My friend's 8 year old child still sucks her thumb. She only does it in the night when she goes to sleep but her teeth are pushed out, Braces will probably fix the teeth but i'm worried about if she will ever stop? She has tried giving her rewards for not doing it in the night but she is just NOT stopping i even tried wit h her does anyone know how to stop the thumb sucking before this gets any worse (like if she gets a bad illness doing it)
Oh yeah and another thing.

My 2 year old daughter keeps running around shouting over and over "It's christmas time!" But i don't know if this is something to worry about or if its just from her excitment?

Okay, i saw my friend today and she was worried about something on her daughters thumb. Because of the thumb-sucking ( i think?) some of the skin on her thumb got sort of hard-ish and then some skin was peeling off. Now everytime she bends it you see a cut-like thing, like a small red line that is a cut, it's hard to explain... It looks like a cut that is no longer bleeding but it didn't bleed. She doesn't complain that it hurts when she bends her thumb and says it only hurts if she pokes it.

When I was little, I sucked my thumb until I was about 8 or 9. Of course, after all that sucking, my two front teeth were sticking out. To fix the problem, my dentist made wear a retainer to push the teeth back and to stop my thumbsucking, he affixed short metal prongs (not sharp!!!) on the roof of the retainer so it was physically impossible for me to suck my thumb. I recall that I had some initial difficulties with my speech but there was no pain. It sounds barbaric but it worked!! Perhaps your friend's dentist might offer some solutions.

Also, my six year old son asks every hour of every day about Christmas. He always asks, "How many sleeps until Christmas!". It's annoying but for a six year old, this is the best time of the year. Enjoy the season with your daughter and don't worry about her over-exuberance for the holidays.

And if she does continue, is there really any reason to be concerned, aside from the possible damage to her teeth, which, as you note, can be corrected by braces? As long as she does it privately, I don't see any need to worry. I've never heard of a child getting sick from doing it, though I suppose that's possible. Just make sure she washes her hands a lot. Sucking her thumb is probably something she just finds relaxing and may do off and on for the rest of her life. It sure beats smoking and drinking as far as bad habits are concerned!

My now 24 year old son had the same habit of sucking his thumb. I know about the "thing" on his finger. I think it was a callous. He is now very well adjusted even tempered young man. He did it in his sleep well into high school. May still do it, but I haven't heard his girlfriend complain.

So about this "callous" What is it? Can it heal on it's own? My friend was really zonked out when she saw the cut thing (she gets panicy over silly things)..

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If hands get wet and cold and dry they can get little cuts on them. Nothing to worry about. I get little cuts this time of year on my fingers becasue of the weather.

Use can use lanolin on the cuts on her thumb.Otherwise they will heal.I agree with other posters that thumb sucking well into their adult years is normal and actually very common. I wouldn't worry about her getting sick but the opposite as long as she keeps her hands pretty clean she is probably strengthening her immune system with little germs all the time. I along with many people I know sucked my thumb for a long time but was very rarely sick and almost never more than a cold.

I go along with Shelliam - thumb-sucking may actually strengthen the immune system by exposing it to all kinds of germs. I was a long-time thumb-sucker, and I've never been bothered much by colds or flu. When the rest of my family gets really sick with colds, my symptoms are typically milder and go away faster. The only sick days I've taken in recent years are to stay home when my own kids are sick!

I'd lay off the poor kid and let her suck away if she wants. Just make sure she knows it's something to do in private.

Hello everybody.

Yes she is pretty clean and when she gets home from school she washes her thumb with soap and warm water.(she sometimes sucks her thumb in the day too, never at school, only in the home which is in a pretty private place since she only has a baby sister and a mum and dad) Her mum works as a cook (like me) in a restuarant and she knows a lot about washing hands so i think the being clean thing is what my friend is already doing.
I'm not worried about constant thumb sucking anymore and my friend has read this post and isn't concerned either. But we are wondering how long the cut will take to go away?

Thanks everybody for all your help!

Soph.

Also i will try to explain a bit more about the cut (just incase!)

Ok so it's on her right thumb, about 1.1 cm from the bottom of her nail, it started when there was a small bump (hardly was noticable) on her the thumb and the skin was hard, the skin started to pull of so she took it off (which didn't hurt) and then the next day there was a red line and looked like a cut and there is still some hard skin around it, i'm pretty sure it will just go away on its own (it doesnt trouble the child) but its as they say, better safe than sorry!

