Kicking the Habit

It all started so innocently. Our little Noodle got her little thumb into her mouth when she was just a wee one, maybe 6 weeks old. Basically, as soon as she could figure out how to get it in. And thereafter, she sucked it every time she slept. Our Squash was a pacifier man. I still remember a stretch around 8 months where he would wake up 10 times a night, having lost his pacifier. Having gone through that, the thumb was HEAVEN. It was, you know, always there, never lost, and the perfect companion for our girl who slept through the night at a very early age, and ever after.

BUT. Our little Noodle grew. Every year at her checkup, our pediatrician would ask if she was still sucking. We let her keep it up when she was 2 (same age we instituted Operation No More Pacifier for her big brother). We let her keep it up when she was 3 (we were about to have a new baby, for gosh sake). We let her keep it up when she was 4, although that was the year we Retired her pink blanket AKA "shi-shi" AKA "the Sheesh." We thought retiring Sheesh would lead to no more sucking since the two seemed to go hand in hand. No dice. She quickly located a new blanket and continued sucking.

So 5 had to be the year. I fretted. I pondered strategies. I talked about it with the pediatrician, who has a regiment that starts with garlic and proceeds through wasabi (yikes!). And in the end, this was what worked:
On January 1, 2012, I told her it was time to stop sucking her thumb. I said that if she did not suck her thumb for a week, I would take her to the candy store and buy her whatever she wanted. She was sold. She skipped her nap that day. She had trouble going to sleep and cried for her thumb but WOULD NOT put it in (she loves her candy). The next night, she had an easier time going down. By night 3, no problems. And NO THUMB! It's now been 9 nights and I believe it is behind us. Funny what some candy can motivate a strong-willed girl to do!

(My former thumb sucker)