Thumb sucker/super drooler

[Dreamalittledream]

Having a challenge with my own son (he'll be 3 in July). I still have to put bibs on him because he drools. We do use a straw cup for him as I read that this is good for increasing muscle control in the mouth/decreasing drool. I also think his drooling is related to the fact that he is a thumb sucker...and perhaps that he has his Dad's 'pre-braces overbite' and small chin. I am torn...do I let him continue to suck his thumb (& if so, how?) & just deal with the drooling (this all too shall pass).

[Skysue]

Check out finger sucking thread and see the "glove" post i put it is supose to stop thumb/finger sucking within 2 weeks!

[KingstonMom]

Is the drooling related to the teething? Like, does he have his 2year molars yet? My 2 yr old son does not and he goes on and off with the drooling that also comes with bum rashes when he is teething. He was always the biggest drooler of all my daycare kids in the past. I have 2 others all withing 2 weeks of each other, and mine was always the biggest drooler, like needed at least 3 shirts a day or more. he didnt do the bibs.
Im not sure if it would be related to the thumb sucking or not. and ive never heard of the straw theory, but it makes sense.
my older son was a soother man, and we just took that away from him cold turkey, but my younger daughter is a thumb sucker, im not sure how and when i will get her off that.
I have a 2 yr old and 4 yr old daycare girls who both suck their thumb. I generally dont mention anything to them, leave that to the parents to instruct me if they want the to stop.
wish i could be more help!

[playfelt]

How well does your son talk? Excessive drooling can be a sign of very week facial muscles which often leads to poor speech as well. Making him conscious of the drooling and that he needs to swallow it or as most men are prone to do - go spit it out somewhere - acceptable to both of you instead of just letting it drip out.

My own daughter drools still due to weak muscles. We had some facial exercises including massage to do when she was younger but mentally she isn't able to follow the directions to swallow etc. She breathes through her mouth more than her nose and therefore it is open all the time.

A speech therapist or occupational therapist might have some suggestions for you on how to strengthen the muscles other than just giving them time.

[Dreamalittledream]

Check out finger sucking thread and see the "glove" post i put it is supose to stop thumb/finger sucking within 2 weeks!
Oh yes Skysue I did check the glove out...but gee the glove is kinda pricey ($20-30 range?)

[Dreamalittledream]

How well does your son talk? Excessive drooling can be a sign of very week facial muscles which often leads to poor speech as well. Making him conscious of the drooling and that he needs to swallow it or as most men are prone to do - go spit it out somewhere - acceptable to both of you instead of just letting it drip out.

My own daughter drools still due to weak muscles. We had some facial exercises including massage to do when she was younger but mentally she isn't able to follow the directions to swallow etc. She breathes through her mouth more than her nose and therefore it is open all the time.

A speech therapist or occupational therapist might have some suggestions for you on how to strengthen the muscles other than just giving them time.. Thanks for the post! Lots of good advice:). He does talk well, but with an obvious lisp..not sure if that's because he's still really thinking and enunciating those sentences? My husband is for sure a mouth breather; never thought of that too.

[Inspired by Reggio]

Thumb sucking is a hard habit to break for sure ... and a personal thing cause it can affect their teeth growth and so forth so some families do not want to encourage it too long to avoid the costly orthodontist expense of fixing teeth later.

Personally be it a soother or a thumb I start to discourage the use of that outside of 'quiet time' ... so once you are 'walking' the only place you can have a soother or thumb is in your bed when you are tired or need some down time - if you are under the weather sometimes I let kids lay down in the playroom in the book nook with a soother or thumb other than that if you are happy and playing and the thumb goes into the mouth you get asked 'do you need some time alone on your bed with that' and they generally pull it out quickly.

With the drooling ... the straw is an awesome muscle develop in addition to sucking with it for drinks use it for blowing games as well .... blow feathers around or create games where you blow various things like a 'race'. Bubble blowing is another awesome mouth muscle developer. Learning to 'whistle' and so forth.

[Crayola kiddies]

I have not had a thumb sucker yet but have had two with soothers ....I only allow soothers for nap time and are not permitted to have it otherwise. One of these children always had something in his mouth because he was allowed to walk around with it at home, I was constantly saying " hands out of your mouth, toys out of your mouth, books out of your mouth. But because it was a habit of having something in hid mouth all the time. We would ve reading a story and I would ask " show me the red balloon" and he would take his slobbery hand out of his mouth and a string of spit went from his nouth to his hand and he would try and touch my book , ummm I don't think so ... It is such a huge spreading of germs and viruses. I think the more they ate encouraged to keep things out of their mouth the less they do it. I would encourage puzzles , coloring , duplo, anything that they use their hands for in order to keep their hands busy and therefore break the habit. I have googled soother use and it is recommended to take away soothers and bottles by the first birthday, the longer you wait the harder it gets to take away. I'm pretty sure for language development and to avoid over bite issues it's also recommended. If the child is an avid thumb sucker where they have callouses on thier hand then as a parent the $30 for a glove is worth it. IMO

[Dreamalittledream]

Actually, he rarely, if ever sucks his thumb during daycare time (too busy!). It just is when he's soothing himself for nap/sleep time really; which makes me think I may just let him grow out of it.

[playfelt]

My son was a thumb sucker but only when watching tv or sleeping and we are talking well after he should have known better. The dentist actually fit him with a mouth guard that made it impossible to put his thumb in his mouth that he had to wear while sleeping. Once that was successful he was fitted for his braces.

[Crayola kiddies]

Exactly my point ..... It's not a good habit ! If parents only knew how much braces cost ..... My two oldest have had them and not because if thumb/soother sucking just bad (teeth) genes.....and it's cost me ten grand for the two of them ..... I hope the next three fair better in the teeth dept.

[mom-in-alberta]

This can be a very divided issue as many parents see absolutely nothing wrong with thumb sucking or finger sucking.
My personal school of thought is; "only food goes in our mouths". When a little one is teething, of course, they need the relief of chomping on something. But I have discouraged all my kids from having their thumb or fingers in their mouth for comfort.
One of my best friends endured years upon years of braces/retainers, at a cost of thousands of dollars to her folks, because she sucked her thumb for so long and so often it pushed her front teeth out all weirdly. And another friend was recently told that she needs to get her daughter to stop putting her fingers in her mouth all the time, because it's changing the shape of her jaw.
It's a hard habit to break if you are working alone. I had a little guy who was TERRIBLE for putting things in his mouth. I finally managed to get him to stop that, for the most part. He was also a thumb sucker (I think he had "sensory" issues, but that's another topic). I didn't encourage it. It was not just at nap time or if he was chillin' on the couch, it was always. And I find it yucky that he would suck his thumb until it was all wrinkly and wet, then touch things. So after quite a while of saying "No thumbs in the mouth at Miss L's house" and physically removing his hand, usually giving him something else to do/hold onto, I eventually just had to say "W... no thumb!" and he would take it out.
But I know that mom thought it was cute. And I've seen his baby pics, he was sucking his thumb in most of them. He had a habit of sucking on the one hand, and hanging onto his ear with the other. So much so that his ear was getting all floppy on the one side. What can you do?
I believe it is Reggio's suggestion for kids that keep chewing/mouthing things to attach a specific toy/ring to them and THAT is what they can put into the mouth? I like it, and if I ever get another oral-obsessed kid, I will be trying that!! I am not a big fan of soothers, etc for older babies/toddlers, but I would rather that habit than thumbs or fingers. At least you can get rid of a "sucky"!!