We tried the reward chart thing too, and honestly, it was hit or miss for us. My son got super excited about stickers at first, but after a week or two, the novelty wore off and we were back to square one. I guess every kid is different, huh? Right now, we're trying a combo of gentle reminders and distraction—like giving him something to hold or fiddle with when he's zoning out and thumb-sucking. It's not perfect yet (far from it...), but I'm cautiously optimistic. I do worry sometimes that pushing too hard might make him more anxious about it, so we're taking it slow. Parenting is basically just trial and error anyway, right?
We went through something similar. My daughter was obsessed with these sparkly temporary tattoos we used as rewards—worked like magic for about two weeks, then nada. Eventually, she just seemed to grow out of thumb-sucking on her own. Patience really was key for us... hang in there!
Did the temporary tattoos get expensive after a while? I tried something similar with stickers, and it was great at first, but then my son lost interest and I was stuck with a drawer full of unused stickers. Honestly, I worried he'd never quit thumb-sucking, but one day he just stopped without me doing anything special. Maybe patience really is the cheapest solution...but how long did you have to wait before she grew out of it?
"Honestly, I worried he'd never quit thumb-sucking, but one day he just stopped without me doing anything special."
This was pretty much my experience too. My daughter was a dedicated thumb-sucker until she was almost five, and believe me, we tried everything—stickers, charts, even that bitter-tasting nail polish stuff the dentist recommended. None of it really worked for long. Like you mentioned with the stickers, she'd lose interest quickly or find ways around it.
Eventually, I just gave up actively trying to stop her and decided to wait it out. Surprisingly enough, a few months after turning five, she just stopped on her own. It was as if she'd simply grown out of it overnight. I do wonder sometimes if all the effort and expense were really necessary...maybe patience is indeed the best (and cheapest) solution after all. Did your dentist ever mention any concerns about dental issues from prolonged thumb-sucking? Ours did bring it up once or twice, but thankfully nothing serious came of it.
My orthodontist actually said my braces were partly due to thumb-sucking as a kid. My parents tried everything too, but I only stopped when kids teased me at school around age six...maybe peer pressure's the real trick here? Did anyone else stop because of classmates?
