My $5 Kmart Hack to Stop Thumb Sucking

Does your little one suck their thumb/finger?

Have you tried everything to stop them from doing it and it didn't work?

I can empathize.

In this post I will share my $5 Kmart solution to this common problem.

But first, let me share how this all started...

It Was Cute at First...

When my little girl was a couple of months old, she tried to suck her fist. I thought it was the cutest thing ever and encouraged her to keep trying and get her fist in her mouth. Big mistake. She eventually got it and I was thrilled. Eventually, sucking on her fist turned into sucking her thumb and I still thought it was so cute and adorable.

Fast forward a few more months and I noticed that whenever my little one finds the satin tags that are attached to stuffed animals she immediately starts sucks her thumb. Naively, I thought this was perfect for when we needed her to be quiet in certain situations. Bring a toy with a tag and give it to her when she starts to get noisy or restless and she will immediately settle and start sucking her thumb. I also started introducing the toys with the tags to her when it was nap time or bed time because I knew she would settle and go to sleep. Easy. I thought this quirk that she had was so cute and unique.

Fast forward again to her being nearly 4 years old. My little one now cannot sleep unless she has a toy that has a tag on it. If we are staying overnight somewhere and I forgot to bring a toy, it resulted in a lot of crying before she eventually falls asleep...sucking her thumb.

Trying To Break the Habit...

I read an article that at the age of 4, a child's adult teeth start to grow and if the child sucks their thumb or fingers, it could cause the adult teeth and mouth to develop abnormally.

After reading this, I thought I better break her habit of sucking her thumb sooner rather than later.

I applied lots of different things/ingredients on to her thumb and nail in the hopes to break the habit. I tried tabasco, rubbing onions on her thumb, nail polish, band aids, reward charts, etc. As her 4th birthday was approaching, I was getting desperate and was about to purchase a $60 thumb guard when my husband suggested that we buy a standard glove and put it on her before she goes to sleep and see what it does. I thought "What have we got to lose? Better to try this as our last resort before spending big on a product that still may not work."

So...off we go to one of my favourite stores...Kmart! I brought my little girl with me and let her choose a pair of gloves that she liked and explained to her that these were special gloves to wear only at bedtime. She was pretty excited and agreed to wear them.

We bought this kind of glove/mitten but in a different design

The Results...

That night, we put on her gloves, made sure she knew that she wasn't allowed to take them off and then we left her to go to sleep. Very soon afterwards, we heard her calling out to us and she was crying because she wanted to take the gloves off and suck her thumb. To say that this pulled at my heart strings was an understatement. I felt so sorry for her that she couldn't go to sleep. We explained again that she needed the gloves on so she didn't suck her thumb and that she was a big girl and big girls don't suck their thumbs. So after a bit more coaxing, she settled and finally fell asleep.

I was sure that during the night, my little one would take off her gloves and start sucking her thumb but amazingly, she didn't! When she woke up the next day I pointed out to her that she didn't suck her thumb because she kept her gloves on and told her that I was so proud of her. She was beaming and she was so happy!

We continued putting on her gloves for 3 weeks. There were times when my little one would ask to put her gloves on even before I went to get them! She had her gloves on for three weeks and at the beginning of the fourth week, I forgot to put on her gloves as we got home late from an outing and only remembered during the night (mum life). But amazingly, she didn't suck her thumb and I again pointed it out to her in the morning. She was so happy that she announced to her Daddy that she didn't suck her thumb even without her gloves on.

So there you have it! My $5 Kmart hack for thumb sucking.

I know every child is different and the circumstances and reasons for them sucking their thumbs are different, but perhpas try purchasing a cheap pair of gloves and you may end up saving yourself a lot of money in the future.

If you have any questions, please leave me a comment and I'll be happy to answer them for you.

Love, B

xo

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