Thumbsucking & Noxious Habit Elimination Program at Milwaukee Myo
Many parents in the Milwaukee area find themselves in a challenging dilemma. They recognize the comfort a child gets from sucking, yet they worry about the visible changes to their child's smile.
At Milwaukee Myo, we understand this struggle intimately. We offer a positive, supportive path to Noxious Habit Elimination using specialized Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy, designed to protect your child's dental development and craniofacial growth.
Understanding Oral Habits: The Good and the Noxious
It is essential to start from a place of understanding: Sucking is a perfectly normal, innate pattern in humans. In early infancy, this skill is not just important—it is an important volitional motor skill necessary for survival. It provides nutrition and deep comfort to a developing baby.
Facts and Figures on Thumb sucking Habits
If your child has a sucking habit, you are not alone. It is a common challenge that many families face:
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75-95% of all infants suck their thumb at some point in their lifetime.
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By preschool, 30-45% of children still maintain a sucking habit.
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This number drops significantly as children mature, with only 5-20% of children continuing the habit past the age of 6.
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Statistics also show that it is a habit more typically found in girls than boys.
"Why Can't I Just Wait for Them to Stop?" The Importance of Early Intervention
This is perhaps the most frequent question we hear: "My pediatrician says they will grow out of it. Can't I just wait?"
The answer, from a craniofacial and dental development perspective, is often no.
Here is why:
Deforming the Developing Palate and Face
Bone requires pressure to remodel and rebuild. Sucking exerts significant, repetitive, and incorrect pressure. A developing palate (the roof of the mouth) can be easily changed, reshaped, or deformed by noxious habits, including digit sucking, pacifiers, sippy cups, and other repetitive oral habits.
Prolonged vigorous sucking interferes directly with:
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Normal growth development of the facial form.
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The development of the nasal cavity.
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The proper alignment and eruption of teeth.
Waiting too long means missing the critical window where we can guide growth positively, often resulting in complex dental and skeletal issues that require intensive intervention later.
"How Can I Help My Child Stop Sucking?"
At Milwaukee Myo, we do not believe in shame, negative reinforcement, or bitter-tasting paint. We focus on empowering your child and restoring positive function.
The "Sweet Spot" for Habit Elimination: Age 4
A supportive session at Milwaukee Myo, where an orofacial myofunctional therapist uses positive reinforcement tools like colorful sticker charts to engage with a child. This photo visually represents the "how do I get my child to stop" section.
If you have a child with a sucking habit, the best age to work toward elimination is at age 4 years.
Why age 4?
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Maturity: At 4, the child has the emotional maturity and cognitive ability to understand the need to stop. They can become an active participant in their own health.
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Motivation: A 4-year-old also responds incredibly well to rewards and positive encouragement.
Our Positive Reward-Based Program
Milwaukee Myo offers a structured, positive reward-based program that can help children eliminate their thumb sucking or noxious habit efficiently. Our average success story sees the habit completely eliminated over a 4-5 week period. We guide your child with gentle, functional exercises that retrain the tongue to a healthy resting posture, replacing the habit with successful functional patterns.
Why Is an Elimination Program Necessary Now?
While it is true that many children will eventually stop, waiting for self-correction can be costly to their health.
Noxious habits can affect:
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Normal dental eruption and alignment: Forcing permanent teeth into incorrect positions.
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Orthodontic results: Making treatment longer, more difficult, or prone to relapse.
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Normal function of the TMJ (temporomandibular joint): Leading to chronic jaw pain.
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The shape of your face and mouth: Altering the natural, balanced development of the jaw and profile.
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Speech production/sound errors: Creating durable lisps or articulation challenges.
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Sleep patterns: Incorrect oral posture is a major hidden driver of pediatric sleep-disordered breathing and fragmented sleep.
Most importantly, the habit of sucking may have already done significant damage to the craniofacial structure by the time some children feel ready to stop on their own. Furthermore, waiting is no guarantee of success; there are also individuals who continue the habit into adulthood, where the structural impact is much harder to correct.
Proof in the Results: Open bite Corrected Before Orthodontics
To illustrate the importance of timely elimination, we use the specific scenario of an open bite caused by thumb sucking.
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Before program: Due to the repetitive pressure of thumb sucking, this patient had a lateral open bite, preventing the teeth from meeting correctly on the sides.
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Same patient after elimination program: The habit was stopped, and with the noxious pressure removed and orofacial muscle function restored, the bite has closed.
By acting at age 4, this family saved potentially thousands of dollars in extensive, complex orthodontic and surgical intervention that would have been required to correct the underlying structural damage. Timely Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy protects your child’s development and your future financial investment in their health.
Take the First Step: Restore Your Child's Healthy Growth Today
If your child is struggling to break a noxious habit, do not face this challenge alone. Milwaukee Myo is here with a gentle, effective, and positive alternative. We provide the expertise your family needs to achieve permanent noxious habit elimination and secure your child's future of functional health.
Visit Our Milwaukee Clinic
Milwaukee Myo (Mequon Speech and Learning Connection)
1025 W. Glen Oaks Lane, Suite 107 Mequon, WI 53092
Related Resources for Parents:
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Newborn Nursing Struggles: More Than Just a Latch Issue – Understand how early oral patterns affect later habits.
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What is an OMD? A Parent’s Guide to Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders – Learn the science behind why habits change facial structure.
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Feeding and Swallowing Therapy – For children whose oral habits have impacted their ability to eat a variety of textures.
