Question for the Thumb/Finger Suckers

Ok, my 2 little ones suck their thumbs/fingers. We tried to convert them to pacifiers with no luck <_<

Savannah pretty much sticks to her thumb, but she is an equal opportunity sucker (ie. any finger, thumb, toes she can get in her mouth when she feels like sucking).
Parker, on the other hand, ONLY sucks his left index finger :nea:

It never really "bothered" me. Actually Nathan sucked his fingers also but has already pretty much stopped. We figure she is the one we will have problems with as she gets older since she is truly has got something in her mouth pretty much all the time. Don't take the bottle out of her mouth, or she WILL put that thumb back in it.

But our problem today is Parker. He will only suck on that left index finger. I noticed earlier that not only is his finger red, dry, and flaky - it has split open on the top knuckle. :shok: On the inside when you open the finger straight. Now it is not bleeding, but it is nasty and crusty. We also noticed that when he is crawling, he is favoring that finger too. So I think it is hurting him.

I really am at a loss as to what to do. Nervous about putting lotion/Cortisone on b/c of broken skin and him sucking on it. Nervous about putting on a BandAid cause I am scared he will swallow. We have been popping it out of his mouth when we notice tonight, but many times he sleeps while sucking - not like I can stop that now??!! He sleeps around 10 hours already. Probably b/c he sucks his finger when he goes back to sleep :80:

Anyone else have this problem? Anything you did to help your kiddo out?

 

Poor little guy. My daughter sucks her thumb and her little hand is raw. I don't know what to do either. She does both thumbs equally so I thought I might try putting cream on one hand and then using those mitts on the ends of sleepers to cover just that hand and try to let it heal. Normally they are on 0-3 month sleepers but we have a 9 month pair that has the mitts. But if your guy only does the left finger that may not work. Or maybe do it anyways and then he will suck on the fabric and it will have a chance to heal a little?

 

My two always sucked their left thumbs (still do at night) and Abby's especially used to get so raw and cracked and it had a blister on it. I tried to leave it alone as much as I could, but at times I would put aquafor on it and cover her hand with a mitten. It seemed to help, but she still wanted that thumb. You could try calling your pedi and ask if there is anything safe to put on it in case it gets in his mouth.

 

Both aquaphor and vaseline are safe to put on and will form a barrier between the finger and the moisture. If you notice any swelling around the nail/cuticle or the cracked area looking swollen or crusty, then you should call your ped because it could get infected.

 

What the PP said.

 

I had a thumb sucker once. My 10 year old sucked her thumb until she was 3 & went to the dentist for the first time. He told her she needed to stop & she did, I guess it meant more coming from the dentist than it did from me! :lol:

Anyway, I'm not sure about the cracked skin. We never ran into that problem. My inclination would be to check with your doctor before using anything since it will likely be going in his mouth. I would definitely say no band-aids since you don't want him to choke on it, but I'm not too sure you want them putting any type of cream in his mouth either, even vaseline. I would double check with the doctor on what's safe, I'm sure they deal with this type of problem all the time.

 

My oldest sucked his thumb for years. He would often have the same problems as you mentioned. He actually made a callous, and it would be sucked off time and time again cvreating a sore. I would put medicine on it and wrap it and then he would take it off and continue to suck his thumb; it just never seemed to bother him. I agree with aquaphor, some of the best stuff created. Most likely, though, it bothers you worse than him.

 

Thanks Guys! :Clap:

Parker's finger is better! He must have realized it was hurting him b/c he stopped sucking on it and switched to another finger. We just kept watching it and slowly the cracking and redness went away. The crack is going away "SLOWLY" - but not fast enough I caught him sucking on that finger again this morning :acute: Still popping it out of his mouth though!

I am sure we will have to deal with this again and will definitely try the mitten idea And I agree, Aquaphor rocks!