Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here to register

Clinical Pediatrics
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Friman, P. C.
Right arrow Articles by Schmitt, B. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Friman, P. C.
Right arrow Articles by Schmitt, B. D.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?

Thumb Sucking: Pediatricians' Guidelines

Patrick C. Friman, PhD

Department of Pediatric Psychiatry, Division of Child Development, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Barton D. Schmitt, MD

University of Colorado School of Medicine

Thumb sucking is a common, generally harmless child behavior whose persistent practice occasionally leads to dental, dermatological, orthopedic, and psychological problems. When to treat thumb sucking should be determined by risk potential. With a few rare exceptions (e.g., hair pulling), thumb sucking related problems do not occur until after the age of four years and therefore, treatment is rarely necessary before then. Even after this age, treatment is not recommended unless physical and/or emotional sequelae are imminent or a thumb sucking child requests help in quitting. Thus, in most cases parents should be instructed to ignore thumb sucking. When intervention is necessary, it should be preceded by a 1-month moratorium on parental attention. Treatment should include a combination of monitoring with charts, incentives for successful days and various external cues to remind the child who forgets.

Clinical Pediatrics, Vol. 28, No. 10, 438-440 (1989)
DOI: 10.1177/000992288902801001
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Behav ModifHome page
J. M. Stricker, R. G. Miltenberger, C. F. Anderson, H. E. Tulloch, and C. M. Deaver
A Functional Analysis of Finger Sucking in Children
Behav Modif, July 1, 2002; 26(3): 424 - 443.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Arch Pediatr Adolesc MedHome page
P. C. FRIMAN
Thumb-Sucking-Reply
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, August 1, 1991; 145(8): 846 - 846.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Arch Pediatr Adolesc MedHome page
P. C. Friman
Concurrent Habits: What Would Linus Do With His Blanket If His Thumb-sucking Were Treated?
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, December 1, 1990; 144(12): 1316 - 1318.
[Abstract] [PDF]