Teaching your child to self-soothe is important, but it can also be difficult. Sometimes a pacifier is introduced to encourage self-soothing since the sicking motion naturally calms a baby. However, some children don’t take to a pacifier. No matter how hard their parents try at 3am! While some of these children learn to self-soothe with a small lovey or a blanket, many others find their thumbs or fingers to suck on.
Unlike a pacifier that can fall out in the middle of the night, the baby’s thumb is always where they left it! While some children naturally drop the thumb sucking others are much more resistant.
For some children this habit is very hard to break. In fact, the habit may be formed in the womb. Some ultrasounds show some children begin thumb sucking in the womb.
For the children that can’t seem to break the habit on their own, many parents worry about the long-term effects on speech and their teeth. Below are some tips and tricks on how to get your thumb sucker to let go of the habit.
Set Limits
Since thumb sucking is a soothing activity, going cold turkey can actually make a child more anxiety prone. Many experts dissuade parents from trying to pull the thumb out of the mouth every time they see it go in. This action can cause the child to become nervous and make weaning off the thumb harder. Instead, tell you child where it is appropriate for them to suck their thumb. For instance, this could be in their bedroom or in their car seat. By cutting down on the thumb sucking in public, the child will eventually learn other coping mechanisms. As those become more habitual, slowly limit the other places a child is able to suck their thumb. Many children use this as a sleep aid, so thumb sucking in the crib or bed may be the last to go.
Don’t Turn it into a Fight
If you are looking for advice on how to curb thumb sucking, you most likely have a toddler. Toddlers, by nature, are defiant and know when you are serious about something. Don’t turn this into a confrontation. Toddlers have remarkable endurance for being so small! Instead of losing your cool (haven’t we all been there with a toddler?), try to have a conversation with your child. This doesn’t have to be a in-depth conversation, just a quick reassurance that they are able and ready to stop sucking their thumb. Many kids don’t even realize when they are doing it. By calmly bringing attention to the thumb sucking, a child will being to gain awareness of their actions. This could include asking your child leading questions such as, “Do you know you are sucking your thumb right now?”
Don’t Put Something on the Thumb
I remember when I was young there were always the rumors that someone’s mom soaked their thumb in hot sauce or put a nail polish on that tastes bad to stop the thumb sucking. While these methods may have been effective, they are not advised. You child isn’t expecting a somewhat drastic change, and while you think it may get the whole thing over with quicker, it may end up traumatizing them. This also applies to putting gloves or mittens on a child. At the toddler age, they don’t have the capacity to process what is happening, and they will assume they have done something wrong and are being punished. This could backfire and cause more anxiety and thumb sucking.
Calm Down
Remember your child will eventually grow out of this phase. When you drop them off at college, the hours your spent worrying about them sucking their thumb will seem trivial. While it is important they drop the habit due issues it could cause with the teeth and jaw, it isn’t worth causing your child anxiety or stress. All kids eventually stop sucking their thumbs, it really is child dependent. By approaching this calmly you and your child will be less stressed and generally happier.
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