Breaking the Habit: Stopping Thumb Sucking Before It's Too Late

Many children engage in some form of thumb sucking at an early age. The behavior acts as a calming practice when children are either upset, tired, or just bored. Aside from it being an annoying habit for parents to witness in older children, the habit of thumb sucking can be detrimental to the alignment of a child's teeth. Because children are sucking their thumbs while they only have baby teeth, not much thought is typically given by parents to the consequences of allowing the practice to carry on from infancy into later childhood. Damage to the alignment of the permanent teeth can occur even before the child starts losing their baby teeth. After that point, realigning the teeth can take months, if not years of orthodontic treatment which can be very uncomfortable for the child and leave the parents with orthodontic costs that can soar into the thousands of dollars.

There are many different ways to help your children break the thumb-sucking habit. Of course, each method has varying degrees of success depending on the child. 

• Don't let them start. Some professionals recommend trying to get children accustomed to using pacifiers from early infancy when they become fussy and are in need of nurturing. Though many parents give up on getting their babies to take a pacifier because it can seem quite difficult initially, the hard work pays off in the future. As the baby becomes accustomed to using a pacifier, they will go towards it instead of their thumb. As they exceed the age of innocent pacifier use and thumb-sucking, a pacifier can be taken away with only some fussiness to get over. An object taken away is always easier for a child to get cope with than trying to break a once-acceptable habit. 

• Say "yay!" over nay. Instead of telling a child that they are no longer allowed to suck their thumb, some parents opt for using positive reinforcement to encourage children to stop sucking their thumb. By congratulating children on their lack of thumb sucking or giving them some form of small reward or privilege for not sucking their thumb, this makes the child want to break the habit on their own. Because this method requires an actual change in behavior by means of positive reinforcement only, it may take more time with varying degrees of success depending on the child. 
  

• Make it unappealing. By making thumb-sucking an unpleasant experience for children, this will remove the soothing benefit children derive from the habit. Since children most frequently suck their thumbs in their sleep, some parents find that having the child wear gloves during bed time and nap time makes thumb sucking difficult if not unpleasant. Some other parents find success by applying an apple cider vinegar solution to their children's thumbs that gives the child's thumbs a very unpleasant taste. There are a variety of bad-tasting non-toxic solutions on the market specifically for this purpose. Over time, you can stop using gloves or a bad-tasting solution and remind the child that if they continue to suck their thumbs, you'll apply the gloves or "yucky" solutions once again. This is frequently enough deterrent to get them break the habit.

For more encouragement in getting your children to quit sucking their thumbs, consult parents who waited too long and are now the orthodontists' favorite customers! To discover more information about the effects of thumb-sucking into later childhood, peruse this special post from TLC Family. To schedule an appointment or to find more information on specialized dental practices, visit the official website of Tulsa's own Dr. Larry James, D.D.S. for quality family dentistry.