14 yrs, 2 mths ago

how to stop thumb sucking?

My 5mth old baby girl has been sucking on her thumb for the last month. She usually does it when she is hungry, bored or trying to resettle herself. I try and take it out of her mouth when i see her but she keeps on doing it. Can I stop it? I have read that they grow out of it by 9mths, but I’ve been hearing stories of kids that are 5yo and still suck their thumb. has anyone had any experience with this???

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Replies

  • 13 yrs ago

    My daughter sucked her thumb until her late teens.[in her sleep]
    Nothing ever worked to get het to stop.
    I guess she just outgrew it.
    unlike a dummy ,which can be hidden [she refused it as a baby],a thumb is always accessible.

  • 13 yrs ago

    I sucked my thumb until I was 5 and only stopped because I broke it and couldnt suck over the bandage and the left one jsut didnt feel right. Its quite interesting at mothers group – about half of the mums gave their bubs dummies and half didnt (either they were anti dummies or the bubs just wouldnt take them), and now nearly all of the non dummy babies are thumb suckers. I was quite keen for Isaac to take the dummy as i didnt want him sucking his thumb like i did. I plan on weaning him off it when he is 2. Its going to be hard. He pretty much just uses it for sleep but he seems to have secret stashes around the house so often I’ll find him with his plug in his mouth whilst hes playing with his toys. I always take it out and he doesn’t get upset, but then if he goes through his toy box and finds another plus his face lights up and he does this funny excited squeal before plugging himself…so even though he doesnt ‘need’ it during the day he is extrememly fond of his plug and if allowed would suck it non stop!

  • 13 yrs ago

    Wow how is that going for u dannii??? … I have a thumb sucker!! but she is 16months but she has slowed down doing it a little by herself so ill will see how she goes she might bring herself off it which would be less drama as she is a little drama queen! getting to that terribles 2s early tho! she drives me up the wall sometimes!!! haha like today with her tantrums and i usually ignore them but that isnt making things better so i left the park early with her and took her home she has been tantruming more and more cause she knows i brought her home for being naughty ahhh!

  • 14 yrs, 1 mth ago

    wow softness thats fantastic that she is not thumb sucking at school!! At least you know that slowly but surely she will be out of the habit for good.

    My 6mth old daughter is still thumb sucking but it is only at sleep time, so I’m hoping as she gets older, she’ll be able to self soothe without the thumb sucking. All with time!!!

  • 14 yrs, 1 mth ago

    Good news ness, wait until she starts bringing friends home it will be gone for good 😉

  • 14 yrs, 1 mth ago

    An update on my five year old’s thumbsucking! She has started school but doesn’t (by her own choice) do it at school. This is a real breakthrough for her! Amazing – she has decided that Sucky and Chewy must disappear while she’s at school. You know though – on the way home from school in the afternoon in the car – in it goes!! I think she must just feel like it’s too babyish to do in front of her schoolmates. Bit of peer group pressure can be a positive thing!!!

  • 14 yrs, 1 mth ago

    Yes Beauty ella she is still very young. The maternal health nurse said that by 9months she can grow out of it so I have a few months yet to see if that is true. She did also say that I can distract her when she does do it and this I have been doing. I have never forced her not to suck her thumb, I’m not being that pushy about it!! If she wants to do it at the end of the day, that is fine!

  • 14 yrs, 1 mth ago

    Your baby is still very small. Psychologists say that can not be forced to put out a finger to suck, because it will affect her psyche or mentality. Play and distract your baby.

  • 14 yrs, 2 mths ago

    Hopefully it will be just a stage she is going through, try giving her a teething ring or something and she might suck on that instead 🙂

  • 14 yrs, 2 mths ago

    I have tried to give her a dummy melmeko, but she doesn’t like it!! She sleeps all night 12hrs and doesn’t wake up at all so not sure if its for sleep that she needs it.

    Wow softness can’t believe your daughter inherited it from you! Yes I have heard of many kids that are 5yrs old and still suck their thumb. It must be so frustrating for you and i’ m sure you’ve tried everything. I like the fact that she has called them sucky and chewy !!

    I’ll keep you posted on how she goes!!

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