Hynotherapy for thumbsucker?
My 5.5 year old daughter loves to suck her thumb - always has...hopefully *won't* always will...
Since it isn't her dominant hand, she is able to suck happily away as she sails from activity to activity. We have tried *many* different things, so far without success. Has anyone else tried hypnotherapy to help curb the habit? I tried this modality many years ago when I was struggling with sleep issues, but to no avail. Like me, my daughter is exceptionally strong-willed, which is why I think that ultimately the hypnosis didn't work. And yet, perhaps she is more susceptible/receptive because of her age? Thoughts, feedback, and recommendations welcome. Thank you!
Nov 15, 2020
Parent Replies
I sucked my thumb until I was 8 and then decided to quit and never looked back. the result was braces which most kids get anyway. Don't get too worried about it. Make sure she knows it's a childish thing to do (be factual not derogatory) this way she has it in her head that she will grow out of it and then let her be a kid with lots of affirmation about other stuff.
I sucked my two fingers til I was 12...maybe older (because I learned to do it only when no one was in the room). When I was younger my mother would tie a sock around my hand before bed (& admonish me to leave it on). Ha!
By the time I was 5, even she, realized that all her efforts only made me more stressed & thus more into sucking my 2 fingers. In my own time, I gave it up. --- BTW; the same thing happened when I started over-eating. For YEARS my mother nagged; and I just ate more. When she quit nagging, I lost all my weight (I was nearly 40 years old by then). As mothers we carry a lot of power with our children. Please honor your powerful role and move with wisdom, as well as sit very still, in peace, and do nothing. All the best....
I sucked my thumb til I was 7 or 8 when my mom found a dentist that fitted me with a retainer and then my thumb just didn’t fit in my mouth correctly. Good luck.
Honestly in COVID times I'd let it go and revisit when school starts back up in person and htere's peer pressure. I wish I had a simple self-soothing activity I could engage in at will these days!
Yes, it may be messing up her bite but who knows, if it weren't thumb sucking it might be nail biting, to the same effect.