Please help with my 4 yr. old?

Our rule is in bed only. That is the best we have come up with. Geesh I wish my kids would have taken to the paci!

My brother had this problem, and our pediatrician came up with a really inventive (and positive) way to deal with it.

First, my mom had to spend a few days just making a note anytime he sucked his thumb. This was to see whether there was a pattern of when he did it. It turned out, it was going to sleep and watching TV and in the car. All times when he was 'tuning out'.

Then, the pediatrician asked my brother about what he liked. It turns out he was really into Mr. Rogers Neighborhood at the time. So, using 2 tongue depressors and some tape, the doctor made "finger puppets" for him. They were about 1 inch longer than his thumb (just cut the tongue depressors to fit). My brother got to take them home and make King Friday and X the Owl -- one set for bedtime, one set on top of the TV, and one set in the car. Anytime he was in those places, he was to put his puppet on his thumb.

It lasted 2 weeks, but I really don't think it took him that long. There is something about going to put his thumb in his mouth and banging into a puppet that just broke him of the habit. The trick was just being consistent with it.

As a reward, the pediatrician made a plaster cast of my brother's thumb and painted it with gold spray paint. It was like his little trophy. And he's a lawyer now (and it still sits on a shelf in his home office!)

Good luck! Hope this gives you a good idea.

I feel your pain. My 5 year old daughter still sucks her thumb at night to go to sleep and she will also do it if she's watching TV. All I have to say if I catch her when she's awake is "thumb" and she immediately takes it out. I've given up on the punishments (tried hot sauce and tape on the thumb and loss of TV rights) but it doesn't work for very long. I realized that she'll give it up on her own.

Guess she inherited the thumb sucking from me as I sucked my own thumb until I was about 6, then one day just stopped.

Just watch her for signs that she is leaning on her fingers which could push her teeth forward.

I had a friend who put tabasco sauce on her child's thumb to get him to stop. I had another friend (a dad) come up with giving "ice pops" (ice with a stick in it, so no sugar) when the kid would go to suck her fingers. Kind of a replacement therapy, I guess. You may also try more of a reward system where she gets some small token (like a pretty sticker) each time she goes a while without sucking on her fingers. I used a sticker chart for my daughter when she was that age and it really helped encourage good behavior.

I did it too, til I was like 10, my parents tried everything, hot sauce even. it is like a cigarette to a child, very habitual. The only thing that broke me was my hands and fingers growing and it was no longer soothing and comforting. good luck!

lol awh. i used to suck my thumb when i was a kid too. they all have theyre own way of comforting themselves. i had a blanket and a little coner that i would keep at my nose and my thumb in my mouth. i drug that thing around EVERYWHERE. it was washed atleast once a day. but then when i got older (like 4-5) i left inside because it started to ware down :]] but if she sucks her thumb let her. its not hurting anything. if the only reason you dont want her sucking her thumb is because of germs then make her wash her hands frequently. and tell her that she can get sick if she doesnt because the mean, nasty germs will get in her system and make her very sick. and to keep her good and healthy were she can play and have fun, she has to wash her hands very well before she sucks her thumb.

It takes a lot of patience, tell here everytime when she suck on her thumb that it's dirty, she may put all germs in her mouth, eventually she'll stop.

My daughter is 4, and sucks her thumb when ever she gets near a knitt blanket....they all have their own ways to comfort themselves...I tell her that if she wants to do that, she must do it in her room. After 5 minutes alone in her room, she gets bored, and comes out, without the thumb! I would keep washing her hands frequently though, to help control what she is getting in her mouth.

yikes, good luck with that!