thumbsucking and overbite

[maestramommy]

Arwyn has sucked her thumb since about 3 months. From about 18 months on I could see that it is directly tied to her lovey. If she doesn't have her lovey she doesn't suck her thumb. But the minute her fingers touch it, in pops the thumb. For this reason we have been able to put some limits on the thumbsucking, like not allowing her to bring the lovey into the car unless it's a road trip, and encouraging her to leave it in bed.

Although it doesn't totally gross me out like Dora's lovey chewing (yeah she still does that), I see that she has a pretty prominent overbite. Should I be concerned about this? Dh and I had talked about getting her to stop, but first she started school, then we wanted to PT, and now we're so focused on her behavioral issues. Dh thinks it's just asking too much to give up on the thumbsucking. He has a niece who sucked her thumb until age 10, when she needed a whole lot of orthodontia, and had something put in her mouth to discourage it. But either he doesn't see a problem with that scenario, or he doesn't think it'll get to that point. None of my siblings or I sucked our thumb, although I have a cousin who did for YEARS. So even if I wanted to stop Arwyn now, I have absolutely no game plan. I had also kind of taken the tack that all of my siblings and I needed braces because we all had very crowded mouths, and Dh looks like he has the same (even though he didn't have braces), so aren't they inevitable?

Thoughts?

[TxCat]

I sucked my thumb until about age 9 (although, strangely enough, I don't think I did it in public or sleepovers). :bag I definitely had a prominent overbite, needed an orthodontic appliance to bring my upper and lower jaw "in line" for about 1.5 years which included head-gear, and then had braces for 3 years. Then, stupidly, I stopped wearing my retainer a year after the braces came off so now I have an overbite again. It's pretty mild, nowhere near as bad as it used to be, but it bothers the heck out of me. The thumb-sucking definitely did not help, but some of that was genetic too, and even the orthodontist said that I would have needed most of those interventions regardless of thumb-sucking.

Personally, I'm not sure what you can do to curb the thumbsucking (my parents tried everything and nothing worked with me!), but I would try to curb it now if you can. Good luck!

[janine]

have you seen a dentist? My DD uses the pacifier and is over 2..I also notice the overbite and am concerned. We have an appt with a dentist in a few mo's and hope they'll shed light on if it's reversible. She only uses the paci for a few minutes to fall asleep at night and then I remove it. I imagine it's much harder with a thumbsucker though!

[AnnieW625]

Thumb sucking at night time isn't something I really worry about mainly because both DH and I had to have braces so it's pretty much a given that the girls will may to have braces. I sucked my thumb until I was 5 or 6 I think and I had to have braces, but it was mainly because I had too much space in between my two front teeth. DH says we need to keep DD2 from sucking her thumb and I just look at him and ask him "which one of us had to wear head gear?" It was him, and DD1 will most likely need it too so I am not going to worry about DD2 and her thumb sucking.

I do definitely think taking her to a dentist just in case is a good thing.

[MissyAg94]

Maybe if she stops before her permanent teeth come in, it won't be a problem.

[janine]

I don't think it's a question of the teeth not being aligned (braces will take care of that), but the jaw being drawn out which is harder to fix down the line and also will not change with permanent teeth. However I'm unsure if this can self-correct at a certain age or at what point it's pretty much permanent.

[ArizonaGirl]

Shawn sucks his thumb and has since he was 4-6 months old. The pediatric dentist (who is well known and has been around along time) said that it is really only a problem when the permanent teeth start coming in because until then things are very fluid and can move around a lot.

But both DH and I had to have braces so I'm thinking he is destined for that with or without his thumb.

[maestramommy]

I haven't asked the dentist about it yet, but the hygenist mentioned the overbite. When I told her Arwyn sucks her thumb she was surprised because she's seen a lot worse. The dentist has seen her once and he didn't say anything about it.

[pakin]

DS's orthodontist gave this: http://www.amazon.com/Mavala-Stop-Biting-Sucking-0-3-Fluid/dp/B0000YUXI0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312577718&sr=8-1 to us to help him quit sucking his thumb. It worked great!

Pakin

DS 4/2001
DD 6/2005

[♥ms.pacman♥]

i'll be watching this thread. ds sucks his thumb whenever he holds his lovey. mostly when he's scared or tired. never bothered me really, but i do think i often get stares/comments from others when we're out and about (i think also the fact that ds looks older like 2 of 2.5).

i too am pretty sure than no matter what, our kids are doomed to get braces..DH and I both had to have them (i had them TWICE!) so yeah, i don't know

[twowhat?]

Our kids are definitely doomed to braces. I can tell by how crowded their baby teeth are.

DD2 was a hard core thumbsucker. She would play with toys with her right hand while sucking her left thumb. I wasn't as concerned about her teeth but she was worsening her torticollis since she always tilted her head to the left to suck. She liked to hold her lovey at the time while she sucked her thumb.

