Thumb sucking and Lovey Addict!

One of my girls is a thumb sucker and is addicted to her lovey. Actually all 4 loveys now. She wants them all day and carries them around the house everywhere she goes. I do find the loveys encourage the thumb sucking, although I have seen her sucking her thumb without the lovey. She use to be good about leaving them in her crib, but then she was sick and we let her have them. We've tried going back to leaving them in the crib, but she throws a tantrum until I cave. She knows she's won that battle. I'm wondering if and when I should take the loveys away and what I should do about the thumb sucking. I feel like it's gotten worse in the last couple of months, since she has the loveys most of the time. I know she'll still suck her thumb without them, but hopefully not as much. I feel bad getting rid of them, since they are her comfort item. I figured I'm going to start with just having them in the crib again. Should I just take them away completely? Any advice on the thumb sucking? I'm afraid her teeth are starting to change from it.

Thanks,
Christie

 

There are solutions like Mavala that you can put on her thumbs to stop her from sucking them. However, some products like Mavala are for 3 years and up. We ended up using it 4 weeks before my DD's 3rd birthday and that was the only thing that stopped her from sucking her thumb.

 

My one son (33 months) is a very bad thumb sucker and we just recently tried the Mavala and he actually liked it! :headbang: The first day he threw up 3 times from the taste. The second day he threw up once and I "thought" it was working.

By day 4 & 5 he began asking for more to be put on his thumb. The taste did not phase him one bit. I got some on my finger and it's horrible but for him I think he's used to the taste.

His front teeth are being pushed forward and he is having articulation problems. He's been in speech therapy for over a year now and will need more because of his articulation issues.

From my research, most kids will stop on their own before the age of 5. If they are still sucking their thumbs when their permanant teeth come in, that is when it can cause long term problems.

I will be adding them on my dental insurance next year and I'll be curious when they say.

I may try the Mavala in a few months. Maybe by having a break from it and then introducing it again will work. ardon:
As far as the lovies, I would try and go cold turkey on them or explain that they can only be used in her crib.

 

I don't think it is fair to take the lovies away completely, they're obviously a security/comfort thing for her.
I would go back to having the lovies only in the crib. I'm sure you will get a major tantrum for the first few days but after a while she will realise you're not going to cave and it should get better from that point, don't let her win the battle. The only trick is to not give in no matter what, stay strong!

Hopefully not allowing her to carry the lovies around all day will help to cut down on the thumb sucking. You can also try to engage her in activities when you notice her sucking her thumb or just gently ask her to stop/remove her thumb from her mouth. I used to do that with Alyssa (my only thumb-sucker), if I saw her with her thumb in her mouth I'd say "Alyssa take your thumb out please". After a while I could just say "Liccy, thumb" and she'd stop.
She is very young for any changes in her teeth to be permanent (as I understand it it's not until after the adult teeth come in and the palate begins to harden that it causes problems), so I would try not to worry about that for now. Have you asked your dentist what they think?

Good luck!

ETA: I would also be concerned that if you take away all her security things (lovies and using something to stop the thumb sucking) at such a young age she will simply attach to something else/develop a different habit. So not only would you have to deal with the upset of her no longer having anything to comfort herself with but you might find yourself back at square one in a couple of months anyway.

 

The standard advice I've heard is not to worry about thumb sucking until permanent teeth come in. So you've got a long, looong time before you have to worry about it.

Why do you want to get rid of the loveys? As long as they're only around the house, what's wrong with her having the comfort she needs? She's not even 2.5 yet.

FWIW, my DD is a thumb sucker, and now she sucks her thumb far, far less than she did at your DD's age - only going to sleep, or when she's very, very tired. This is one of those awesome things in parenting where waiting and doing nothing will solve your problems for you! :lol: (Or make it easier to solve them when/if the need finally arises.)

 

:good: This is what we used (my son was 4 years and 3 months old) and it worked great! Within a few nights he had stopped sucking his thumb.

ETA: Their dentist said the same thing like a pp stated, that until their perm. teeth come in we don't have to worry but I couldn't wait :blush:

 

I would go back to having her keep the lovey in her bed. She can have it, but she has to go back into her bed. Thats what we do around here, mostly because I don't want to have to deal with searching for the lovies at bedtime (lazy momma). For us, sometimes my girls need a little break from their day and they'll go to their room and have a little lovey time. One of mine is a thumb sucker and she really only does it when she has her lovey.

 

How's it going?

thankfully ours don't have this issue... but there are times lately that my dd wants to bring her main lovey out of the crib, and then she fusses when she doesn't have it at bed/nap time... so I really want her to leave it in the crib now too!

anyway, what I was going to say was that at the daycare at our weekly Bible study where I helped out a couple of weeks ago there was a girl who brought a VERY well loved lovey. it was disgusting looking! anyway, it used to be a cute bunny... and she was hysterical, she had it on her head at one point. anyway the teacher told her firmly that it belonged in the cubby. And she marched over and put it there. when the class was over, she was allowed to go get it. I thought it was great that she put it away so nicely. But I also know how my twins listen to others more than me...

good luck!

 

My dd#1 sucked her thumb only with her blanket. We NEVER allowed her to have the blanket outside of her bed. NO EXCEPTIONS. When she was 5.5 y/o she gave me her blanket one day and said she didn't need it anymore and never sucked her thumb again.

dd #2 (will be 5 y/o next month) is also a thumb sucker only with her blanket. We have been a bit more lax with letting her take her blanket out of bed. We recently thought it was getting a bit out of hand so our rule now is if she wants her blanket she has to go go bed. It is not allowed outside of her bed ever. She has actually put herself to bed in the middle of the day several times so she could suck her thumb with her blanket. She got used to the rule quickly and we are going to be quite rigid again with this rule. I have been talking to her about stopping sucking her thumb. She actually tried it one night and it lasted about 5 minutes before she put it in her mouth but I was impressed that she even tried.

 

Mine don't suck thumbs but have lovies that are allowed only in bed. I say have her choose 1 and put it in bed and leave it htere. If she wants to change to a different one, that is fine, but one and only in bed. If she wants it, lay in bed for a while.

 

Thanks ladies. I'm going to start tomorrow morning with leaving the lovey in the crib. She is actually pretty good about leaving them in there, since I won't take her out of the crib until she drops them. It's once we get downstairs that the whining begins. I'm going to be strong and not give in. I know in a few days she'll be over it. I feel bad taking them away completely. The only reason for doing that is to cut down on the thumb sucking. I'm ok if she only sucks her thumb to fall asleep or if she is really upset. I just can't handle her walking around all day with her thumb in her mouth, whining for her "loves"

 

:clapping: :youcandoit: Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

 

good luck!!! stay strong! its only a few days!

 

Hi Christie!

How are you doing?

Good luck with the transition, Im sure it will work out well but may take a day or 2 for her to adapt. I had to do the same with mine. They still have their pacis and loveys too but I only allow them at nap and bedtime. They are good at giving them to me at breakfast time and post-nap. We went through them having them all the time too, due to illness last Christmas/New Year, but after 2 days they gave up the whining crying for them. It´s harder now they´re older, I know, but you can do it! Keep us posted!