thumb/finger sucking

Posted December 16th, 2007 by sbolton1

habits

My almost 3 year old daughter has the habit of sucking her thumb or index finger right before bed/naptime. Her dentist told us that she needs to stop doing it because it's messing up her teeth and causing an overbite. We've tried telling her that it hurts her teeth when she sucks her finger and that she needs to stop-- hasn't worked. We've tried giving her other comforting things to hold when she's sleepy or getting ready for nap/bedtime-- hasn't worked. Any other suggestions?

I'm no dentist or

On December 17th, 2007 momto1lil1 says:

I'm no dentist or orthodontist, but I don't see how it could be affecting her and causing her to have an overbite at this state, considering she doesn't have adult teeth yet. I think I'd be more concerned once she's gotten her permanent teeth. Accordingly, the ADA mentions that it may cause problems after the permanent teeth come in, but doesn't mention anything about it while still having baby teeth.

http://www.ada.org/public/topics/thumbsucking.asp

I honestly wouldn't be too concerned at this point.

My daughter is eight years

On December 17th, 2007 maddygirl says:

My daughter is eight years old and she sucked her thumb too until about a year ago. We put band-aids on her thumbs at night-she sucked her thumbs before bed like your daughter-and this has stopped the habit. Her dentist was not concerned either and said that until she got her adult teeth it was no big deal. You can also get the book David Decides from the library and it has a story about a boy who stops sucking his thumb and charts, positive reinforcement ideas etc. that will help. Again, I would not really be concerned at this point, she will stop when she's ready. I think it bothers parents more than it does the child.