When she turned one I was determined to put an end to it before she became even more aware. I just used THUM (which you can get at Walgreens, it's for nail-biters) and painted just a tiny bit on her thumbnail and re-applied throughout the day. It did the trick. It was a miserable couple of weeks but interestingly it didn't affect her nighttime sleep or naps - but it sure made her grumpy at all other times of the day. I felt so bad and held her a lot while she broke the habit of using her thumb to soothe herself. After a couple of weeks it stopped completely. And she no longer had an interest in the lovey she used to hold while sucking her thumb.

I'm really glad we did it when we did...it's probably harder to break the habit for older kids but at the same time I hear stories of parents being able to negotiate with their older kids or use incentives to stop the thumbsucking. LOL this probably wasn't helpful at all. But good luck!!

[maestramommy]

Thanks for the product recs! I'll be looking into them. I think this may be a better way to go than trying to enforce it by force. At least I'd rather try this first.

[MSWR0319]

I sucked my thumb and had an overbite which resulted in years or braces and headgear. I think I finally stopped around 9, with a few years sometime before that where I'd start and stop. I think thumb sucking is one of the hardest things to break. Our pedi told me from day 1 shed rather see a child using s paci than a thumb for is reason alone. Good luck getting her to stop!

[SoloMelody]

DD sucks her thumb just like Arwyn, only when she has her lovey. She will let lovey sit by her or tuck her in her clothes or bed when she is playing. She uses it only at nap/sleep time and driving back from daycare in the car.

She doesn't have an over bite yet...but I think she will have crowded teeth just like me and doomed to have braces.

[egoldber]

Well, FWIW, older DD sucked her thumb until she was 7 and then she stopped entirely on her own. Her dentist never said a word. She does have braces, but I had them as well and was not a thumb sucker. DH was a thumb sucker and he did not have braces. She has a small mouth like mine and her teeth were terribly crowded.

Also, just be aware that kids with a strong oral soothing reflex will often replace thumb sucking with something just a bad for them or worse (like the blanket/sleeve chewing). When older DD stopped sucking her thumb, she started chewing on her sleeves and biting her fingers.

[maestramommy]

Well, FWIW, older DD sucked her thumb until she was 7 and then she stopped entirely on her own. Her dentist never said a word. She does have braces, but I had them as well and was not a thumb sucker. DH was a thumb sucker and he did not have braces. She has a small mouth like mine and her teeth were terribly crowded.

Also, just be aware that kids with a strong oral soothing reflex will often replace thumb sucking with something just a bad for them or worse (like the blanket/sleeve chewing). When older DD stopped sucking her thumb, she started chewing on her sleeves and biting her fingers.

Thanks Beth. Yeah, I'm actually afraid of that happening. That if Arwyn stops sucking her thumb she'll starting chewing. I've been letting her chew gum, now that she can do it safely. She gets a stick of Trident after meals;) One of my friend's DD was a thumbsucker, and even after she stopped she started chewing on her pencils, her nails...even through HS. That oral reflex just never goes away I guess.

[lablover]

Also, just be aware that kids with a strong oral soothing reflex will often replace thumb sucking with something just a bad for them or worse (like the blanket/sleeve chewing). When older DD stopped sucking her thumb, she started chewing on her sleeves and biting her fingers.

DD is still a thumbsucker and I don't know how to stop it. I used the mavala on her thumb about a month ago and it curbed it somewhat for a day, but instead she ended up with a shirt that was drenched from her sucking/chewing the top of it. So i gave up. Although she does suck her thumb when she needs to soothe, I think most of the time she is doing it out of habit. She has always sucked her left thumb and now she has started twirling her ponytail with her right hand at the same time. 1 1/2 years ago she was in the hospital for 3 days and they put the IV in her left hand, and she was unable to suck her thumb. Amazingly she did just fine and didn't cry/complain about it at all. I thought maybe the habit might have been broken, but on the ride home that thumb was right back in her mouth. Makes me think maybe putting
something on her hand will help to stop it. When we talk about trying to stop she just whines that it is too hard. There
have been instances when kids at preschool have not wanted to hold her hand during walks, so I would like to get to the
point where she can at least get through the day without sucking her thumb. Oh, and she also just lost 3 baby teeth on the bottom (super early, she is still 4!) so those permanent teeth or going to be coming in soon. Ugh!


Oh, and my DS stopped the pacifier at 3 months and never sucked his thumb, and it's looking like he will need braces for an overbite, so I figure DD will probably need braces no matter what!

[Clarity]

It may not follow that her overbite is a result of thumb sucking. I was not a thumb sucker but I had a prominent overbite - I wore braces for five long years. DD2 used a pacifier until she was about 11 months, never sucked her thumb and also has a prominent overbite. I feel certain that she'll eventually need braces as well.