Rory Mycek is a guest contributor from www.TopDentists.com, the dental resource site of Everyday Health.
Many babies and toddlers choose to suck on their thumb or fingers. After all, some babies have developed this habit while still in the womb! At first it starts out as something that’s comforting to them, calms them down, and it looks cute…because every quiet baby is cute, right? Thumb-sucking only becomes a bad habit once they reach 2 to 4 years old, and then it becomes an issue that parents will need to face. Some parents do get lucky when their children stop on their own when they notice that their young peers aren’t participating in the same behavior.
Now there are nice ways to tackle this issue and not so nice ways, but quite honestly your child may not notice the difference. Let’s focus on some of the nicer ways to help your child stop sucking their thumb:
1. Only let your child suck on their thumb when they are napping or down for the night. This way your child will slowly phase away from sucking on their thumb if they associate this behavior with sleeping.
2. Associate stopping thumb-sucking with growing up. I don’t think I’ve met a child yet who doesn’t
Check out Thumbuddy To Love…great product for kids because thumb sucking does not just stop on its own and it is positive and fun reinforcement and kids love it!