Bad Habits
By nolciean06
@nolciean06 (444)
United States
November 16, 2006 1:14pm CST
I have really bad habits like smoking, biting my fingernails, and biting on my cheeks and lips. My little girl sucks her thumb and she is 3. We have tried every possbile way to get her to stop and nothing is helping. What can I do? I am all out of options.
6 responses
@sirensanssmile (3764)
• Netherlands
18 Nov 06
Not to scare you but I used to suck my thumb as a child and it made my teeth crooked. I ended up having to get braces for 3 years to correct the problem. I did eventually stop the habit on my own very young but it already changed the shape so that my adult teeth would come in crooked as well. The Orthodontist told my mother it was caused in part, by thumb sucking and part by genetic disposition. My brother never sucked his thumb and has perfectly straight teeth. I would ask her dentist what she/he suggests to help stop her from thumb sucking.
@nolciean06 (444)
• United States
18 Nov 06
Thanks, I will talk to her dentist and see what he recommends.
@timou87 (1638)
• Singapore
18 Nov 06
I have quite a number of bad habits, but I think the worst among them would be me liking to nibble on my fingernails and the skin of my fingertips.
@srhelmer (7029)
• Beaver Dam, Wisconsin
16 Nov 06
She'll probably just grow out of that habit so I wouldn't worry about it.
@Timinator (739)
• United States
16 Nov 06
I've heard that people use hot sauce and put it on the child's thumb. It seems cruel but it is effective. If you really don't want her to do it, then try this, but it doesn't seem like a big problem and i would just let her sort it out for herself.
@nolciean06 (444)
• United States
16 Nov 06
I would try that, but the only thing that scares me is that if she were to put her fingers around her eyes. That stuff would probably burn her eyes. I have tried somethings like putting bandaids on her thumbs but she takes them off, I have told her that the boogey-man would come bite her thumb off in her sleep if she keeps sucking it. I don't want her to have buck-teeth when she is older, so I want to try and stop it now.
@milagre (1272)
• Portugal
18 Nov 06
Sometimes i bit my fingernails..... but i think i dont have too much bad habits, used to smoke but i quite long ago. To yr little girl it will be difficult to quite to suck her thumb, because the thumb is always there. Try to put something in the thump that will give bad taste to it, citron or something like that....
