Care & Feeding | How to Help a Kid Stop Thumb-Sucking

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3.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 4 September 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today on the show: What to do when your kid won’t stop sucking their thumb. Lucy, Elizabeth, and Zak offer guidance for moving on from thumb-sucking—without turning to bribes or battles—as well as alternative methods of self-soothing. In ‘triumphs and fails’ Elizabeth and Zak wrestle with airports and big international moves, while Lucy deals with a budgeting tantrum. Join us on Facebook and email us at careandfeedingpod@slate.com to ask questions, share feedback, and suggest future topics. You can also call our phone line: (646) 357-9318. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an extra weekly grab-bag of content on the Plus Playground, an ad-free experience across the network, and support the work we do here on Care and Feeding. Sign up now at slate.com/careplus — or try it out on Apple Podcasts. Listen to Opportunity Gap wherever you get your podcasts: ⁠https://lnk.to/opportunitygapPS!careandfeeding⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Why are businesses like HelloVet choosing Apple products and services?
0:04.8	So we started the business two years ago.
0:07.2	We had a few people who were used to PCs and this was their first foray into Macs.
0:12.5	But it's been super smooth getting everyone onto those devices and everyone seems really, really happy.
0:18.0	Find out how Mac can help you run and grow your business at apple.com forward slash
0:23.6	HelloVet.
0:26.0	This episode may contain explicit language.
0:30.6	Welcome to Karen Feeding.
0:32.0	We're here to talk about the ups, downs, and everything in between when it comes to parenting.
0:36.5	I'm Zach Rosen.
0:40.0	I make another podcast that's called The Best Advice Show.
0:44.8	I am dad to Noah, who is eight, and Ami, who's just about to turn five.
0:46.5	We are back in Detroit.
0:49.3	Yay, welcome back, Detroiter.
0:53.1	I'm Lucy Lopez. I host another podcast, the Mamasita Rica.
1:27.5	I'm Mother to Amelia, who's 15, Avery, who's 12, and we live in Miami, Florida. I'm Elizabeth New Camp. I write the homeschool and family travel blog, Dutch Dutch, Goose. I'm the mom to Henry who's 13, Oliver who's 11, and Teddy who's 8, and we are currently in Atlanta, Georgia. Every week, we answer your questions, share our own parenting triumphs and fails, and try to make this feel like the kind of conversation you'd have with your parent friends. And today we've got a question from a parent whose three-year-old is still a dedicated thumb-sucker. They're worried about the impact on teeth, but more than that, they want to help their child learn to self-soothe without the thumb. We'll talk through some ideas and invite you to share what worked in your family.
1:30.8	But first, we share our triumphs and fails.
1:33.3	Zach and Elizabeth are transitioning back to the U.S., and my kids throw a budgeting tantrum.
1:38.7	So stick around.
1:57.3	On Billboard's Hot 100, America's flagship pop chart, there are number ones, and then there are number one debuts. Join me, Chris Melanfi, for a look at the chart calculus, superfan interventions
2:07.0	and fluky conditions that turn a brand new single into an instant success without any
2:14.7	guarantee of longevity. When it comes to hits, it's not where you start.
	...

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