Tired of Tucker’s thumb-sucking, Chuck recently told him we would buy him a brand new bike if he would stop sucking his thumb…later that day I overheard Tucker telling Hezekiah when he got his new bike he was going to sell it to buy a LEGO set.
Umm, clearly Chuck has missed the mark a bit with the promise of a brand new bike. After chatting with him, he told him if he could quit sucking his thumb for the whole month of April, we’d buy him a new LEGO set.
And you know what? He did it!
$49.99…a whole lot cheaper than braces.
That’s great! We had 2 thumb suckers and the promises if getting their ears pierced worked for us! Sadly we did it too late and braces were still necessary. But so much easier to give incentives to motivate child which removes the battle. I hate battles.
Tara, I don’t think Tucker wanted his ears pierced 😉
hahahaha!!!!
Ahhh, the power of Legos. 🙂 He looks so proud!
My daughter quit sucking her thumb once, pretty early on. Her teeth were a mess by age 3. They were her baby teeth of course, but the dentist said then her jaw was aligned improperly and malformed so braces were likely. She quit sucking her thumb bc in her 5 yr old mind, then daddy would come home early from deployment. We do not know why she made that up. when she found it wasnt so, she started again… Congrats to Tucker! Legos are amazing. We have a huge collection of them.
I am in the same boat. Our daughter..4.5yrs..has sucked her thumb since she was an infant. It used to be we would only see her sucking when we checked on her in the crib falling asleep..then we noticed her thumb was wrinkled upon waking. Her first dentist was at age 1 and the dentist already said she would need braces….all my NON thumb suckers also were labled as needing braces as well.
The dentist told us it was no big deal. She is really strict too so we were suprised. To give you an idea if she asked “bottle?..ok no..then sippry cup?…no..ok what about straws?” All these things she basically sees as evil so if she is not worried..neither are we.
She does however now suck for comfort all the time. it drives her brother who has ADHD nuts. Not to mention she also is a tip toe walker( Ped also not concerned). I worry more about when she is playing in dirt and then a few min later puts her thumb in mouth.
The dentist said it is more traumatic to say threaten her or pester her about it etc….She gets anxious alot around her brother as he has his outbursts etc..If it was merely a habit I may push harder. I hope she will stop on her own. we have tried asking her to only do it in her room at night. Something will have to change as she has started doing it in stores etc. i think she does it when she is tired also.
Wow, so Legos have that much power in your house….lucky:) He probably doesn’t know it, but he is sneaking in some “commercial toys” with the “Pirates of the Carribean” lol
My daughter has had a lot of anxiety too, and used her thumb to soothe. Even if she has caused the need for braces, we did the best we could. Her brother had a lot of problems, wont go into them here, that are much improved now but that led to a lot of needs for him. She was happy going along in life, we were grateful for her thumb. She stresses so much over deployments, she just stopped permanently sucking her thumb bc braces are about to go on. We now have some stressers at bedtime, but it is what it is. She is nearly 10 now and we just have to soothe to the best of our ability. I wouldnt do it differently, even if the dentist says I should I would let any subsequent children be thumb suckers… It was so necessary for her.
Our daughter’s friends’ dentist gave her a googly eye ring and told her in a very serious voice that these googly eyes were to stay on her fingers all the time. They were to help remind her, “Don’t suck you thumb, don’t suck your thumb, don’t suck your thumb.” They had her hold her two thumbs up to compare and talked about how one was so shiny and pretty and the other one was all wrinkled and not very pretty. They told her they wanted her wrinkly thumb to get pretty too and the only way was for her to stop sucking. This little girl stopped sucking her thumb 99% of the time in about a week. I then took my daughter to the dentist (we don’t go there) and asked for googly eyes which I paid $0.50 for. The receptionist gave the same speech to my daughter and in less than two weeks she stopped sucking her two fingers! It took a few gentle reminders, the encouragement of a gift at the end but no threats. Both girls are just past 4.
yeah my daughter could care less that her thumb is all wrinkly. She says it makes her feel good and that’s all that matters. If it really is a soothing thing than I don’t see the point. If just a habit then that is a different story……her thumb actually looks pretty good…just wet…lol…i asked about prizes and she wasn’t interested….we never did pacifiers and I am more than pleased. I see kids at the gym with pacifiers who are about 4-5….I would rather my kids self soothe with thumb/hand as babies…she is the only thumb sucker…worse things to worry about in our house like our oldest son
Liz, I’ve seen Tucker’s teeth be pushed forward over the years…I read a long time ago, that if a kid is latching properly, it won’t affect the teeth, but if they are adding slight pressure, that’s a problem. At any rate, he hasn’t gone back to sucking it!
And I could write a whole other post about my frustration with almost all of the LEGO sets being a movie tie in 🙁 But I’ll spare you. For now.
Our ‘baby’ is a thumb sucker. At one point about a year ago I looked at his thumbs (both, he sucks indiscriminately) and freaked out bc they looked so odd. Well, the weather changed and they were chapped from being wet so often outside. Really gross. But not gross enough for me to try and stop the habit. He looks so sweet sleeping with his thumb in his mouth…
I know my daughter’s thumb looks a bit weathered…..she only sucks one of them. she will even request me not to do “nip it” on that nail. she says it’s always sore after…..oh dear…I can’t stand the slurping sound when I read next to her in bed….
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We help children break the thumb sucking habit and love to hear success stories.
Congratulations!!
Never had a thumb sucker & didn’t use bottles or pacifiers & my 1st two kids need braces anyways….1st one is done & I scheduled the 2nd one today to get them on the day after school gets out!
Well, yes, kids can definitely just need braces (like Tilly) but his front teeth are being pushed forward by his thumb sucking. No need to make things worse 🙂 Besides, he’s six and old enough to quit.
I’m just wondering if there will be consequences(like loss of lego’s) should he regress? My brother was a thumb sucker and it drove my parents nuts. I’ve been lucky enough that none of my children have been thumb suckers.
Jessica- he hasn’t gone back to sucking it because he’s out of the habit.
You know, here in Australia (and in NZ), braces arent such a big deal. To see a teenager with them is usually a surprise and something you’d notice as out of the ordinary. I really think people rush to put braces on when sometimes there isnt the need.
Heather I agree….I mean I am not a dentist but saying all my kids need braces at their first visit at 1 yr old is a bit much…..I have perfectly straight teeth…just pure genetic luck…i saw a pic of myself in jr high/high school and my teeth were like vampire sharp and very crooked..i was so much in shock. they just straightened out and the sharpness is gone….my parents couldn’t have afforded braces so i wonder if it was ever brought up….but i was so shocked by the pic…
Heather, I COMPLETELY agree. Almost all of my friends, literally, have kids in braces or some type of orthodontic work. It’s a huge business here. Everyone has to have perfect teeth.
“later that day I overheard Tucker telling Hezekiah when he got his new bike he was going to sell it to buy a LEGO set”
This CRACKED me up. =)
My 4 year old just stopped sucking her 2 fingers this past month after receiving a “googly eye” ring to help her stop. I promised her she could go to Wal-mart and pick out a toy from the toy section. I was thinking about the $20-30 range. She ended up picking out silly putty for $1.00! haha. When you’re 4, the value of a gift doesn’t really matter. I let her pick out a few items for her bike that she just started riding as well. Great job Tucker! Enjoy that Lego set!