10 years of thumb sucking success

2013 was a turning point in my life – and in the lives of lots of parents of children who suck their thumbs.

A decade ago, my daughter, Isabel, was struggling with a thumb sucking habit. I tried and tried to find a suitable product to help her stop. But simply nothing worked. That’s when I decided to take the matter into my own hands. There had to be a solution, I thought, and that solution became Thumbsie®

I vividly remember standing at the school gates, speaking to other parents about our children and their thumb sucking habits. I quickly learnt there was a gap in the market. And guess what? Here we are ten years later with a multi-award-winning product that has helped tens of thousands of children to stop thumb sucking.

Best of all, we keep growing, and we have lots of exciting plans for the future.

While I want to thank all my colleagues and those who have supported Thumbsie® along the way, my biggest thanks of course go to you: the families who have purchased Thumbsie® and used them to help stop your child’s thumb sucking.

You have made Thumbsie® what it is today. Here’s to the next decade!

Love, Jo

Thumbsie®: our 10-year journey

Below my colleagues and I have come up with a list of a few of the highlights of the last decade.

Helping others:

I am extremely proud to say that Thumbsie® help over 5000 children every year to stop thumb sucking, as well as finger sucking,  skin picking and hair pulling. For me, this is what Thumbsie® is all about – helping others and seeing the huge smiles of children who have broken their long-term habits.

But it’s not just happy children that make all of us at Thumbsie® smile. We’ve also been delighted with the ongoing feedback from parents.

From the very early days at the school gates to the present day, we have received regular positive reviews. On Facebook we have a score of 4.9 out of 5 from 118 reviews, whereas on Etsy we have 4.9 out of 5 from 169 reviews. And to top it off, we have 4.8 out of 5 from 394 reviews on Google Reviews.

We also receive so many lovely personal stories from happy mums and dads. You can read some examples here.

Accessories:

While many parents know about Thumbsie’s® thumb and finger guards, we are also very proud of our broader range of items – including our book, our reward chart and our special cotton bag to store your Thumbsies®.  Children can also get a free Success Certificate when they break the thumb sucking habit, and there’s the opportunity to win a £25 gift voucher every three months. Just send a photo of your child wearing their Thumbsie® and don’t forget the hashtag, #LoveMyThumbsie when posting on social media.

Time and time again, parents have told us that reading Thumbs Up For Ted’s Thumbsie® and offering fun stickers as a reward helps children to quit their thumb sucking habit. Giving up thumb sucking doesn’t have to be a chore; it can be fun!

Awards:

Over the last decade we’ve been fortunate to win a number of awards, recognising the popularity and creativity of the Thumbsie® product. None of this would have been possible without the wonderful support of families from up and down the country.

Awards we have won include Innovation of the Year at both the Made For Mums Awards and the Dental Industry Awards and Product of the Year at the Family Network National Awards.

We’ve also been shortlisted for a variety of other big-name prizes such as the Junior Design Awards. And Jo has been nominated four times for the Best Business Women Awards, winning in the Best Retail category in 2019.

Recommended by dentists:

It’s been great to get the backing of parents, children and industry, but that’s not all. We’re also approved and endorsed by dentists from around the world.

We are especially proud to be officially accredited by the Oral Health Foundation (OHF), the UK’s leading independent dental health charity. this has just been renewed for another 3 years. The OHF seeks to improve national standards of oral health. Official accreditation from the OHF means that a product has been independently endorsed by experts in the dental profession following rigorous scrutiny and testing on each item. This truly is the ultimate seal of approval for any oral health product.