If the child gets into the habit of thumb sucking despite...

If the child gets into the habit of thumb sucking despite all the preventive steps, then it will be difficult to check the habit. Another method of checking this habit in children is to provide them with good and soft toys with a view to divert their mind from thumb sucking. If the child is provided company of some other child to play with, it might not suck the thumb during the time they are at play.

The other alternative tool for avoiding thumb sucking is to give the child a rubber- [1] Ruwan Shinashi Kudak, Page 172. soother to suck. But here too there will be a chance of the child getting habituated to the tool for a period of time. However, the parents have to practice patience and restraint in checking this habit in children and they should not have recourse to punishing the child to the detriment of its psyche.

The parents should bear in mind that however strong the habit of thumb sucking in a child, it will leave him by about four or five years of age. Previous…