Thumbsucking is a common habit for so many children, and your child may fall asleep sucking his or her thumb or even a finger. This is a habit that your child may lean to for comfort so that they can fall asleep right away. Many children will stop sucking their thumb between two to four years of age, which is normally when the baby teeth will fall out and the permanent teeth will grow in. Within this time, it is important to help your child to stop thumbsucking right away before they get their permanent teeth, otherwise, long-term issues with damaged and crooked teeth could be caused.

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Let’s take a look at several practical guidelines.

Much of the damage that could happen to your child’s teeth and mouth will depend upon how intensely they normally suck their thumb. If a child aggressively sucks his or her thumb, they could be more at risk for long-term damage and crookedness in their teeth than if they just gently suck their thumb.  Although it may be difficult, it is important to try to break the thumbsucking habit right away.  One of the best ways to begin is by rewarding your child for when they are good at the times that they are not sucking their thumb.  This is a much more effective approach than punishment for thumbsucking because they will be rewarded for their good behavior. You can also try to comfort your child if they normally turn to thumbsucking because of anxiety.  You can try to get to the root of the issue to find out why your child is dependant upon thumbsucking.

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You can also enlist the help of your child by asking them to help you stop their habit. Some of the popular methods that many parents use are putting socks on the child’s hands at night so that they won’t suck their thumb, or they may even loosely tape their fingers together so that they can’t suck them at night. This is something that you can decide with your child so that you can break the habit together as positive reinforcement. As another idea, you can also enlist the help of your dentist to ask for their support in asking your child to stop their thumbsucking habit.  Over time, it should be easy to encourage your child to give up the thumb sucking habit, which will help to prevent crooked teeth and the need for braces in the future.

It is important that thumbsucking is stopped during the window of the time when the permanent teeth are growing in. If your child continues to suck his or her thumb, they may have problems with crooked or damaged teeth, which will not be able to be treated with braces until they are much older. Many parents are not aware that such a simple habit causes long-term issues in the alignment and appearance of the teeth, which is why thumbsucking is something that should be stopped as quickly as possible with the cooperation of your child.