No more thumbsucking

During our last visit to the dentist last fall, I was told that Sophia’s thumbsucking was changing the shape of her upper jaw and affecting her bite because her upper teeth were being pushed out and forward while her bottom teeth were being pushed inward.  Based on what I’ve read about thumbsucking, I was under the impression that I could wait until Sophia is 4 to 5 years old before taking specific measures to stop the thumbsucking.  But hearing that from the dentist made me start researching how we can help Sophia stop sucking her thumb.  I decided to try TGuard, based on the very good ratings on amazon.com.  

S checking out the TGuard

Sophia started wearing the TGuard during the Remembrance Day long weekend.  She wore it day and night throughout that long weekend, then wore it only during nap time and at night for the next three weeks.  From the time she started sleeping with the TGuard on, she actually stopped putting her thumb in her mouth.  And she did not complain or whine about wearing it.  Nor did she seem upset about not being able to suck her thumb any more.  In fact, she would ask to put it on when we’re getting ready to get into bed and even mastered putting the bracelet on with little help from us.  She got to put a sticker on a poster when she woke up after successfully not sucking her thumb at night or during a nap.  And as a special reward, we let her pick something that we would buy for her.  She chose a mermaid dress.  We don't normally buy her rewards but this was such a big deal that we decided to get one for her.

We are so impressed with her and proud of how well she handled everything.  She has not shown any interest in sucking her thumb since end of November and I am confident that she is definitely done with the habit.

Two months later, the big callous on her left thumb is almost all gone and most importantly, her teeth's alignment have improved considerably.  Her top front teeth have moved inward and her front bottom teeth have straightened out, too.  I am so relieved!

Well done, Sophia!  We are so proud of you!