Here We Go!
17 Mar
After nearly 3 years, Nathan and I have finally decided it’s time to break Kaisa of her thumb-sucking habit. We are getting to the point where here speech, teeth, and self-esteem are starting to be affected.
We have been telling Kaisa for a while that if she stops sucking her thumb, she can go to Disneyland. Now that we’ve got the tickets and hotel booked, we are reaching crunch time! So…we called in the help of a little thing called the ThumbGuard. I ordered it from a dental supply website (it wasn’t cheap!) and it arrived on Monday. She was pretty excited about the guard at first, and liked picking out the color of wristband to wear. I called it her “special bracelet.”
I told Kaisa that if she didn’t suck her other thumb, she would only have to wear one bracelet. However, it only took about 4 hours for her to stick the other one in her mouth and suck away. So, I put the other one on. At nap time, it took her an hour to fall asleep. She wasn’t upset, just couldn’t seem to get herself calmed down without the thumb.
On day 2, Kaisa really started to hate the ThumbGuards. At nap time, she cried and begged me to “take these off!” I didn’t, but lay down with her to help her fall asleep. I’m hoping this doesn’t last very long, because that’s the time when I work! Bed time has been an ordeal as well. It takes her SO LONG to fall asleep without the thumb. Hopefully, she’ll get the hang of it!
For the most part, I am really happy with the ThumbGuard device. I didn’t want to put it on too tight the first time, but unfortunately I didn’t get it tight enough and she figured out how to wiggle her thumb out. I had to put them on tighter the next day, and they seem to be irritating her wrists a little bit. Luckily, they are very flexible and don’t seem to interfere much with her day-to-day activities. She has had no problems going potty or picking things up. She does need help opening things occasionally. The best part is that she literally can NOT suck her thumbs with the guards on. It is impossible for her to form a seal and create suction around the tubes. The manual says most children are able to quit after 3 to 4 weeks of wearing the guards. This gives us just enough time to kick her of the habit by Disneyland!
Good luck Kaisa! We are so proud of you!
Good Luck with that! I sucked my thumb until I was almost 8…I finally quit when I broke my hand and had it in a cast.
Wow. Drastic. Brevyn still sucks his thumb. I sucked my thumb for a long time and never had to have braces or anything. I finally just quit on my own when I decided I was too old for it. That’s the approach I’m taking with Brevyn. Good luck!
I also sucked my thumb until I decided I was too old to do it. About kindergarden age. It kinda makes me sad to know that she can’t self soothe and cries, but I know it is probably the best thing for her.
So, I’m curious how the thumb guard has been working. Has it worked over the past couple of weeks? I’m excited to see you in July!