For the past four and half years, this has been her “go to” position for comfort.
As a baby it was great… she totally self soothed… no pacifiers to chase down or beloved blankey to snuggle. Just pop her index and middle fingers in her mouth backwards and start rubbing her ear (or twirling her hair) and she could instantly calm herself to sleep.
We knew of course this would have it’s trade off. We knew that the cost for an easy night sleep would pay its dues when it came time to break her of the habit. Because unlike the pacifiers her older siblings used, you can’t exactly throw away her fingers when you want her to stop sucking them.
And so, we put forth our best efforts to rally a campaign of no more finger sucking at age 3….
which then became age 4….
So, here we are, almost 2 months from her fifth birthday and she’s still sucking her fingers in the car, when she’s falling asleep, and when she’s snuggling on the couch….
Until this weekend….
At around 10pm Thursday night as we were driving to my SIL’s in Va, I hear here say to herself in the back of the van… “Look at me not putting my fingers in my mouth. I AM NOT PUTTING MY FINGERS IN MY MOUTH” We of course affirmed and praised this decision of hers.
Next day, “Guess what? I didn’t put my fingers in my mouth, the whole way to Aunt Karen and Uncle Jim’s or all last night or this morning in the van.”
Every now and then, when she was tempted to put them in her mouth, she’d proclaim, “Here I am not putting my fingers in my mouth.”
This was the most telling to me, because I knew it meant she was making a conscious decision not to put them in her mouth. For whatever reason she decided she wasn’t going to do it anymore.
And we praised her for it and I promised to paint her nails when we got home on Saturday night if she kept them out of her mouth.
Saturday night I painted her nails… 5 bright shades of fantastic with a top coat of glitter!!!
So, you can see all it took was 2 years of nagging her finally coming to the decision on her own to stop doing it and she broke the habit. Cold Turkey!
I’m pretty sure this says something about her will and personality and the *fun* we’re going to have when the teen years arrive…
Wow! Way to go #3! There might just be a lesson in there for me as well... Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGood for her! Kelsie is a finger sucker the same way - two fingers upside down. She's almost two and I'm worried about breaking the habit! I have hope!
ReplyDeleteWatch out for the sleeping habit. We thought we broke Caroline's thumb sucking when she was six but then recently I have noticed if I check on her she might still have it in her mouth when she is asleep!!! We are already talking braces for her with the dentist so wondering what next to permanently end her habit. :(
ReplyDeleteSUCH a huge deal!! That's awesome. :)
ReplyDeleteSo proud of her efforts. Don't worry if she backslides occassionaly - she is REALLY trying! Hope she enjoyed her manicure because she waited and earned it.
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