Community Newsletter: Q&A forum: Advice needed to wean 10 month old daughter off her thumb

Hi
Years ago my son was a very bad thumb sucker and had his thumb very red and sore I put some rawleighs salve on it to try to get fix the sore up and the taste was so bad he never sucked his thumb again
Juls1

wrap it ith a big bandage and change it every 4 hours.Ahmed

Every time I saw our son with his thumb in his mouth, I would gently take it out. I didn't scold, put yucky tasting stuff on his thumb; I would just not make an issue out of it. BTW, my son was almost 6 before I started dealing with his thumb sucking. I also noticed he sucked his thumb when he was tired or sleepy. Now my sister when we put tabasco sauce on hers she got use to the taste and later she started biting her nails really bad. I would just let nature take it's course.

My daughter is almost eight years old. She found her thumb at 6 months and, at times, will still put it in her mouth (usually at bedtime or when she is bored). My sister was a thumbsucker and, when she found out my daughter was too, she begged me not to attempt all the awful methods my parents did to her. Eventually, peer pressure puts an end to bad habits. The hardest part for me was just getting over the fact that she put a germ-ridden, dirty thumb in her mouth. But, I will say, that she is very healthy and hardly ever sick!

For all of you laughing, thinking about this thumbsucking grandmother, I meant that I was a FORMER thumbsucker. I broke myself of the habit several years ago. Take care

Well what my mom did too my little brother wuz but hot sauce on his finger he stop about a week. He got madd cuzz he had hot fingers and hot mouth.

Lee, thumb-sucking at ten months is not a major issue. I have three sons, now aged 27, 18 and 14. All sucked their thumbs and all eventually stopped - of their own volition and long before attaining their current ages!

I was lucky in that my brother was also our paediatrician. When I approached him with this, overwrought with guilt at having produced a (gasp!) thumb-sucker, he sat me down and, as only a brother can, said "Megs, get hold of yourself. When the rest of his mates on the football team start to poke fun, he'll probably stop."

He was right, of course:)

xxMegs

Most kids suck their thumb to be able to hlep/rub the sore gums during teething. The best advice I was given when my son had this problem was to give him forzen mini bagels. The bagels are small enough that a baby can hold them themselves and be able to naw on them. By freezing them they give a cool down to the sore gums - while not really numbing them all the way. Because of there texture, the baby will be able to hold onto them for quite a while and they break down in their mouth so the baby won't choke. I found this was a great substitute for the thumb and yet not something else you will have to ween them off of later!

Hope this helps!

Besides suckling being a natural motor activity for babies, your daughter has a need to suck because it is comforting to her or because she is hungry or both. Since I am confident that mom and dad Koo are keeping her well and properly fed, that leaves comfort.

Let her suck, encourage her to suck, because it makes her feel good and comforted. Between her suckling drive and teething gum problems, she just is using whatever is handy --- her thumb --- to feel mo betta.

Kittens will suck handy thread balls and lint on blankets because they have no handy thumbs like we human primates do. You no doubt have observed this suckling behavior. Well, the CATG DNA codes of human babies have been tweaked to make them hairless kittens with thumbs.

Since your daughter is a unique person on to herself, you and your wife need to develop a personalized, customized solution tailored specifically to Mr. & Mrs. Koos Baby Girl --- HER. Do not listen to sure solutions offered by relatives, friends or CNETizens. Gather data, yes, but do your own Baby Koo-Centric Analysis and determine and a craft a solution just for her.

She has a need to suck so fulfill it with a pacifier, teething ring or whatever is needed to get the job done, and in the process wean her off her now sore, raw and calloused and always handy thumb.

In your quest to find a KOO "SOLUTION" to the BABY KOO "PROBLEM," ignore the foul-tasting, non-toxic Tabasco type recommendations in favor of the alternate suckling --- it feels good solutions that will work to get her to trade-in her thumb for your yet to be determined Baby Koo Solution.

Fear not you will get there. and she will be gumming, sucking and gnawing away on something else besides her thumb until you can wean her on to pork chops. JP

This looks good !!
http://www.amazon.com/MAVALA-Stop-Biting-Thumb-Sucking/dp/B0000YUXI0

TMI alert - I will be discussing nipples.
I just had a baby 8 weeks ago. To ease discomfort from breastfeeding they recommend using pure lanolin on my nipples. It does not have to be removed prior to feeding. I would assume that this could at least help her thumb heal.

At ten months old, there isn't much you can do to stop her from sucking her thumb, other than handing her something interesting to hold onto. She'll most likely stop the habit on her own.

Keep this in mind: if it becomes painful, she won't do it.

My advise is don't worry about it for now. By all means, don't say anything to her about it. If it bothers you, just distract her with something more interesting when you notice her doing it.

Andy, Father of eight.

my daughter sucked her thumb up until she was about 6. As she socialzed more with other kids, she lost interest in her thumb either because of peer-pressure (the other kids weren't all doing it) or she was just disctracted from it. Let your daughter use her thumb. What we found effective to treat the blistering was some lip balm (Blistex and Carmex worked best). We put a light coat on the thumb, especially around dinner time when she would be distracted with other things and the thumb could stay dry for some period of time (to allow the balm to work some).
As others have posted before, let her use the thumb, she will eventually grow out of it.

Love this forum and community of wonderful people.
Thank you Karlat for making this place have a human face!

Re thumb issues: Pressure form parents in young age is less hassle then teens teasing.

I would go ahead and helped her to get rid of this habit sooner then later. Especially feel bad about her hurting thumb. I wonder how strong is the addiction if pain doesn't stop it.
I guess taste and comfort are more important to your daughter now.

I was chewing on pens and pencils when I was about 10-12 y.o. Got rid of that by covering all my pens and pencils with something tasting really bad. It helped.

Best wishes
I

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