One Magical Way To Help Stop Thumb-sucking
Habitswe all have them
Habitswe all have them. Our children are no different. Do you remember your childhood habits? Maybe you carried around a special blanket, a stuffed animal or if you were like my neighbor, an old worn out pillowcase. Maybe you sucked your thumb or finger? The time we, as parents, begin to worry about habits is when they interfere with our childrens daily activities or cause physical or emotional harm.
Your child is not alone. Did you know
According to the American Dental Association, 15% of 4-year olds suck their thumbs. As the ADA states, sucking may cause problems with the improper growth of the mouth and alignment of the teeth. It can also cause changes in the roof of the mouth. The intensity of the sucking is a factor that determines whether or not dental problems may result.
If you are like most parents of thumb-sucking children, you worry about what and when to do anything about it. You wonder if you should ignore it and hope he grows out of it soon or face it head on and take action. If taking action seems appropriate, you also wonder when is the right time for your child to stop sucking their thumb?
As a mother, I too had all of those questions, fears, and doubts. I also wondered if I should even tackle the issue at all one mother told me not to worry, assuring me that it was just a phase and would pass. A pediatrician suggested I stop it right away before he starts school because he may develop an over bite. I also was concerned about him getting low self-esteem and getting teased by other children. AAAAAAAHH!
We learned that the first step was to make sure our son was ready. Is your child emotionally ready to embark on this journey to stop sucking his thumb? Are there any outside stresses (i.e. new sibling, going to school, moving etc) which would make this a less than ideal time to address the thumb-sucking habit?
Once you feel comfortable
The next step, which worked for us, was to address his sleep-time thumb-sucking. We created a child friendly sleep-time aid which reminds children not to suck their thumb as they fall asleep or if they wake in the night. This increased our sons ability to soothe himself without sucking his thumb. By deterring the thumb-sucking while your child sleeps, he will learn to self-soothewhich is an important step.
Thats only half of the story
A critical component to your childs success in stopping his thumb-sucking habit is YOU. Positive encouragement, praise and rewarding of the desired behavior from his parents will accelerate his progress. Your child needs to embark on this challenge willingly and with a smileWith a smile?? Are you crazy?? Believe it or not, the way YOU introduce how to stop the behavior is critical to his success in stopping.
Being a child is a magical time. And breaking the thumb-sucking habit at sleep-time can be magical, as well.
by: Dina
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