Saturday, September 30, 2006
Ava's Thumb
Ava's thumb sucking goes waaaaaay back. Her thumb has been the comforter of choice since she was about 4 months old. She usually only sucks it when she is going to sleep, which these days is only at night since she doesn't really nap anymore. When I check on her before I go to bed, I sometimes have to pry it from her mouth. I know thumb-sucking is normal, and I know they say it doesn't really affect the child's mouth negatively until about age 5. But I can tell that her front teeth are slightly protruding, and I worry about it changing the shape of her mouth and bite pattern. I think it may even affect her speech slightly. Frankly, I wish we could stop it. But, I want to tread carefully since this is a major comfort to Ava, and I know it will be difficult on her emotionally to stop sucking. I saw something in a magazine today that I had never seen before. It's called a Thumbguard. A bracelet holds a plastic tube over the thumb which makes it impossible to suck. They say it helps 9 out of 10 kids stop sucking in about 3 weeks. I showed it to Ava and told her what it is and what it does. I told her we could get it and it would help her stop sucking her thumb. I also mentioned getting a huge, big, wonderful prize (present) after she learns to stop sucking. She seemed agreeable to the idea. I was feeling pretty good. So tonight, as she was getting ready for bed I mentioned it again, and that is when reality hit her. Knowing she would soon be sucking her thumb, and considering the possibility of not being able to do that made her cry. She said it would make her sad, and she wouldn't like it. I know it would. What's a parent to do? Should I bite the bullet and help her stop although it will be unpleasant. Or, do I wait until she is more ready, although I wonder if she ever will be "ready" to stop this habit on her own?
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3 comments:
Well... it all depends on who you ask. My parenting could be described as a bit blunt. When we broke Sydney of her pacifier at 10 months, we took it away completely. I mean completely! It took her about 3 nights to learn to comfort herself & the attachment to it was gone. When we potty trained the kids (using real underwear, after the Pull-Ups stage), Sydney would stay dry all night long, but Samuel had a hard time. However, I was determined not to go back to Pull-Ups, so I didn't. (And, I washed a LOT of sheets... every day! Thank goodness for mattress protectors!) So, if it were me, I would try to help her stop now.
It reminds me of the story you told about Nate going to bed without dinner because he wouldn't sit in his chair. It was hard on him that first night, but he learned his lesson quickly. I know this isn't exactly the same thing, but I think you can still apply the idea to Ava's issue. Just my two cents.
Now, you can hold me accountable & see what I decide to do if Nick continues to suck on his index & middle fingers. That might be a whole different story... :)
Hard to say on that one. I would probably say work on stopping it now. I sucked the same two fingers as Nick and it takes a lot of time to break - who knows when I would have quit had my parents not worked on me to stop.
Also, one other thing I thought about after I posted my comment... I would either do it as soon as possible or wait a while after baby #3 arrives. I know you already know this, but you sure don't want to try to break this comfort habit of hers at the same time she's adjusting to having a newborn in the house.
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