Problem with a child...

[HardInThePaint]

This has absolutely nothing to do with CB's but anyways, my gf's son is a hella coo ass kid. Except he always sucks his damn thumb while holding this damn Cat in the Hat stuffed toy. He's 6 and will be 7 in May. This shit is getting out of line IMO. He always trippin on this damn stuffed toy and sucks his thumb. The thing is he doesn't suck his thumb unless he has it. I'm at the point were I'm about to stage a burgulary at the crib and have that damn cat stole with some other shit. I've been contemplating burning down the house while everybody is gone just to destroy that thing. His mom is over course his mom and babies him and even tho she thinks he should stop she doesn't have the heart to take the shit away quite yet. Am I just trippin or is it coo for a 6 year old to do that? I have a 3 year old boy and he doesn't even do that shit. I'm just sayin, beyond the fact that I think he's way to old for that shit, thumb sucking that late in the game can cause tooth development problems and shit. IDK, maybe I'm trippin...

[92accordkidd]

put hotsauce on his thumb and for the cat and the hat toy take it while he is sleeping one night and hide it in a place he will never find it

[dj_ender]

put hotsauce on his thumb and for the cat and the hat toy take it while he is sleeping one night and hide it in a place he will never find it

^^^ yup, until he gets used to hotsauce.

[RagingAsian]

I know the kids I work with ( 5 to 10) the 5 year olds do sometimes suck their thumbs. not much we can do about it. he is six. still so it could still be still considered young.

give him an incentive not to suck his thumb...like a reward or some shit.

[HardInThePaint]

put hotsauce on his thumb and for the cat and the hat toy take it while he is sleeping one night and hide it in a place he will never find it

I would except his mom really has final say in what goes down. Plus I don't really want to put hotsauce on his shit. He would trip anyways if it just came up missing like that. If we do it we're just gonna straight up take it and tell him exactly why. Its just that like I said, he's still his mom's baby so she don't want to hurt his feelings which I understand, I'm just wondering if at his age should be even really doing that shit or not.

I know the kids I work with ( 5 to 10) the 5 year olds do sometimes suck their thumbs. not much we can do about it. he is six. still so it could still be still considered young.

Thats what I'm wondering. If its still too early to be trippin on the lil dude.

give him an incentive not to suck his thumb...like a reward or some shit.

Yeah we tried that a couple times. We would offer him something in place of the cat. Cuz without the cat he doesn't suck his thumb so it kind of kills too birds if he reliquishes it. Except most of the time he chooses the toy. If it were me I would just take the damn thing that would be the end of it. But I have to empathize with his mom, I suppose if it were my son I would be hesitant to hurt his feelings. Shit, I know I baby my boy to some degree also.

[bobbycos]

alot of good advice here but be cautious about this. like you said earlier he is her son and as a boyfriend you can suggest and help out but to quote you again she has the final say


good luck with this

[deevergote]

You'll have to get his mom on board with whatever you do. If you do something to stop it, and she allows it, he'll keep doing it... and he'll only end up being angry at you.

If the toy is directly associated with the thumb sucking, then yeah... I say get rid of the toy.

[SOHC-FTW]

Give him a dog or pet something that won't grow up to be a 60lbs pet, but something thats not a lap dog either.Hell give him a real cat if hes into that sort of thing adoption is a great idea.

[deevergote]

That won't be something he can carry around in public, though. I assume the biggest issue is that the little man walks around in public sucking his thumb, am I right?

Of course, thumb sucking can lead to issues with the teeth... if he does it too often, his teeth can get all screwy.

[SOHC-FTW]

That won't be something he can carry around in public, though. I assume the biggest issue is that the little man walks around in public sucking his thumb, am I right?

Of course, thumb sucking can lead to issues with the teeth... if he does it too often, his teeth can get all screwy.

But would give him something new to learn, and maybe stop the whole issue.I'm no expert at this just an idea.I know what i would do if he was my kid, but hes not mine nor his.

[deevergote]

It would give him something to focus his attention on, for sure. A real animal is much more intriguing to a child than a stuffed one.

