sucking Harm the Child?
If a child continues with thumb sucking beyond this age, then this habit is going to only do more harm than good to him. Continuing thumb sucking after the permanent teeth have come out can deform the teeth and later the child has to wear braces.
The act of thumb sucking also gets the child into building infectious bacteria in his oral cavity. The best thing you can do here is to deal with the situation in a positive manner. Shouting or punishing your child for this behavior will only make them resentful and more insecure.
Make sure to first try and be polite in the beginning and have patience all the way when you are correcting them. You can avail them of other options to provide comfort during sleep such as a warm blanket, or their favorite toy, or stay with them until they have fallen asleep so that they do not think about thumb sucking.
You must also keep an eye on your baby so that he doesn’t resort back to thumb sucking. Look for the triggers, the time duration, and what makes them continue this habit so that you can avoid these triggering situations in the future.
How to Stop Thumb Sucking?
First and foremost, as a parent, you need to remember that most children like to continue this to self-soothe and before it is late, stop the habit to prevent the baby from its harmful dangers.
Here are a few tricks and hints that you can try before baby goes to sleep or nap:
-
- Wrap a bandage around the fingers or thumb.
- If the baby is old enough, let him choose the ideal method to help him stop
- Ask your dentist to help you out
- Put the thumb in some bad-tasting substance like vinegar or anything harmless
- Make sure you have everyone in the family on the same page, siblings, mom, dad, grandparents, etc so that they can help you when the baby is continuing with the habit in your absence.
- Use thumb sucking gloves
How Thumb Gloves are Helpful?
These special thumb gloves are designed in such a way that they help your baby stop the habit of thumb sucking. These gloves cover the hands of the child and the thumb as well, leaving other fingers out. They come in various designs and styles to help children from thumb sucking.
They come in various sizes as well depending on the age group. You can find these gloves both online and offline at reasonable prices and help your child stop the dangerous habit of thumb sucking.
Thumb sucking can be quite a relaxing habit for your child. This comfortable and relaxing habit for your baby is going to put them into major repercussions including teeth and jaw damage. They need to stop thumb sucking when they are young, otherwise, they will learn this reflex and it will be harder in the long run to wean them.
As a responsible parent, you must curb the thumb-sucking habit in the best possible way. If you were to ask around other parents, they would tell you how difficult it is to see their baby stick to thumb sucking. They understand how bad and harmful it is but at times, they just have to go with the situation. This happens because they are unable to find an effective solution to this.
Why Do Children Suck Their Thumbs?
Children even at the age of 7 or 8 continue thumb sucking because they were not taught how to overcome this habit in their early childhood. They go back to thumb-sucking as a means to feel safe and secure in their surroundings. A child should stop thumb sucking completely by the time his/her permanent teeth are due i.e., by the age of 6 years.
How Does Thumb Sucking Harm the Child?
If a child continues with thumb sucking beyond this age, then this habit is going to only do more harm than good to him. Continuing thumb sucking after the permanent teeth have come out can deform the teeth and later the child has to wear braces.
The act of thumb sucking also gets the child into building infectious bacteria in his oral cavity. The best thing you can do here is to deal with the situation in a positive manner. Shouting or punishing your child for this behavior will only make them resentful and more insecure.
Make sure to first try and be polite in the beginning and have patience all the way when you are correcting them. You can avail them of other options to provide comfort during sleep such as a warm blanket, or their favorite toy, or stay with them until they have fallen asleep so that they do not think about thumb sucking.
You must also keep an eye on your baby so that he doesn’t resort back to thumb sucking. Look for the triggers, the time duration, and what makes them continue this habit so that you can avoid these triggering situations in the future.
How to Stop Thumb Sucking?
First and foremost, as a parent, you need to remember that most children like to continue this to self-soothe and before it is late, stop the habit to prevent the baby from its harmful dangers.
Here are a few tricks and hints that you can try before baby goes to sleep or nap:
-
- Wrap a bandage around the fingers or thumb.
- If the baby is old enough, let him choose the ideal method to help him stop
- Ask your dentist to help you out
- Put the thumb in some bad-tasting substance like vinegar or anything harmless
- Make sure you have everyone in the family on the same page, siblings, mom, dad, grandparents, etc so that they can help you when the baby is continuing with the habit in your absence.
- Use thumb sucking gloves
How Thumb Gloves are Helpful?
These special thumb gloves are designed in such a way that they help your baby stop the habit of thumb sucking. These gloves cover the hands of the child and the thumb as well, leaving other fingers out. They come in various designs and styles to help children from thumb sucking.
They come in various sizes as well depending on the age group. You can find these gloves both online and offline at reasonable prices and help your child stop the dangerous habit of thumb sucking.