Mom Talk

Since our daughter turned four, we began the long, painful task of helping her give up thumb-sucking. She really only sucks her thumb when she has her special “blankie”, a small pink blanket with satin edges specially made for her by one of our close friends. It is her favorite thing in the world. I think to her, it even has personality. We’ve tried a few things to make her start the weaning process, but everything has ended up as a power struggle. In a fit of desperation, I called the pediatrician’s office (they advertise expertise in basic child psychology as well so I figured it was a good place to start).

They recommend that we not set a limit on how much she gets to suck her thumb but rather where she gets to. This was a stroke of pure genius. We made a rule that starting on her fourth birthday (because four-year-old girls are BIG girls) she could suck her thumb and use her blankie whenever she wants but only in her bed. If she wants to suck her thumb, she has to go all the way upstairs to her room by herself and climb in bed to do it. The result? It has been one week and she’s only gone up there one time. Because of this, thumb sucking has voluntarily been limited to nap time and bedtime. Hallelujah!