Mylie is a thumbsucker. It’s in her blood. Her father was a long-term thumb sucker as well. It is so highly ingrained in her DNA that when she was born, she had a blister on her hand from sucking in utero.
When she was born, she couldn’t quite get the thumb into her mouth successfully, so a pacifier sufficed for the short term. But she was merely weeks old when she was able to find the appropriate digit consistently, and after that the pacifiers were generally worthless.
I’ll be honest… we knew we were judged. Friends and family alike would make comments like, “Oh, I would never want my kid to suck her thumb. You can throw away a pacifier, but what do you do with a finger?” And we would merely look at them and smile sweetly. Because the truth is… as an itty bitty baby she was so cute sucking away on her little thumb. PLUS, we had a baby who knew how to self-soothe, and we never had to make midnight trips into the nursery to pop the paci back in. Nope, our kid slept 12 hours by 12 weeks and took two 2-hour naps a day, credited partially to the fact that if it fell out, she could stick it right back in without having to regain complete consciousness. It was lovely.
Really Truly - Thumb Sucking Babies Are Sweet
Buuutttt…. then she grew up. She turned two. Then three. Then four. The dentist started commenting about how we needed to get her to stop. Her teeth started to protrude out a bit. And we started itching for her to quit the habit. It just wasn’t that cute anymore, and it was border-lining on gross.
Thumbsucking at Two... kinda cute
Thumbsucking at Three... Not so cute anymore
For those of you who know us well, you’ll remember some of the difficulties we faced continue to face with potty training. Through all the suggestions we’ve been given and tactics we’ve tried, it continues to be a power struggle (though much better now than it used to be). So, as we’re just barely over that fight, I’ve been in no hurry to start a new one that I was sure would have similarly frustrating outcomes.
Luckily, even though we can’t remove or cut off her thumbs, I did believe I had a secret weapon up my sleeve. Her thumb sucking was almost completely tied to her blankies, and only happened when one was in hand. So over the course of the last couple years I’ve tried to discourage the blankies. First, they were no longer allowed in the car or out of the house. Then, we had her leave them in her bed except when watching movies or TV. I’ve been prepping her for the last couple years that at age 5, the blankies will be banished to bed only. She’s been prepared for that momentous day for quite some time.
To up the ante on quitting the thumb as well, I, being the stupid mother I am who never learns her lesson, decided I would throw a trip to Disneyland in the mix. I know, I know, I can hear the gasps now. But, since I wanted to take her to the Happiest Place on Earth about the time she was five, and because she had specifically said she wasn’t going to quit sucking her thumb until she was five, I figured the timing would work out swimmingly. Plus, after the potty training hell, I figured 5 would turn more into 6 or even later. I was sure I was safe.
Yes, famous last words. Turns out, the kid has more gumption than I knew. A few weeks ago, she was looking at her teeth next to Nolan’s in the mirror. She asked why hers had such a big gap and stuck out and why Nolan’s didn’t. While we’re not for making girls all self-conscious at an early age, Nick was honest with her. He told her it was because she sucked her thumb, and that if she continued to suck her thumb, it would get worse (okay, he was only partially honest… she would have a gap regardless… she and Nolan got COMPLETELY different sets of teeth out of the gene pool). So she, of course, said, “I’m not going to suck my thumb anymore.” And we smiled and nodded and then rolled our eyes at each other. I’m pretty sure, “Yeah right,” was what I muttered under my breath.
Um, yeah. Guess who hasn’t sucked her thumb since that very moment? That’s right, it’s been almost a month with no wet thumbs in sight. The girl up and quit cold turkey. We haven’t gone so far as to video tape her sleeping, and she did admit that one time she woke up in the middle of the night and found herself sucking, but stopped immediately. Still. Cold turkey? Really?
And now, of course, I’m the sucker who has to try to figure out a way to make good on the Disney promise before she starts calling me a liar. But really, couldn’t she have decided to do this a little before we booked the vacation to EUROPE?! How are we supposed to budget in Disneyland for a four year old who all the sudden decided she wanted to grow up, and with straight teeth to boot? Ah well, I guess what we fork over for Disneyland will just come out of the pot we were saving up for braces for her, right? Right.
Move Over Mickey, cuz here comes Mylie!
2 difference in one day? London was never a thumb sucker, probably because she couldn’t suck. She got the thing in her mouth a few times but it wasn’t soothing. I know that a girl like Mylie could probably easily quit cold turkey, just because she’s that stubborn. I’ll tell you, though, the Disneyland trick didn’t work for potty training for us! But let me know when you’re going! We’ll be more than happy to go with you. You’ll have to do the give a day get a Disney day promotion. Then you’ll only have to pay for Mylie.
Don’t you just love when they stick it to us like that? I’ve yet to bear a child that doesn’t suck on a finger or thumb. Right now I’m trying to get my two and a half year old to quit the thumb. Unfortunately his “blankie” is his belly button so his comfort can’t be limited to bed time. Let me know if you have any pointers for that. Anyway, at least Disney is fun for the whole family! You’ll all have a blast!
Good for her. We have been lucky that our two that did suck fingers or thumbs suffered accidents that cured them without help. Robyn sliced up her finger on a tinfoil container and couldn’t suck through the bandaid and she never sucked her fingers again.
Daisy got some horrible mouth infection/sores and she couldn’t put her thumb in without it hurting and she quit after that. Both of them were a little over one year and I was thrilled that I never had to do anything.
Still,I would like a trip to Disneyland. I’ll have to devise some way to sneak it in.
Way to go Mylie!! Can’t wait to hear about your trip to Disneyland!