Hard Habit Finally Broken!

After a little close to 7 years, she finally stopped sucking her thumb! It was certainly not easy to break this habit for she had sought so much comfort from sucking her thumb right from the start. The ultrasound scans often showed her sucking her thumb, while she was comfortably all curled up inside her cocoon, during my pre natal check-ups.

She would suck her thumb whenever she was sleepy, bored and during slumberland. She did not like the pacifier nor the boops, so her own thumb was her best pacifier and solace. I used to find her really really adorable whenever I saw her sucking her thumb when she was a baby. I still thought that it was cute when she was 3 years old and still sucking her thumb. But I did not think it was cute anymore when she still sucked her thumb when she was already over 6 years old! I encouraged her to stop sucking her thumb and made up stories that her teeth would jut out like a rabbit or monkey's teeth if she continued sucking her thumb but that did not manage to deter this willful child of mine. Yep, she has a head as hard as her mummy's head! That's why we often clash. All of a sudden about a month or two back, I noticed that she did not suck her thumb anymore when she was asleep. Her che che, who is a very good watch dog and whistler blower would always report to me if her 2 younger sisters did anything naughty or wrong. So I asked her che che if her 2nd sister had stopped sucking her thumb and she said YES! I said really?? And she resounded a YES! Finally my Standard 1 baby girl is no longer a baby. She is now done and over with thumb-sucking, which was once the hardest habit for her to break.

I wish and pray that all of a sudden one fine day, this rascal will surprise me by jumping out of her dilly dally skin and tell me "mummy, I am a new me. I don't dilly dally anymore!!" I dare not imagine how she will fare in her exams. She is the polar opposite of her che che who is more serious in her studies and she can be given an award for punctuality. I hope my rascal will again give me the least expected surprise and make me really proud of her one day.

Thumb Sucking

Sherilyn the thumb-sucker at 3 months.



2 years on.... and still a happy and cheerful thumb-sucker.

Sherilyn's other obsession is thumb sucking. From the time she was in my womb till now, age 2 yrs 3 months, she has always been a compulsive thumb-sucker. She finds such great comfort, security, relief and syiok-ness sucking her thumb. She sucks her thumb when she's sleepy, hungry, bored, happy, sad and when she sleeps.

Many well-meaning friends and relatives urged me to wean her off this habit but I don't think I want to do do it just yet. I actually find this thumb sucking in Sherilyn so.... well, syiok. I simply adore seeing her suck her thumb. She looks so baby-ish, so adorable, so manja, so helpless, so very cute when she sucks her thumb. So why do I want to take away this feeling of comfort and security from my little baby girl? I am confident that she will weane herself off this habit when she's ready, when she knows the feeling of embarassment, when she's matured enough to understand that it doesnt' look decent and cultured to be thumb-sucking in public. So, I'll just let it be and let time takes it course.

Here are some excerpts on thumb-sucking from my Dr Benjamin Spock baby book on thumb sucking for the benefit of my readers who have toddlers who are thumb-suckers:

1. If you keep on worrying (about thumb sucking), even though you resolve to say nothing, your child will feel your tension and react against it.

2. Remember that thumb sucking goes away all by itself in time.

3. Eventually it disappears for good.

4. It rarely stops before three years.

5. It usually peters out between three and six.

6. Thumb sucking by itself is not a sign of unhappiness or maladjusment or lack of love. In fact, most thumb suckers are very happy children and children who are severely deprived of affection don't thumb suck.

7. Dentists point out that if the baby gives up thumb-sucking by six years of age, as happens in a great majority of cases, there is very little chance of its displacing the permanent teeth. (what a relief!)

8. Don't nag or bribe your child to stop thumb-sucking.