Thumb-sucking device?

[ladylyons]

Where there's a will there's a way. I was a major thumb sucker until I was about 15 years old. The only reason why I stopped is I got braces and it wasn't enjoyable anymore. My parent's tried all the stuff you paint on the nails, bandaids, even restrained my hand so I wouldn't be able to pull it up to my mouth. Nothing worked. I never heard of a device you could use to help stop. By that point I would only do it at night when I was very tired and if I was in front of family or friends I'd hide behind a blanket. My friends never knew.

I wish you luck and hope he doesn't go that long. By the time I stopped my teeth were so messed up they thought I'd end up having to wear head gear (thankfully it never came to that!!). Bribery seems to work with my kids and that is what I'm doing with my daughter right now. She's only 4 but she really wants a Disney Belle dress and I told her once she quit sucking her thumb she can get it. We put a Belle sticker on the calendar for every successful night. Once she goes an entire month she'll get her dress. Her longest time right now is 3 days. But them she got sick. I couldn't get mad at her there cuz it was that stupid flu/cold that's been hitting everyone!!!

Sorry I probably wasn't much help but hopefully your able to break him now and not later. Good Luck!!

[Lita]

Originally Posted by teacup princess

Get Thumb from the pharmacy. It's a pepper extract you paint on the fingernails and it tastes really bad so they don't want to suck their thumb .

Didn't stop my daughter. She still sucked her thumb and asked for us to put more on her thumb! We now have an appliance in her mouth that has stopped her from sucking her thumb. Her bite is starting to correct on its own now.

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[ampc3]

http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/...mSource=Search

My son 11, was a MAJOR thumb sucker and did extreme damage to his mouth/Jaw we just finished stage one of braces with the headgear to try and minimize some of the damage to his jaw... now he waits another 1-2 year before he will get it all back on... in the end hopefully (no promises) his jaw will be corrected enough that he won't need jaw surgery down the road and $$$$ later.

My son also stopped sucking his thumb during school hours and only did it at home or at night as well.. I bought the thumb guard from the above link when he was in second grade and for us it WORKED it took a couple months but our experience was positive.

if you decide to try that route.... good luck!

[SGB13]

We tried those same thumb guards on my daughter and she just ended up chewing on them. It took band aids to work for her. I understand it's a hazard for little ones, but she was older by the time we did the band aids. That and we had tried everything!
My son did more like yours and stopped except to fall asleep. He still sleeps with his balled fist close to his mouth. Good Luck! Bribery is probably your best bet at 11.

[zoemurr]

Originally Posted by ampc3

http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/...mSource=Search

My son 11, was a MAJOR thumb sucker and did extreme damage to his mouth/Jaw we just finished stage one of braces with the headgear to try and minimize some of the damage to his jaw... now he waits another 1-2 year before he will get it all back on... in the end hopefully (no promises) his jaw will be corrected enough that he won't need jaw surgery down the road and $$$$ later.

My son also stopped sucking his thumb during school hours and only did it at home or at night as well.. I bought the thumb guard from the above link when he was in second grade and for us it WORKED it took a couple months but our experience was positive. if you decide to try that route.... good luck!

Good luck ampc.. I had a friend growing up that sucked her thumb into her teens. She needed jaw surgery. I won't go into the details because it was terrible. And the whole structure of her face was different when she was done. She looked like a different person and her voice was altered as well.

OP I would google this and show him all the information you have since he is certainly old enough to understand.

Then start with the bribery.

[JerseyMouse]

We used "Mavala" with my daughter and it worked:

http://www.amazon.com/Mavala-Stop-Bi.../dp/B0000YUXI0

[CJ1010]

My DS also used to suck his thumb - he didn't completely stop until almost 7.

Here's what I tried:
Thumb (bitter tasting) - kept sucking, didn't even slow him down at all
Plastic thumb guard - spent $75+ for it and he chewed it up like a goat
Bribery - even promised him a pet but he didn't care
Glove - he'd take it off
Bandaid - took it off
Sewing a mitten to the end of his pajamas - ripped the stitches to get his hand out

What finally worked:
The combination of him wanting to quit and wrapping his thumb & part of hand in tape (medical type that wouldn't hurt taking it off). I watched him a few times while sleeping and he'd go to put his thumb in his mouth, but the tape would trigger him to pull it out. Since he wanted to quit, he left it on before falling asleep and then when he was sleeping the tape reminded him not to.

