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Parents is it "normal" for a 7 yr old to suck her thumb?

Live2Eat

Live2Eat

Member
I have a step daughter who is 7.5 years old and is still sucking her thumb constantly. I have no kids of my own and they only visit my fiancé and I every other weekend and a few weeks a year so I don't know if it's normal or if I should bring it up with her dad?

I worry about her development as her and her two younger siblings are on the slow side to develop as kids.

Parents what do I do?
 
That is what concerns me... I JUST potty trained her 4 year old brother because their mother didn't want to yet!!!
 
yea thats def NOT normal
get some of that bitter as fuck nail polish they make to get kids to stop
 
Live2Eat said:
I have a step daughter who is 7.5 years old and is still sucking her thumb constantly. I have no kids of my own and they only visit my fiancé and I every other weekend and a few weeks a year so I don't know if it's normal or if I should bring it up with her dad?
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What? She isn't your step-daughter until you are married.

I worry about her development as her and her two younger siblings are on the slow side to develop as kids.

Parents what do I do?
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I had a classmate at 7.5 that sucked her thumb as well. It was that year or the next that her parents got divorced.

What do you do?
http://children.webmd.com/tc/thumb-sucking-topic-overview
 
Texashiker said:
No, its not normal. If she keeps it up she will probably be buck toothed and need braces. Sucking the thumb applies pressure to the front teeth, which over time pushes them out of location.
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which is how my 3 year old teeth are getting. front teeth are poking out. dentist said if he stops soon he will grow enough they will correct themselves.

but with both sides tooth history my kids will end up with braces anyhoo...
 
not normal. my niece used to do that up until around 8 years of age when her parents were forced to buy her a retainer that prevented her from doing it. if they hadn't, her teeth/jaw/mouth would have gotten badly f'ed up. as it is now she will need braces.

and 4 is old for potty-training. mine were trained before 3. imo, the parents sound lazy.
 
blackdogdeek said:
not normal. my niece used to do that up until around 8 years of age when her parents were forced to buy her a retainer that prevented her from doing it. if they hadn't, her teeth/jaw/mouth would have gotten badly f'ed up. as it is now she will need braces.

and 4 is old for potty-training. mine were trained before 3. imo, the parents sound lazy.
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The mother is a piece of work... But that is another post all together.
 
blackdogdeek said:
not normal. my niece used to do that up until around 8 years of age when her parents were forced to buy her a retainer that prevented her from doing it. if they hadn't, her teeth/jaw/mouth would have gotten badly f'ed up. as it is now she will need braces.

and 4 is old for potty-training. mine were trained before 3. imo, the parents sound lazy.
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Agreed, 4 is old for potty training, If I remember right, mine was around 2 1/2 when was finished potty training.
 
OP - was the girl given a pacifier when she was a baby? If so, how long did she suck the pacifier?

Some parents stick the pacifier in the babies mouth, even when their do not need it. This causes the baby to develop a habit of sucking on something. When the pacifies is taken away, the child starts sucking their thumb out of habit.
 
My 5 yo does it at bedtime but not during the day. We used some bitter nail-polish and even band-aids to remind him to stop.
 
Both the thumb-sucking and late potty-training is not normal.

Because of that and if they seem slow, someone needs to have the 7 year old tested at school and the 4 year old tested through a Regional Center (or whatever you have in your state).

Someone needs to step in as an advocate for these kids since the parents do not seem able to.

MotionMan (whose wife provides services for children)
 
A mild electric shock to the soles of their feet whenever they suck their thumbs should take care of that rather quickly.
 
MotionMan said:
Because of that and if they seem slow, someone needs to have the 7 year old tested at school and the 4 year old tested through a Regional Center (or whatever you have in your state).
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Maybe its the parents that need to be tested, and not the children?

My wife and I know a certain family, the 3 year old communicates mostly through grunts and screaming. The parents spend very little time with the kids. Most of the time they are put in their rooms to play, and have very little face-to-face time with real people.

The kid starts some kind of early school next year, kinda like pre-K, hopefully he will start talking more.

His 6 year old brother still throws fits like a 2 year old does.

RKS said:
My 5 yo does it at bedtime but not during the day. We used some bitter nail-polish and even band-aids to remind him to stop.
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Did you give the child a pacifier when he was a baby?
 
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Help wean her off the thumb...

pedobear.png
 
Given the situation with a divorce and such, this is probably a coping mechanism for the child. It's not normal but I wouldn't go out to test the child or anything just yet. And the potty training sometimes comes around later for different children. That could also be a coping mechanism. By not potty training the child gets some sort of attention. It's the same for the daughter.

Tested? No, but attempt to ween her off of sucking her thumb.
 
Texashiker said:
Maybe its the parents that need to be tested, and not the children?

My wife and I know a certain family, the 3 year old communicates mostly through grunts and screaming. The parents spend very little time with the kids. Most of the time they are put in their rooms to play, and have very little face-to-face time with real people.

The kid starts some kind of early school next year, kinda like pre-K, hopefully he will start talking more.

His 6 year old brother still throws fits like a 2 year old does.
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You need to test the kids first to eliminate that as a possible cause of the issues. Once you do that, then you can focus on the parenting/environment. Doing it in the reverse can do more harm than good.

MotionMan
 
MotionMan said:
You need to test the kids first to eliminate that as a possible cause of the issues.
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I was being a little sarcastic.

But sometimes the root of the kids issues are the parents. Or rather, poor parenting skills.

Like with this thumb sucking issue, I wonder how much of that is related to the parents sticking a pacifier in the childs mouth "all" the time.
 
Ummm, why not just let the kid be?

My sister did the same thing for years (and I think she still does at 30 when sleeping). She isn't particularly fucked up.

Thumb sucking doesn't cause any tooth problems. Thats a myth.

Children often suck their thumbs as a security measure and a way to cope.

How would you folks like it if they took away your beer, or your porn, or your WoW?

When the child is ready, they will stop said behavior. It isn't something that should be punished, or to use some bullshit folk remedy like "bitter nail polish" or vinegar, or whatever to "stop them". It's perfectly normal, I know a number of people well into adulthood that do it, and they resent their parents for extreme measures taken to stop it.
This is how you fuck up your children people, stop it!

Fix your issues and provide a stable environment in which the kids can live worry free and you will see the habit stop.
 
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