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More than not, this is how you will find Faith in our house.
She's cuddled up on the couch, or her bed, or our bed...but always with blankie.
She LOVES that blankie almost more than anything else.
In fact, she calls it "she".
As in, "Mom, have you seen my blankie? I can't find her."
And while it's the sweetest thing in the world that she loves that blankie so much, there is one little problem.
She also sucks her thumb when she has blankie.
And the dentist and pediatrician keep telling us that she has to stop sucking her thumb, but other than taking blankie away, we have tried everything.
No luck.
As soon as she starts holding blankie, the thumb goes in the mouth.
Soooo, we are left with a decision.
Do we take blankie away, (in which case there will be many tears, tantrums and and pretty much no sleep for at least several days), OR do I let her keep her blankie and just accept the fact that she may be still sucking her thumb in high school?
I'm just afraid to remove blankie because it's so special to her and has been with her since she was an infant. It makes her feel safe and loved and happy.
But I have a feeling that buck teeth and sucking her thumb in high school will kind of have the opposite effect.
Have you been down this road? What did you do? And how did it go?
oh my... remind me to tell you about ju ju's elephant's tail which i eventually had to cut off and throw away... similar idea, and i was afraid she would revolt and never sleep. and she did revolt and protest sleep for a little bit. but she got tired and eventually slept and it was only a couple naps/bedtimes that were rocky. yes, she was a lot younger than Faith, but at least you can kinda reason with Faith? Faith might be more stubborn than Ju Ju was since she is older but at least she will understand why you are doing it. could you possibly make a deal with her that she can't suck her thumb when she has it? or is that kinda impossible? well... good luck with whatever you decide to do! :) hard decision!
ReplyDeleteThe way a friend of mine got her children to stop sucking their thumbs (more than one child) was to wean. They were all about Faith's age so mom could use reason and allow them to be part of the solution. For instance, together they made the decision to not suck the thumb while at church. So they did that until the child gave that up. Then they decided together what the next step would be. And they just added to the places/times of day that were habitual leaving night time for last. Of course that one is the hardest but by then the child has become very aware of it and has been part of the solution the whole time. It took quite a bit of time, but none of her kids (and she has 4) suck their thumb anymore.
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