Thumb sucker/super drooler

[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