Stopping a Habit

To those of you without kids, this may seem boring, but to us it is about the most exciting thing happening in our family right now. Ava is stopping the thumb sucking habit! Often, I don't think people fully appreciate how difficult this must be. Imagine trying to stop a habit that has been performed every single day for almost 4 years. We've mentioned trying to stop to her before, but she has always resisted...until now. For some reason, she is ready to impose self control, and she seems to actually want to stop thumb sucking. We talked about how it hurts her mouth and teeth and how good it would be to stop. We made a chart of days to mark off as she is successful in avoiding her thumb (she has to start all over if she sucks her thumb once). She got to choose a prize to receive at the end of the days (a big girl bike!) And I have watched her as she falls asleep at night. That was the only time she sucked her thumb. I can see her making a conscious effort to not suck. She uses her sucking thumb to hold her blankie, or she tucks it under her face so she can't suck it. We were going to use some kind of mittens, but we have not had to do that because she is doing so awesome at just controling it herself. I don't watch her every night, but I would know if she was sucking because almost always her thumb would be still in her mouth after she fell asleep and I would have to remove it. I am really proud of her, and admire her will-power. I can't wait for her to receive and enjoy that big girl bike.