Case Study on Behavioural Problem in Pre-schooler

Personal Information of the child

 Name – Kabir Dewan

 Age – 3 yrs.
 Gender – Male
 Behavioural Problem - thumb sucking , separation anxiety .

Personal Information of parents

 Name of the father – Chirag Dewan

 Age – 35 yrs.
 Gender – Male
 Qualification – MBA
 Occupation – Sr. Manager in a MNC

 Name of the mother- Megha Dewan

 Age – 33 yrs.
 Gender – Female
 Qualification- M.A in English
 Occupation- House wife

Other details

 Siblings , if any – No
 Family Type- Nuclear
 Socio –economic status – middle class
Kabir is a 3yrs pre-schooler who lives with his parents, Chirag and Megha Dewan. He is supposed
to start pre-school from next. He easily get along with people. The behavioural problem that was
noticed was that, Kabir tends to suck his thumb. Though he likes to be around his mother a lot. He
is very comfortable with others if the mother is around. He started crying if the mother leaves the
room. Though he seemed to be comfortable with his father but he seemed to prefer staying in the
mother’ lap.

Kabir’s father is a Sr. manager is multinational company and his mother is a home-maker. Kabir
spend all his time with his mother and have recently started to go to a day-care. It was after that he
started the habit of sucking thumb and he does it all the time.

Kabir is always sucking his thumb and when his parents pulls his thumb out he starts crying. In
the starting they let him do that but gradually it has become a habit. He sucks his thumb all the
time.

Analysis of the behavioural problem

Kabir is a 3 year old who is supposed to start pre-school next year. To prepare him for school his
parents decided to put him in day care that would prepare him for his pre-school. He goes from
11am to 2pm. When asked if he has adjusted to the sudden change in his schedule, the mother said
that he didn’t.

kabir didn’t like being separated from his mother at all. He cried a lot on his first day to day care.
They tried gradually adjusting him there. Suggested by the care-giver, the mother would help Kabir
stay in the place and when he would be engrossed in other activities she would leave. But after
kabir would notice his mother’s absence he would start crying and it would take a while for him
to calm down. Think it was a phase the parents didn’t pay much attention to.

After a while kabir did adjust to the day care and even started playing with a few children in the
day care but he started sucking his thumb in his sleep. It was noticed by the mother when she was
trying to put him to sleep.

At first they didn’t pay much attention and thought that young children do that. As kabir would
only while sleeping, they would pull his thumb out. It was after about 3-4 months when he started
doing it all the time. They thought that he learned it from other child in the day care but he didn’t.
It was something he started on his own.

The child seem to have adjustment issues which lead him to develop a thumb sucking as thumb
sucking makes children feel secure, some children develop this habit after being in a stressful
situation. They develop a habit of thumb sucking when they're in need of soothing or going to
sleep. In kabir’s case being separated from his mother for a long period of time caused this
behavioural problem.

Suggestion for behavioural problem-

Though the parents try to stop him from doing it but it gets difficult as he instantly starts crying.
The mother has started putting thumb mitten on the child but it only agitated him further. They
have been suggested to leave the problem as he would automatically stop it.

As the child only seem to have adjustment issues, parents should work on that. They should talk
to the child and prepare him for going to the day care. As for his thumb sucking, there are different
things that they can follow:

 Let it go- nagging the child or forcing them to stop sucking his thumb would only make
them do it more. Give the child some time and keep reminding them gentle to pull their
thumb out.

 Try to wait it out- Children usually give up thumb-sucking when they find other ways to
calm and comfort themselves. As Kabir has associated thumb sucking to his separation
anxity the parents should work on that. Make him feel secure about their bond.

 Engage thumb-sucking with other activities. If you can identify the times and places
when your is most likely to suck her thumb – kabir tend to suck his thumb all the time now
so the parents could engage him in other activities which would keep his mind of thumb
sucking and would even keep his fingers busy. Activities such as a rubber ball to squeeze
or finger puppets to play with. Threading the beads.
Conclusion-

The sudden change in Kabir’s schedule and being separated from his parents, especially his mother
put him in a lot of stress. As he was not prepared for the situation he found solace in sucking thumb.
They should work on his security level and make sure that he is comfortable with being away with
from the mother for a period of time. As for his thumb sucking, they should not force him to leave
it but try distracting him from the habit. Though it is common in children to do it but they should
not make it a habit that would be difficult for the child to also break in future.