How To Stop Thumb Sucking By Your Child | Thumb Sucking in Babies

Thumb sucking is one of the first coordinated acts by a baby for comfort and pleasure. Parents usually start to worry too early about how to stop this habit of their children. It is not necessary to stop this problem before the age of four unless parents notice a problem in their teeth due to vigorous thumb sucking.

Thumb sucking does not really lead to prominent teeth, except in children who are growing permanent teeth.Children should have stopped sucking their thumbs by the time the permanent front teeth are ready to erupt. Most children usually stop thumb sucking between the ages of 2 and 4.

If thumb sucking is stopped before the age of four, generally the teeth will return to their normal place within the mouth and appear less "bucked." However, as the child grows older, the teeth move less easily and therefore may not return to their original position. Because permanent teeth follow the entrance pattern of toddler teeth, they will then typically enter where the baby teeth are.

Children who rest their thumb passively in their mouth are less likely to have difficulty than children who suck aggressively. If you're concerned, closely monitor your child and analyze his technique. If they appear to be sucking vigorously, you may want to begin curbing their habit earlier.

Get a thumb guard - thumb guards are simple gloves which protect only the thumb and prevent the child from sucking on it. Encourage the child to wear the thumb guard till the time the habit is quit.

Prolonged thumb sucking in your child can lead to some problems. Some of the problems that can occur if your child sucks their thumb for too long includes speech problems as well as problems with their teeth. Although these problems can occur, usually parents do not need to worry too much about the thumb sucking problem. Most children get over it with no problem on their own.

To help you decide what to do, you'll need to discover how deeply ingrained these habits are. A mild habit might more easily be released by your child when you ignore the behavior and distract her with more interesting activities.

Thumb-sucking children might get - buck teeth, open bite, cross bite and crowding of teeth. It is not necessary that the habit of thumb-sucking causes movement of teeth in all cases. Bite changes might cause problems in chewing, swallowing and talking. Thumb-sucking children have a tendency to withdraw themselves when they suck their thumbs.

Your goal why you wanted to make your kid stop thumb sucking is to push him away from the possible dangers that thumb sucking could cause. That is why, because of this idea, you get too blinded and become very aggressive in making your kid stop thumb sucking.