So the question of the day: How does one break a child of thumb sucking?
It's not quite like a pacifier, which can be 'lost' or sent away to soothe some baby who doesn't have one of their own, or even thrown away.
The thumb is just there, waiting to be sucked.
At least Olivia's is. She loves that thumb of hers.
But I think that the thumb sucking contributes to the hair pulling and we'd like to stop both of those habits if possible.
But how?
I loathe the idea of putting tobasco sauce on her thumb, which has been the most common bit of advice I've received. Ugh! That just seems mean. I don't want to be mean to her.
The other night as we sat and rocked, I said gently, "How about we try not to suck thumby?"
She tried. Ohh, how my baby tried not to suck her thumb. She tried so hard. She laid there against my chest, her head down, her right hand at her side. She turned her head back and forth, looking for a comfortable position.
Finally, about five minutes after my suggestion, she bent her head down and slipped her thumb into her mouth.
I pulled her face up and said softly, "It's okay. You don't have to hide. You can suck your thumb tonight. I'm not mad."
And she snuggled in with relief and was asleep two minutes later, her thumb slipping out of her mouth on its own moments after that.
I don't want to break her. I don't want to stress her out. So how do we do this?
After I'd suggested she not suck her thumb but then said it was okay if she did, her left hand never ventured up to pull her hair. So there is that.
We tease her often about the thumb, often asking if someone else can suck on it for a bit. She laughs and plugs it in tighter to keep it away from other people. We try to make light of it but it's tough.
I'll keep trying to gently suggest that she try to go a bit longer each time not sucking and see what happens. Hey, preschool starts next fall. Perhaps peer pressure will kick in. Except...I don't want her to be teased for this.
Maybe we'll make it a home-based habit. I'll see if I can make that stick.
One day at a time, right? One milestone at a time.
A mom, a dad and two daughters. We're living ordinary lives with a twist of 5p- (Cri du Chat) for spice. But we're about so much more than our younger daughter's genetic diagnosis.
4 comments:
Tommie I think we have the same brain!! I was having this exact same conversation with my cousin yesterday! Seriously, how do you brake the habit?
I know someone who would dip their child's thumb in something bitter. And to my knowledge it worked.
I would like a follow up if you find any tricks!!!
Brown fabric looking band-aids around her thumb. At 8-9yo i was headed towards being a "lifer" in the thumb sucking department. My mother tried every possible anti thumb-sucking product on the market. And then I cut my thumb and had to wear a band-aid (the fabric ones are key) around my thumb and my mom noticed that I was not sucking my thumb with it on. So she put one on every night and voila it worked!!! I know it sounds crazy, but cZnt hurt to try ;)
I am sure you already know lots of this, but I am learning so much about sensory stuff right now and it could be related to that. Hunter has sensory issues (and I know it is common with CDC kids) but he was super attached to his pacifier and even though we could throw that away he has never really been the same. He wakes up more in the middle of the night now and wakes up really early in the morning. Anyway my point to all of this is that if it is sensory related the OT's may have some really good advice and tips that are not mean. Plus sometimes their suggestions are so out of the box we could never read it in a parenting magazine! Good Luck
onestepahead.com makes a guard you put on the thumb to prevent thumb sucking. I have no idea if it works or not since I've never had that problem. I'll need to know in a couple years though since Trevor loves to suck his thumb.
Laura
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