5 Yr old sucks thumb with her lovie only, how to break habit?

My 5 year old daughter is an avid thumb sucker. She sucks her thumb from morning, thru noon, until night. We broke the habit last year by taking away her favorite lovie (which broke our hearts) and promised a new toy (her first barbie) for successfully going 3 weeks. She was free of the habit until one day about 6 mos. later when she found her lovie in her closet where I was storing it. And, since then, I have been unable to stop the habit. Both my kids suck their thumbs ONLY in the presence of the lovie (blankey in the case of my son). It seems so mean to take this away, as she LOVES this thing! But, I don't know what else to do, other than buy one of those $75 awful contraptions, which I think she could take off.





Her dentist says she must stop, her teeth and palette are really moving forward. I don't want her to have to suffer though buck teeth and teasing.





Anyone been through this, or have suggestions?

5 Yr old sucks thumb with her lovie only, how to break habit?
Sounds like the only option you have is to take her "lovie" away. I put my sons "blankie" up when he was about six. But if the two go hand-in-hand, get rid of the culprit. It might break your heart right now, but it'll break your wallet when you have to put on braces. Trust me, they get over it, take her to the store, and have her pick out something to replace it with. This time, make sure you put the "lovie" in a safe place so she doesn't find it.





Good luck!
Reply:My mom used to put hot sauce on the fingers I sucked. Worked pretty well :)
Reply:Get some bitter apple spray or hot sauce, or just show her some pictures of ugly people with braces and tell her they sucked their thumbs.
Reply:The dentist can put in a thing called a "rake" and the kids cannot get it off, it will poke her finger every time she tries to suck it. My cousin had to get one in her daughters mouth, and she was 9. I would not take away the lovie, I would let her have it and get the rake put in. She wore hers for 6 months, but I would assume they could leave it in longer if needed.
Reply:Okay, this makes me sad and it's not my child. But, I do think you are going to have to get rid of the lovie (save it somewhere that she will never find it). That way, you can share with her when she is older what she did and how fond of it she was. If this is the only time she sucks her thumb, it will probably stop after you remove it. Additionally, think about this, I have never seen a normal first grader sucking their thumb so they all must grow out of it - realizing on their own that it is not acceptable. Children are smart.
Reply:Okay well


youve tried bribery





have you tried punishement or distraction





if she goes to put the thumb in her mouth


call her - she should take it out and look


then ask her to do something...





you could try baking something


let her mix and at the end let her eat the left over mixture - without a spoon


this will make it fun for her to do





then after washing her hands e.t.c


when she goes to do it again tell her to stop it.





after the third time put her on the stairs and hold her hands so that she cant put them by her face








get her to do something so that her thumb gets dirty and tastes horrible - she shud hate the taste and not want to put it in her mouth





you and her buy a pair of gloves for when she does the dishes


put her on stool or something


and let her wash them. customize the glove so she will want to wear it when she does that certain thing





get thumb puppets - this way she will get used to her thumb wearing things and not putting the thumb in her mouth..





after a while she should get used to of been doing other things with her thumb then actually putting it in her mouth





this will also mean spending time with her and bonding





another thing that i done to stop my little sister putting her thumb in her mouth was copy her





b4 she does it she does something else like a movement or something - watch out for this


then when she does it


go face to face with hair and copy what she does


she'll either get annoyed and take her thumb out of her mouth and start a tantrum


or


start to laugh and do other actions that you then copy





if none of the fun things work then punishment like the stairs thing is a must





then if that fails try and get a dumy - babies i know but at least its not her thumb





or you could paint her nails ( i know shes only 5 but you can do nice colours and let her pick) then the taste of the varnish will make her stop or u brainwash it in to her that when she has the paint on her nails she cant put her thumb in her mouth or the paint gets washed off





dont get rid of the lovie!
Reply:Put her lovie in a special box with her other baby things and store it in the basement, attic, or somewhere she won't find it. Clearly if she made it 6 months without it, she doesn't need it.



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