How to Stop Thumb Sucking in Your Child

With much debate, many pediatricians and parents struggle with the complication of infant thumb sucking. As an essential survival instinct, many newborns immediately begin sucking the thumb and fingers shortly after birth with some fetuses historically showing a tendency to suck the thumb even in utero. Because thumb sucking further enhances the infant''s development of the central nervous system, parents and pediatricians, alike, will tolerate thumb sucking for some period of time as part of natural child growth and development.

Historically, thumb sucking is found more commonly in girls that in boys with many young children naturally exploring fingers and thumbs from birth and then subsequently persisting with thumb sucking due to the influence of other siblings who may be thumb sucking as well. For many parents, the use of pacifiers have proven ineffective in alleviating the thumb sucking tendency of small children. However, putting an end to thumb sucking is crucial for not only speech development but also neurological and social development.

So, what is a parent to do when a child refuses to discontinue thumb sucking? First, choose a weekend when the child is free of interaction from daycare or school and work on reducing the thumb sucking activity by persistent and consistent reinforcement. Expressing, verbally, to the thumb sucking child, the reasons you are concerned about the continued thumb sucking may work to plant the seed within the child to modify her own behavior. Also, examine the times when the child most often shows a tendency to suck the thumb. Is it when the child is sleepy? Does the child suck the thumb when attached to another object such as a blanket? If so, attempt to remove the attachment item when appropriate and also use distracting reinforcements in an effort to reduce thumb sucking during specific times of the day. The key to success is to remain consistent and persistent for three to four days with continual monitoring of the child's thumb sucking and patiently removing the thumb from the child's mouth, providing an alternative activity with the hands.