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. Most commonly, children will stop thumbsucking when they are around 2 to 4 years of age, which is normally when they will lose their baby teeth and their permanent teeth will begin to grow in. This is the opportunity to help your child give up the habit of thumbsucking before their permanent teeth grow in, or else they could face crooked and disaligned teeth as a result.
Recommended resource:
Cosmetic Dentist San Francisco CA
Keep reading for some helpful guidelines.
Much of the risk that your child may have in sucking his or her thumb depends on how it intensely they suck their thumb. If a child were to aggressively suck their thumb, they may be more at risk for damage to their teeth than a child who just keeps their thumb in their mouth. Although it may be difficult, it is important to try to break the thumbsucking habit right away. To begin with, it is important to start rewarding your child for being good when he or she is not sucking their thumb. This is much better than scolding them for sucking their thumb since they will be rewarded for good behavior. You can also try to comfort your child if they normally turn to thumbsucking because of anxiety. Try to get to the root cause of your child’s anxiety that causes them to want to suck their thumb regularly.
By the way, here’s another resource for you:
San Francisco Cosmetic Dentist
It is also a great idea to ask for your child help to break the 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. You can decide which methods you will use with your child so that they won’t feel like they are being punished for thumbsucking. As a last resort, you may also want to talk to your dentist to ask for their support to encourage your child to stop sucking their thumb. With these methods, you should be able to easily encourage your child to stop thumbsucking for good, which will prevent disalignment in the mouth and reduce the need for braces as they grow older.
It is essential to work to stop the thumbsucking habit when your child’s 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.
