by 
Anonymous
ANSWERS: 10
-
I knew of a 20 something year old who still sucked her thumb. The earlier the better. Edit: I think that I should have put it this way. If your child or you would be embarassed for people to see him/her sucking his/her thumb then it's definitly time to quit. There comes an age where if children see a child sucking his or her thumb that child will get teased. School age children who still suck their thumb can also cause them to need expensive orthodontic treatment later in life. This would be a really good question to ask your pediatrician or dententist at your child's next checkup.
-
I go to a mom and tot group and in the past month their have been presentations by a dental hygenist, and a speech therapist. My son is 20 months and he still has a soother so I asked them pretty much the same question. The answer for the dental hygenist is around the age of 4, but I do know of children younger than this who have dental problems from soothers/fingers. The speech therapist said that the soother/fingers should be gone by the first birthday, to prevent speech problems later in childhood. One child in this group is already seeing the speech therapist because he sucks his first two fingers, his third birthday is in September. She also recommended that any child over the age of 16 - 17 months use a regular cup or straw cup instead of a sippy cup. The sippy cup mimics the same sucking motion as the soother/fingers. Hope this info helps!
-
A child should stop sucking his or her thumb as soon as the thumb sucking starts to affect their dentistry. This can be quiet young because before a child's teeth even come in, thumb sucking can cause the roof of the mouth to form around the shape of the thumb, which can change the shape of the jaw line. This in turn not only negatively affects the teeth; it negatively affects the jaw line. I not only learned this from a dentist, I learned about this first hand from my sister and her daughter. Both thumb suckers whose jaw line was affected terribly thumb sucking to a point to where their otherwise perfectly straight teeth point inwards. And when you look at them, even with their mouths closed, you can tell that something is off.
-
Thumb sucking is a "comfort or security-type of behavior for a child. Therefore its very important to ensure that when your child stops doing it, that they are secure and self confident. If you feel that they are not, try to replace it with a toy or another comfort item. Be sure to spend lots of time with your little one to ensure that they know that even though one of their special things are gone, they still have Mommy. As far as it being a dental concern. Every dentist will tell you something different. I know someone who sucked their thumb well into their twenties and does not have any dental damage. I'd look at it more from the self confidence/security side and do everything to ensure that your child makes this transition in the most positive way possible. Good luck!
-
I dont know, but you should try giving them a pasifier(binki).
-
they all stop at different ages. but you should try to ween them off when they are really beginning to get their teeth. it can cause buck teeth.
-
sucking your thumb is a comfort thing, children to it a night so they dont feel alone, when they decide to stop it is a sign of independence, it is sort of like coming off the tit, they do it in there own time =]
-
I stopped sucking my thumb at about 17 years. Don't know why I carried on that long. It didn't affect my teeth. Whether it did me any harm in the ling run, I cannot say.
-
I don't know but I stopped in grade 5...
-
My daughter sucked her thumb until her two front teeth fell out. She said that it didn't "taste" right anymore. Now she has $7,000 worth of braces in her mouth 50% was caused by thumb sucking and the other 50% was passed on from her father.
RELATED QUESTIONS
Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC