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My 9yo DD stopped ****ing her thumb in 10 days. She's been "**** free" for 2 months now. Here's how we did it, as approved and planned by my family dentist:
He bought the most coarse medical tape he could find (Walgreen's brand) and some ace wraps.
We had her make a poster with 10 check boxes and a picture of something special she wanted to do when she was finished.
The title of her poster was...
When I quit ****ing my dumb thumb I want to....
And she drew a picture of a horse for horseback riding.
We used the medical tape on both thumbs every day. It did not come off in the shower or from writing, playing, or anything of that sort. It's meant to STICK through all that stuff. At night we ace wrapped around her elbows, so if she should happen to stick her thumb in while sleeping, the pressure would become uncomfortable and cause her to straighten her arms.
We did the ace wrap for 5 days and the tape on the thumbs for 10.
The key with breaking a habit is that the person with the habit has to WANT to stop. If they don't want to, it will be 10x harder and more frustrating for all involved. My DD was ready and it was easy peasy.
I would suggest to mom, and to anyone who has a thumb ****er to have a meeting with your dentist and child about the issue. These consultations are usually free. Most dentists are happy to help, and have years of experience in dealing with thumb ****ers.
Hope this helps!!
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One product that we used for our son was the Thumbguard. Even though it didn't work for us, I thought this device had the best concept and design out of all the other products we came across. Our son (who was 3 at the time) figured out how to get it off in 2 days
. He couldn't get the wristband part off but he could get the plastic thumb part off. When I picked him up from daycare he would be ****ing his thumb and the device would just be dangling off his wrist like a little bracelet LOLLLL. I am sooo glad that we are past this because thumb****ing is one of the most unsanitary habits ever! It used to gross me out! Ugh!
I did a search (because I couldn't remember the name of the Thumbguard) and I came across this. Looks like Nannyde's idea is not as farfetched as some may think. Someone is actually selling these and it's patent pending!
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and this is why i'm pro-pacifier vs. thumb.My 9yo DD stopped ****ing her thumb in 10 days. She's been "**** free" for 2 months now. Here's how we did it, as approved and planned by my family dentist:
He bought the most coarse medical tape he could find (Walgreen's brand) and some ace wraps.
We had her make a poster with 10 check boxes and a picture of something special she wanted to do when she was finished.
The title of her poster was...
When I quit ****ing my dumb thumb I want to....
And she drew a picture of a horse for horseback riding.
We used the medical tape on both thumbs every day. It did not come off in the shower or from writing, playing, or anything of that sort. It's meant to STICK through all that stuff. At night we ace wrapped around her elbows, so if she should happen to stick her thumb in while sleeping, the pressure would become uncomfortable and cause her to straighten her arms.
We did the ace wrap for 5 days and the tape on the thumbs for 10.
The key with breaking a habit is that the person with the habit has to WANT to stop. If they don't want to, it will be 10x harder and more frustrating for all involved. My DD was ready and it was easy peasy.
I would suggest to mom, and to anyone who has a thumb ****er to have a meeting with your dentist and child about the issue. These consultations are usually free. Most dentists are happy to help, and have years of experience in dealing with thumb ****ers.
Hope this helps!!Comment
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Even that program specifies it is only for sleeping. I would (and SHOULD!) lose my license if I put one of those on an awake child in the manner you are suggesting. Sleeping...ok...to keep hands warm in the winter outside...sure. NOT for what is being stated here. Awful.One product that we used for our son was the Thumbguard. Even though it didn't work for us, I thought this device had the best concept and design out of all the other products we came across. Our son (who was 3 at the time) figured out how to get it off in 2 days. He couldn't get the wristband part off but he could get the plastic thumb part off. When I picked him up from daycare he would be ****ing his thumb and the device would just be dangling off his wrist like a little bracelet LOLLLL. I am sooo glad that we are past this because thumb****ing is one of the most unsanitary habits ever! It used to gross me out! Ugh!
I did a search (because I couldn't remember the name of the Thumbguard) and I came across this. Looks like Nannyde's idea is not as farfetched as some may think. Someone is actually selling these and it's patent pending!
http://www.myspecialshirt.com/home.phpComment
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the whole "mitten shirt" concept reminds me of restraints in the hospital. no surprise that nannyde is a nurse - although restraints aren't used for thumb ****ers.Comment
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One product that we used for our son was the Thumbguard. Even though it didn't work for us, I thought this device had the best concept and design out of all the other products we came across. Our son (who was 3 at the time) figured out how to get it off in 2 days. He couldn't get the wristband part off but he could get the plastic thumb part off. When I picked him up from daycare he would be ****ing his thumb and the device would just be dangling off his wrist like a little bracelet LOLLLL. I am sooo glad that we are past this because thumb****ing is one of the most unsanitary habits ever! It used to gross me out! Ugh!
I did a search (because I couldn't remember the name of the Thumbguard) and I came across this. Looks like Nannyde's idea is not as farfetched as some may think. Someone is actually selling these and it's patent pending!
http://www.myspecialshirt.com/home.php
Oh boooo hoooo
there goes my idea of mass producing and getting rich
You can make your own for way cheaper
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i too would never ever use the shirt, that is a restraint and i don't care if you put it on for 5 minutes or 10 min. you are restrainting the use of the childs fingers. Imagine if there was an emergency......I would talke to the dentist and see what he says. I know there may be problems later with speech and talking but restraining, never. Oh and I'm a nurse too and have been for a long time, I would never do this.Comment
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If the parents are on board with using the shirt to help stop thumb ****ing, I would use it. I had a dcg who is 6 now and has a metal appliance in her mouth to help move her teeth and to widen the roof of her mouth. She has to wear it for at least 5 years. I know that her parents would of been okay with using the shirt. I had her from the time she was 6 weeks until she went to school and we tried everything but never thought of the shirt.Comment
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Nah
What emergency would that be? Fire?
We've done countless winter fire drills thru our basement windows where every kid had on a mitted sweatshirt over their coats and every one of them that could get out the window and window well were able to in the same time they do when we do them in the summer.
We use them to pop over kids coats for winter walks which allows us to NOT have to put gloves or mittens on eight kids and then run their gloved or mitted hand thru the coat sleeve so there is no skin at the wrist being exposed to the cold. It takes five seconds to pop one of them over their coats and saves me about ten/fifteen minutes a day of getting eight kids in full winter gear. The one I have pics of that I've linked to are the "over the coat" style mitted shirt. They are wide armpit to armpit width... wide sleeved.... wide necked and double layered thickeness at the hands for extra warmth. Each kid has one that is a full size or two bigger than their coat so it fits right over the Gap warmest coats I provide for the kids.
POP on... and you have hands covered AND an extra layer of warmth on the trunk and arms. They cost some money to buy and make but oh boy... do they pay off in the cold Iowa winter when we are dressing eight kids in full head to toe winter gear. It saves an hour plus a week in dressing kids which is HUGE by the end of the winter. They pay for themselves in one winter.
They are aslo FABULOUS in the spring and fall when we go out for early morning walks when it's 45-50 degrees. We can pop on the sweatshirts and we don't have to put jackets on the kids. It's a nice thick sweatshirt that keeps their hands warm too. (just have to use the smaller size on them when they don't have a coat underneath)
It's not a restraint. It doesn't harm the kid in any way. It doesn't affect them emotionally. It has NO side effects. It's simple... common sense cheapo solution to many things that come up in the care of kids.
The lady that invented the "special shirt" has some good info on her site for the medical issues you can use these for like severe exzema, scratching, and obviously thumb ****ing.
I've used them for a number of different challenges but the number one thing is outerwear for cold weather.
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I've had many parents use this technique at home and then donate the shirt when their kid outgrows it.
The number one home use has been mosquito bite allergies. I have two older girls here and had three older girls last summer who have HORRIBLE reactions to mosqito bites.
When they get them on places like their eyelids, around their eyes, and on or close to the neck the flare up (swelling) when they itch can be life threatening or cause them permanent harm.
(The area around the eyes is a common place for these kids to get bites. It's the area where parents feel hesitant about putting repellent on because of the proximity to the eye.)
All three girls GLADLY wear a shirt at nap time to stop the scratching in their sleep. Simple solution that decreases the threat of injury or infection and decreases the amount of anti-histamine products they need to use as the bite heals.Comment
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Yeah I can see by her design that this would be a sleep tool only. Way too much extra material at the hands. The random bunching of material with every hand move could affect their play.
You say it's awful.
I say this is AWFUL:
speech is almost unitelligible
teeth are terrible
always sick
affects his play skills
doesn't really talk to the others much
Poor little guy is three and a half years old and has unintelligble speech.
Poor little guy is three and a half years old... in prime physical and emotional growth and has a sick body all the time.
Poor little guy is three and a half and can't play toys.
Poor little guy is three and a half and can't really talk to other children.
Poor little guy is three and a half and has horrible teeth.
That's SO awful. That's serious medical and emotional stuff. His fixation is creating serious problems in every key important aspect of his life.Comment
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I didn't log in for this reply, just on the off chance that my daughter may read this and be upset that I posted about her.
After having tried unsuccessfully to stop my daughter for years from ****ing her thumb and fingers, I would have definitely used this if I had only thought of it. She's nearly grown up now, and her jaw is deformed and her teeth are crooked because of a childhood of ****ing. She had problems all through her grade school years, until she was old enough to figure out that she shouldn't do it in front of her classmates. Believe me, we tried everything that we could think of to stop it, but she just adapted. In retrospect, many of the things that we tried were far more harsh than this and obviously not particularly effective to boot.
Using something like this would not cause long-term problems and if used with proper supervision would not cause safety issues, as was suggested by a PP.
Most kids who are thumb ****ers will stop with the usual, easier, methods, but if you've got a stubborn case, I wouldn't be afraid to try whatever it takes to get it stopped earlier rather than later.Comment
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