I sometimes get those in the winter due to dry skin. They can take weeks to go away and are very persistent. They also can hurt a bit. The best thing to do is moisturize the area as often as possible. I use a cream I buy at the drugstore called Lubriderm Advanced Therapy for extra dry skin.

It may take a while if she sucks a lot. As long as she is not in pain and the cut isn't open she should be fine. The lanolin I suggested is used for breastfeeding moms and helps protect cracked skin from moisture and is completely safe for ingestion. That should help her heal faster and may help prevent an infection if it is open.

It's kind of open but my friend put a plaster on it.
It only hurts when she pokes it but if she leaves it alone it just feels like her normal thumb :bouncing:

My daughter is only 4. She sucked her thumb until 2 yrs old. We went to visit her grandpa(my father in law) and he told her he would cut it off if she sucked it. I could have strangled his neck! She quit but she started peeing in her pants. She had never peed in her pants or bed! What a nightmare!!

I sucked my thumb til I was about 13. I had an overbite. I didn't need braces or anything. It pretty much went back to normal. I still have a slight overbite. Nothing obvious though. I also had the callous on my thumb. It is just from teeth rubbing on it. No biggie. It probably won't go away until she quits completely. I guess good way to know if she is still sucking her thumb when she gets older! lol!

Young Mother,

She isn't sucking the thumb with the cut only the other one... so i guess it will heal?

Soph.

Oh, okay. Well then who knows where that came from. If it is possible to put a band aid on or a little bit of guaze, then, I would just put some neosporin or bacatracin on it and cover it. I wouldn't put any lotions on it. Even the baby lotion can irritate the skin when it is open or chapped. It should heal up.

I havn't posted here for weeks. I know i shouldn't worry about somebody else's child, but the father works a lot and my friend has to look after a 5month old son (and i babysit her). Her 2 front teeth are so pushed out, when she smiles all you can see is the 2 front teeth and a few others. I think she has coated tongue aswell, should she just brush her tongue everyday when she brushes her teeth? Doctor isn't helping, all he said to my friend was "She will grow out of it", the dentist said to the 8 year old that she would have "goofy teeth" if she didn't stop, she did not listen.

She should brush her tongue when she brushes her teeth. I don't think thumb sucking is a big deal. I had sucked mine until I was about 14. My dentist kept telling me that crap to. I'll tell you what, I was voted for prettiest smile my senior year! I have a slight overbite. I had been told by several people I would end up with buck teeth. Buck teeth is something that is inherited. This child may have a slight overbite when she gets older. When she decides it is time to quit, she will. Her teeth will go back some and if they don't she can get braces as an adult. Right now, her teeth will look funny. She is either just getting or just got her adult teeth. It will take some time to grow into them. I know alot of kids look real funny for a little bit until they grow into their new teeth. Dentists and doctors really don't know all. Sometimes, them saying stuff to get you to quit just backfires and makes it worse. It gives some children a complex where they just feel ugly. I had a doctor tell me that I would be overweight and have heart problems. I was only 12 years old. I weighed 125 and was 5'4. I never got any taller or put on any more weight. I was done growing at age 12. I have now had two children and still don't weigh anymore. At that age though, it really hurt me. I became very depressed and didn't leave my room for about 6 months after that.

My little girl sucked her thumb until age 3. Her grandpa made a big deal out of it. He ended up telling her he'd cut her thumb off if she didn't quit. Well, she did quit. Then, she started peeing in her pants. She hadn't peed in her pants since she was 18months old. Some children do it for comfort. Instead of a favorite toy or blanket, they suck their thumb. I understand you worrying about some else's child. That is okay. This isn't something you should worry about though. It isn't a life or death situation. It is okay. I'm just letting you know that if the issue is pressed, it could make matters worse. Children don't get sick from it. Even not washing their hands. It actually helps build their immune system some. It's not hurting anything other than maybe her teeth and that is something that can be fixed if need be.

God Bless!! :angel:

Hi all, my daugter is 6 and sucks her thumb. She has a pretty bad overbite. On her last dental visit, her dentist and i discussed the issue, he recommended this thing he would put in the roof of her mouth that is a rolly thing so that when she put her thumb in it would roll out. He said we would discuss it more seriously if she was still sucking at her next visit in 6 mo. Since then i bought a metal pinky splint that i put on her thumb at night and tape it on with medical tape. She is doing great. So far, so good. I will let you know if it works perminantly. It seems to be the cheapest way to correct the problem anyway.lol :-)