Persistent thumb sucking in older children may be a symptom of emotional distress. He or she may be plagued by feelings of sadness or anxiety, and thumb sucking may continue to be a form of self comfort. If this sounds like your child, insisting that he or she stop thumb sucking will only make matters worse. Instead, try to discover the source of your child's sadness or anxiety.
Parents often begin to worry about a child if he or she continues thumb sucking past age four or five. While it's perfectly normal to be concerned that the child's habit reflects poorly on your parenting skills, it's counterproductive to let your son or daughter know how upset you are or use wrongheaded measures to make the child stop thumb sucking. But what are the potential consequences if your child does not quit by this age, as most do?
According to the American Dental Association, thumb sucking can lead to problems if it persists after permanent teeth have come in. The constant sucking can cause misalignment of teeth and affect the proper growth of the mouth. The severity of the problem seems to depend on a child's individual sucking style: Kids who simply rest their thumbs on their tongues tend to have fewer problems than children who suck vigorously.
As a child reaches school age, thumb sucking could pose social problems. In one study, first-graders were shown photos of two seven-year-old kids. In one set of photos, the children were sucking their thumbs, in the second set they were not. The first-graders rated children in the thumb-sucking pose as less intelligent, happy, attractive, and desirable as friends. Psychologists say thumb suckers are frequent targets of teasing.
Other potential problems for children who suck their thumbs chronically include infections of the thumbnail, thumb malformation, and the possibility of poisoning (if a child touches a toxic substance before inserting a thumb in the mouth).
There are a variety of dental devices that can be used to help a child stop thumb sucking, but only use one if the child accepts it. Forcing a child to use such a device can damage a child's psyche, which can be harder to fix than misaligned teeth.
Thumbing sucking can be a vexing problem for parents. Understanding the origins, as well as a strategy for breaking your child of the habit, can give you peace of mind.