If this hadn't worked, we also would have put in a mouth appliance.

Good luck! It's extremely frustrating.

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[SYDCOLEMOM]

My 9 year old daughter had a night time thumb sucking problem. She was totally unaware of it. Our dentist sent us for an orthodontist consult a few months ago. He recommended Maval Stop (can be purchased on Amazon). We painted it on her nails every night for 2 weeks and she hasnt sucked her thumb since. It does taste nasty but it trains the brain to stop sucking the thumb. Much less expensive than any other options we had. Give it a try.

[angierae]

Originally Posted by StitchesGr8Fan

My personal experience as a former thumb sucker is that until the child is ready to stop, they will find a way. The kid learns to deal with the bitter stuff for a few minutes and then the taste is gone. If the dental device isn't glued in then they wait until it is out. A motivated, creative kid will find a way. They will also find a way to stop. My reason was going to my first sleepover.

I am a nailbiter, and that's exactly what happened with me - I would deal with the taste until it was gone, and then go back to sticking my fingers in my mouth. My daughter was a thumbsucker and when she was about 4 and a half we kept reminding her every few days that when she turned five, she could no longer suck her thumb. On her fifth birthday she woke up and said "I'm five now, I can't suck my thumb." She was upset the first few times she woke up in the night sucking her thumb but she eventually out grew that as well.

For an older child, it's REALLY HARD. I'm 37 years old and I still can't stop biting my nails because I don't even realize I'm DOING it. I will have half my nails chewed off before I'm even consciously aware of it. If your son really wants to stop, he's going to have to do things like wear the gloves to bed, and deal with some nights of having a hard time falling asleep. If he doesn't really want to stop - well, at his age, I would probably shell out for the appliance because that really seems like the only option for a child of that age.

[itsheresomewhere]

A friend made one for her son out of duct tape. They had the one the doctor recommended but he chewed that. The brace she made out of duct tape is removable and tastes bad. It is a slow battle but it is working at night. Now he is chewing his pj sleeve at night.

[ampc3]

Originally Posted by zoemurr

Good luck ampc.. I had a friend growing up that sucked her thumb into her teens. She needed jaw surgery. I won't go into the details because it was terrible. And the whole structure of her face was different when she was done. She looked like a different person and her voice was altered as well.

OP I would google this and show him all the information you have since he is certainly old enough to understand.

Then start with the bribery.

Thanks
I think the headgear at night really helped and looks so much better already! Just hoping that it doesn't move to much again now that everything is off for awhile... My SIL had the jaw surgery as an adult and was AWFUL.. fingers crossed we can avoid that route!

I guess we got lucky with the thumb device b/c my son never tried to "chew" on it as he said it was to big in his mouth lol and didn't like the feel.
bribery always works too

[mamaski]

We used a product called Thumbuddy To Love ($19) and my child loved it. Comes with book, thumb/finger puppet and success chart. I would not use a device put in the mouth...too mean. Thumbuddy to Love is positive and fun for kids...google it.

[minnie1012]

Bribing worked for me when I was little. When I was in the second grade, we went away for a weekend with friends of my parents. Their daughter was a few years older than me and she had her own suitcase. I thought that was so cool! (such simplier times, lol) My parents said I could have my own suitcase if I stopped so I did cold turkey!

My daughter is 4 and I have tried to bribe her and its just not working. I even tried to cut her back to just sucking her thumb at night but now she just sneaks it during the day. Maybe she needs to be older for bribing or I just haven't found the right "bribe" yet!

[danygirl]

I think DD was 10 when she quit thumb sucking. The ortho wanted $500 for the appliance. DH said surely there is SOMETHING she wants that costs less than $500! We were planning a trip to NYC so we told her she could go to the American Giirl Store and pick out a new doll and some stuff. We spent about $150. Saved $350, plus she had the satisfaction of stopping on her own of her own free will. I also think the appliance is a vector for decay, so we avoided more fillings.

[lizzygreen]

I am a fourth grade teacher and had a student last year who still sucked her thumb. First half of year, mom and I had an incentive program in place - it did not work. Mom went to dentist looking for an apparatus for her mouth that would make thumb sucking unpleasant and the dentist actually suggested a low tech solution which worked. Buy a batting gloves, and cut the tips off the four fingers so the child has normal use of the fingers. Keep the thumb part of the glove attached. The child did not want to suck on the batting glove material and she kicked the habit. It is an inexpensive remedy if it works for you. Good luck!