I was a thumb sucker! Till about 5th grade when the orthodontist put a contraption in my mouth that we called a "birdcage". I quit sucking that night. And soon after I was fitted for my braces!!
So you would think with this history I wouldn't let any of my kids suck their thumbs - wrong - Megan was sooo cute - adorable actually with her little thumb in her mouth and I have to say it was sooo convenient,
diaper bag - check
bottle - check
thumb - check
let's go!
And no middle of the night emergency insertion of the pacifier. But as history would have it, there was no stopping it!! When she was 2 we knew it was time to start cutting back, yeah right! By age 4 we were putting band aids on her thumb, age 6 we had sticker charts and age 8 brushing on the yucky tasting nailpolish. By 10 we resorted to paying her - a dime a day, By 12 we gave up and faced the inevitable - the "birdcage". Which worked exactly like it did for me - overnight.
And after 3 years of braces she has a beautiful smile - she should for the amount of money we spent on it!!
So when the boys were born, we were determined to only have 1 thumb sucker in the family. So we used a pacifier - it was a little more work -
finding it in the crib, in the car seat, in the couch... But all three boys gave it up when they were around 2 - no biggy! I think the trick is to do it around that age - it's less stressful for everyone. I watched an episode of Supernanny where a "pacifier fairy" came and took the pacifier and left a little gift for the "big kids" - these kids were 5 years old, had speech issues and soresb around their mouth from sucking - and it worked.
So the age old question - pacifier or thumb - obviously the choice is yours, but if you are concerned about saving money - one choice definetly makes cents.
*I've been playing around with the blog layout - let me know what you think!*
I was lucky in this area. Neither of the kids were thumb suckers or took pacifers. I was their pacifer! If they weren't nursing, we were still joined at the hip. So, it made for content babies, but a very tired mommy!
ReplyDeleteHmmm.....I wonder if the birdcage works for nailbiting? I've always wanted to stop!
I vote paicfier! Take it away and problem is solved. I'm having a very hard time with my thumb-sucker. I haven't tried the money yet, so maybe that will be the next effort. The yucky nail stuff didn't bother her in the least!
ReplyDeletewell, I tried paci's with all my kids, none has taken to them. I had one thumb sucker who gave it up at age 4.5 on his own. He actually got a sore on his thumb. a callus that came off and was really raw and it took a day and he stopped sucking. He was the best sleeper I had, slept 12 hours at night from a really early age...
ReplyDeleteI like the new lay out. You need pictures and fancy stuff on the side...
Our kids were all binky babies thankfully. A was hard to break, and gave up napping when we took it away. Needless to say I let the boys keep theirs a bit longer, lol, because I NEEDED them to nap for my own sanity. :)
ReplyDeleteDid you write this for me? Morgan's not using the binky at nap, now for nighttime...tonight's the night! Jake is just so cute with that thumb in his mouth...
ReplyDeleteI agree Mary, a happy and content baby is a thumbsucker, no binkies in our house. Jeanie we promised her pierced ears, Andrew just realized he was too old, and Amyanne just stopped on her own.
ReplyDeleteWhen we felt they were too old, we just made the rule that you are only allowed to thumb suck in your bed.
I love your baby picture, what a cute little girl. And I wonder if Megan would have needed braces anyway....
PS Jeanie does need braces, so maybe you are right about the binky being cheaper.
i just want to make a correction in the story...i stopped in second grade until 4th grade and then started again...
ReplyDeleteand i like the layout!