After five nights without thumbsucking, discontinue the morning Stop-zit. After five more nights without any thumbsucking, stop using Stop-zit at bedtime. If the thumbsucking recurs, repeat this use of Stop-zit. Bring thumbsucking to the attention of your child's dentist at least by the time your child is 6 years old. When the permanent teeth come in, thumbsucking carries the danger of causing an overbite.
Dentists have a variety of approaches to thumbsucking.
By the time a child is 7 or 8 years old, dentists can place a reminder bar in the upper part of the mouth that interferes with the ability to suck. If your baby has increased sucking needs, try to interest him in a pacifier instead of the thumb. Unlike thumbsucking, pacifier use can be controlled as your child grows older because you can take away the pacifier. Children who use pacifiers do not switch to sucking their thumbs when they give up the pacifier. Children are always able to give up their pacifiers by age 4 or 5 years.