Usually children stop the habit on their own, by that age. If they don't, here are some easy ways to get kids to stop thumbsucking :
- Keep the child's hands occupied with a toy, puzzle or other activity.
- Carefully remove your child's thumb from his or her mouth during sleep.
- Give the example of his friends that have managed to stop thumbsucking.
- Don't put the child in a state of anxiety or fear. If the child has any emotional problems, or is under stress and needs comforting, you may need to resolve those issues first before your child can succesfully stop thumb-sucking.
- Talk about the 'bad' germs that are on our hands and how the child puts them in his or her mouth while thumb sucking.
- Avoid punishing or shaming the child.
- Reward the child for not thumbsucking for a progressively increasing time period.
- Ask the advice of a pediatric dentist. He will explain to your kid what will happen to the teeth if the child does not stop sucking its thumb.
- Use a thumb sucking guard. - In difficult cases, your dentist might suggest the use of special devices to stop thumb sucking, called thumb guards. A thumb guard is a device with a plastic cover of the thumb that is attached to a child's wrist. The thumb sucking guard interrupts the process by breaking the vacuum created by sucking, thus removing the child's pleasure. Treatment with thumb guards usually lasts four weeks and helps children to stop thumb sucking succesfully.