[Smiley_cb7]

I say explain to him (in a way he will understand) that what he is doing is not good nor beneficial to him.. I'm not comepletly possitive that taking the toy will make him stop doing it. I personally would get on to him everytime I see him doing it. And if your girl doesn't like it, o well. Are you the man of the house? Do you take care of the kid as if he's yours? If so, you should have a significant say on how to treat the matter..

[deevergote]

I'd say talk to his mother and explain the potential health risks associated with thumb sucking. Get her on your side, and it'll be much easier.
You don't have to rationalize with a child, or make him understand. As the adults in this child's life, you and his mother are responsible for guiding him... and at this point, he doesn't have very much say one way or the other.

Take it from me... I had braces as a kid, and it sucked. I didn't wear my retainer, and my parents didn't force me to do so. My teeth moved again. Having fucked up teeth as an adult is no fun.

[HardInThePaint]

Give him a dog or pet something that won't grow up to be a 60lbs pet, but something thats not a lap dog either.Hell give him a real cat if hes into that sort of thing adoption is a great idea.

Yeah he has a hamster that he loves. But the toy is more of a security blanket, sort of like Linus on the Peanuts cartoon.

That won't be something he can carry around in public, though. I assume the biggest issue is that the little man walks around in public sucking his thumb, am I right?

Actually he only does it in the house (thank God). He will walk around with it and suck his thumb and while he's watching TV and of course when he goes to bed.

I'd say talk to his mother and explain the potential health risks associated with thumb sucking. Get her on your side, and it'll be much easier.
You don't have to rationalize with a child, or make him understand. As the adults in this child's life, you and his mother are responsible for guiding him... and at this point, he doesn't have very much say one way or the other.

Yeah its not like she doesn't know the possiblity of his teeth getting jacked up from it. We even showed him some pics on the web of people's teeth as a result of thumbsucking but he's not really grasping the concept yet. Trust me, she wants him to stop pretty bad too but like I said she is all cryin about his feelings and what not. And yeah, he does live under my roof with his mom and my son and his father is a deadbeat so I pretty much do the father thing with him for the most part. And your right, if it comes down to it we are the adults and if we take it from him its for his own good and he'll eventually get over it. I was just asking this question really to get some input if I would be out of line to proceed or not. I mean, its one thing if he was 2 or 3. But he's 6 and will be 7 in May. I just wanted to see if I was trippin thinking that it was time for this to stop or to give him a little bit more time.

[deevergote]

I've read a number of angles on this (i minored in childhood development... there are MANY gray areas...)

Some people will say that a traumatic event such as removing his security blanket can be harmful. Others say that allowing him to retain it is relinquishing control, showing the child that he is the one calling the shots.
The mind of a 6 year old doesn't see things the way adults do. Explaining to him that his future self may suffer due to what he's doing now means nothing to him (hell, telling 20 year old members of this forum that lowering their car on unsafe components will result in a crash doesn't even work!) The 6 year old mind doesn't have a very strong concept of preparing for the future.

Really, your options are: 1) let him continue and hope he stops on his own, 2) put your foot down and remove the toy, which will HOPEFULLY result in him stopping the thumb sucking, 3) invent some story that will frighten him into stopping (the old "if you masturbate, you will go blind" trick), or 4) present some sort of positive/negative reinforcement scheme... in other words, punish him for sucking his thumb, and reward/praise him when he does not.

Option #4 will be the most difficult, but I feel it would be the most effective, as well as the best for the child's mental health. It will require both you and the boy's mother to be very attentive to his actions, and be extremely consistent in your responses. You will have to punish/praise EVERY time, as quickly as possible... and you will have to both do so on an equal level (otherwise, the boy will tend to avoid the harsher adult, and gravitate to the more lenient one... not a good thing at all.)
I would say the easiest way to do this, if the thumb sucking truly is directly tied to the toy, is to only provide supervised access to the toy. Only allow him to have the toy when you or his mother are present, and be vigilant of his actions, responding consistently as necessary.