How to break a thumb sucker habit

Thumb sucking is a natural activity that is supposed to help the children, soothe themselves and feel relaxed. It’s also a kind of habitual behavior that teaches the infants to intake the nourishment. So, thumb sucking is familiar to babies, toddlers and infants. However, some continue it even in the school-going age, and that creates a problem.

In some cases, it is the result of the lack of intervention of the parents. While, in others, even continuous intervention doesn’t help. So, there are certainly some significant reasons for the continuation of this habit as mentioned below.

Causes and consequences of thumb sucking in Adults
While most children quit thumb sucking till the age of 5, some continue till adulthood. Not much is known of the actual reasons behind the different tendencies. Still, there are two possibilities for this: first, the children might tend to practice the activity in private, keeping it hidden from the parents. This will off-course prevent any intervention of the parents as they are unaware. Secondly, it may also be a disorder.

Now, thumb sucking is not a significant issue until the child has baby teeth. But, once the permanent teeth have erupted, thumb sucking will cause misalignment of the teeth. Then misalignment may also cause severe orthodontic issues in the long-run.

Besides this, the loss of oral health, drying of the thumb and cracks in it, speech problems, etc. are the other harmful consequences.

Methods to stop the habit of thumb sucking
The thumb sucking habit needs to be stopped to ensure excellent thumb growth and best oral care. There are various methods to break this habit in children, but a few for adults.

For Children:

• Ask a child: As many children may not realise that they are into this activity, so the parents must curiously ask them about the reason for thumb sucking. Does it feel good to them?
• Watch a show together: One unusual method then can be to watch a show which talks about breaking the thumb sucking habit and then discuss it with the child.
• Observe the pattern: To observe and identify the pattern and timing of the thumb sucking will let the parents have the clarity because then the child can be given some other distraction as per the requirement.
• Rewards and incentives: It may not work for everyone but can be tried. If the child is offered a toy for not sucking the thumb, he may gradually get distracted and leave it.

For Adults:
Adults are mature enough to make the correct choice. They will need to have strong will power and determination to stop the habit.

• Working with a therapist can work if anxiety is the reason behind the habit.
• Stress-relieving exercises, mediation and exercises may help.
• Setting reminders not to do so can help to improve.

Thus, thumb sucking tends to become a significant issue, especially in adulthood. So, the child and the parents will have to be careful and seek the appropriate method to get rid of this.

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