Thumb sucking in infants is never really a concern until the child’s permanent teeth come in. At this point, it becomes a major issue as the sucking might affect the roof of the mouth or the way the teeth line up. A lot of dental problems are related to how intense, how often, and for how long your child’s thumb sucking lasts.
Naturally, babies have rooting and sucking reflexes that cause them to constantly put their thumbs into their mouths, even before birth in some cases. Unbeknownst to you, thumb sucking fascination makes babies feel secure, so they begin as a soothing effect to help them sleep.
Most kids often stop thumb sucking on their own between 6 and 7 months or at a later age of 2 to 4 years. But that never wipes the habit out entirely, as some do take it up again for different reasons, which could even be in times of stress.
Thumb sucking may look cute and all, but at some point, it just has to stop. How is the elephant in the room so big that convincing them to drop it is as hard as making them realize that breast milk and bottle milk can sometimes taste the same?
For what it’s worth, just know that no matter how hard it looks, your kid is not going to get to the university while still thumb-sucking. So how about you relax your nerves first, and then we look into how this miracle can be brought to reality?
Here we go:
- Apply bitter polish on the child’s nails. This is not the best thing to do, but somehow it may work. A taste of it may keep them alert and away from thumb sucking.
- Observe the pattern they use or apply during thumb sucking. Some do it right before bedtime as a way of soothing themselves to sleep. Offer a better sleep inducer and soothing method, but make sure it’s baby-friendly. Try a warm cup of milk or baby-safe herbal tea before the routine nighttime teeth brushing. Thumb sucking, on the other hand, may occur when they are anxious, sad, or angry; find a coping mechanism for your baby to help keep them active and away from thumb sucking.
- Attach a reward to it and be generous enough to offer it every time they surpass the time frame. This may be tricky, as facing it head-on will need a lot of convincing, which may well lead to relapse, but try anyway. While being extremely vigilant, children are adept at concealing their actions.
- Introduce hand stoppers. It could be so frustrating as it will often limit the child’s movement, but the frustration may be the remedy. Be present throughout so that they do not become overly stressed Hand stoppers are more like braces attached to the child’s elbow to reduce flexing; this means no more extreme arm bending all the way to the mouth.
- Bring the child to the dentist when the situation is no longer manageable. A nudge from someone else can sometimes serve as a breather. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself; let the professionals handle it. Pediatric dental clinics have lots of colorful, kid-friendly educational resources that help kids put their minds at ease.
In response to this, we at Elimuzazi have this to say: thumb sucking is an incredibly difficult habit to break, and by putting too much pressure on the child, you may end up overly delaying it. Try not to worry too much; it’s a face and it shall pass, maybe not within your desired timeframe, but it sure will pass.