How to stop thumb sucking

[Olive]

im a dental nurse and my DD sucks her thumb!!, to be honest i wouldnt worry til he's 5 or 6 yrs! at this age teeth will reposition them selves, its when the adult teeth come through that you need to worry a bit. ive also read that the more you try to stop it the more they suck it!

[doulamamma]

i was just going to post what AJP posted - it only becomes an issue once the adult teeth come in. My DS also sucks his thumb when tired, sleepy etc., and i dont plan on encouraging him to stop till then. Saying that though, i do have a neice who is 8 and sucks her thumb when tired, upset, and has terrible teeth (and i mean a terrible bite, buck teeth and pushed up - not a good look), they tried to stop her when it was becoming more and more noticeable, but she hasn't stopped.. so its definitely important stop at some stage if you dont want that.
GL (and just to throw my 2c in - i think your dentist is taking you for a ride - be it money or just wanting to get into DS mouth and do some work - harsh maybe, but, really who takes their 2yr to the dentist and is told he needs major work, its thumb sucking we're tolking about)

[MantaRay]

Morgan, I was worried about this with DS2 also, but the MCHN and the dentist both said not to worry. They also both said that the more you try to stop it, the worse you'll make it, so just let him be, he is more likely than not going to stop before he does any harm anyway.

Maybe you should see another dentist and get another opinion?

[morgan78]

Thanks everyone for your advice/thoughts.
It has reinforced mine that i can leave it alone and not worry about it for a couple more years yets.

Thanks again

[ShootingStar]

You can get stuff you put on their thumbs and fingers that tastes terrible, from the chemist. If you cant find that, theres also the stuff you paint on nails to stop kids biting them and that stuff works well too.