Helping Your Child Move Beyond Thumb & Finger Sucking

Feb 4

How to understand the habit, its impacts, and positive strategies to help your child let go for good.

The Benefits of Thumb Sucking

Thumb and finger sucking are natural, adaptive behaviors for infants and young children. These habits are rooted in the brain’s development and help children cope with their world in ways that are meaningful and functional.

Emotional regulation: Sucking soothes emotional transitions, alleviates stress, and helps children calm down when tired or overstimulated. It’s a self-regulation tool that many children rely on during early development.
Comfort and security: For many kids, sucking provides familiar comfort through bedtime routines and unfamiliar situations — similar to other transitional tools like blankets or soft toys.
Sensory integration: The habit can help children process sensory experiences and focus in busy or emotionally challenging moments.

Professionals emphasize that the behavior in itself is not inherently “bad” — especially when it meets actual needs for comfort or sensory stability in very young children.

The Negative Effects of Digit Sucking

While thumb and finger sucking can be helpful early on, prolonged habits — especially intense or frequent ones — can have lasting impacts on oral and facial development.

🦷 Dental & Facial Structure

Persistent digit sucking can exert continuous pressure on the mouth’s structures, leading to:

Teeth misalignment: Sucking can push the front teeth forward (overbite), mismatch upper and lower teeth (crossbite), or prevent proper bite closure (open bite). Crooked or crowded teeth may also occur.
Narrowed or high-arched palate: Constant pressure can reshape the roof of the mouth, potentially restricting space for teeth and affecting dental alignment.

👄Functional Impacts

Beyond teeth and bones, digit sucking can influence other aspects of development:

Breathing and tongue posture: A high, narrow palate and incorrect tongue resting posture can shift a child toward mouth breathing, which may affect sleep and airway health. An arched palate can also impede in the nasal cavity space, causing bone structure changes, deviated septum and breathing problems that continue in their later years.
Speech patterns: Misaligned teeth and altered tongue placement can make certain speech sounds harder to articulate clearly.
Potential social effects: Older children who continue sucking may experience teasing or self-consciousness, affecting confidence.

When to Eliminate the Habit

Knowing when to intervene is key for healthy development while still respecting your child’s emotional needs.

🕒 Age Guidelines

Typical cessation age: Many children naturally stop between ages 2 and 4, often before dental issues appear.
Recommended intervention point: If sucking continues past age 4 — or shows intensity that could reshape teeth and jaw structures — it’s generally time to support reduction efforts. This aligns with guidance from pediatric dental and myofunctional clinicians.
Permanent teeth consideration: Because adult teeth begin to come in around ages 5–6, eliminating the habit before permanent tooth eruption gives the best chance for natural development.

Rather than insisting your child stop abruptly, professionals recommend a gentle, positive approach guided by awareness of their developmental stage and readiness.

Getting Help from a Myofunctional Therapist

If typical encouragement doesn’t help — or if the habit has persisted and is affecting oral development — a speech therapy or myofunctional therapist can be a game-changer.

💡 What They Do

Orofacial myofunctional therapists specialize in the muscles and behaviors involved in chewing, swallowing, breathing, and oral rest posture. For thumb and finger sucking they can:

Assess underlying causes: Some children suck to compensate for sensory needs, airway differences, or tongue posture issues. A therapist works together with the family to meet the needs of the child, while also being an outside support that the child can be accountable to. This reduces some strain on the parent-child relationship during this difficult habit-breaking process.
Support habit elimination with positive strategies: Rather than punishment or restrictive devices, therapists use positive reinforcement during awareness building, and supportive habit disruption techniques tailored to each child. These might include making plans for times of day when the child typically sucks their thumb, such as TV time, bed time and riding in the car.
Retrain tongue and facial muscles: Once the habit is addressed, myofunctional therapy helps children learn proper tongue posture, nasal breathing, and functional swallowing — supporting long-term oral health.

Working with a therapist means you’re not navigating habit change alone. A child who may be resistant to parents at times of frustration during the process, will have another adult to report to each day, who will be kind and encouraging during the process.

Final Thoughts

Digit sucking is a very common part of infancy and early childhood, rooted in comfort, regulation, and sensory needs. But when it persists beyond early childhood with intensity, it can affect teeth, palate shape, breathing, and speech. Knowing when and how to support your child — especially with help from a speech therapist — can ensure they grow with healthy oral structures and confident self-soothing strategies.

📚 References

Primary Sources Used:

Reframing Thumb Sucking: A Compassionate Approach Rooted in Function — Chrysalis Orofacial (thumb sucking context & emotional regulation)
What’s the Best Age to Stop Thumb Sucking? — Center for Orofacial Myology (normal habit progression)
How to Break Thumb And Pacifier Habits — Brookhaven Children’s Dentistry (dental effects & cessation tips)
Stop Thumb Sucking / Finger Sucking With Myofunctional Therapy — Myofunctional Therapy 4 U (palate development & therapy)
For additional insights call us, or your talk to your dentist or orthodontist.

Becky Bruso