Hard Habits To Break…
Baby Titus… what am I going to do with him?
I keep hearing how hard it is to break a child of sucking his thumb. And on top of that, he’s recently become particularly fond of this one blanket he so affectionately refers to as “Nigh(t) nigh(t)” (the t’s are silent). I keep wondering what I should do about all this!
At first I told myself that when he turned 1 yr. old I would start training him to stop sucking his thumb. I was going to sew an undershirt with enclosed sleeves, so that when he was sleeping he could not get his thumb in his mouth. But… I guess I changed my mind. And I know it sounds terrible to say, but he’s so DARN CUTE sitting there with his thumb in his mouth!! He only does it when he’s sleepy. So now I don’t know what I should do. The pediatrician pretty much just said “Good luck!” He wasn’t much help.
The blanket is his new thing. When Titus gets tired he waddles into his room, pulls his “Night night” from between the crib slats, and waddles back into the living area with his thumb in his mouth and the blanket up close to his face. This is his way of telling me he’s ready for a nap. It really is cute, now… but I have a horrible vision of him as a 5 year old having a huge temper tantrum in the middle of Walmart because he forgot his raggidy old blankey at home!
So, I was hoping to solicit some advice from you more seasoned mothers out there. Is this something that I should just let go, he’ll outgrow it eventually? Should I take the blanket away before it really becomes a problem? Should I alternate blankets so he doesn’t get attached to this particular one? Would it be okay if I just give him his blankey at nap time, but not drag it with us everywhere we go? And what about the thumb sucking… any suggestions or personal experience?? I can’t wait to hear your advice!!
Kendra,
Our daughter Izabelle LOVED her blankies when she was little. When she turned 1 or so I began to tell her if you want your blankie you have to lay down, it’s nap time only.
After a few times of laying down(& getting bored) She gave it up unitl she was sleepy. When she went to bed for a few nights at 4 or so without it & not missing it, I hid it where she had NO chance of seeing it. Eventually she just said that was when I was a baby, now I’m a big girl! He is just too precious in that picture….how can you say no?? : )
My oldest had an Elmo blanket he loved to pieces, literally! He would suck on his thumb and rub the tag on his blankie to go to sleep. He would only use it when he was sleepy or upset.
We didn’t take it when we left the house, unless it was going to be nap time before we got back!
He eventually gave the blanket and thumb sucking up, probably around the time he was 5 or 6. We let him do it on his own, since it was only a comfort/sleepy time thing for him.
Good Luck!
As a mom of teenagers, let him have it! Before you know it he will be a teenager too. Believe me it goes fast!!
My youngest son was a thumbsucker. (he’s now 9) He was like your son as he only sucked his thumb when he was sleepy and when he had his “boopy” (a cloth diaper he liked to sleep with.) He finally gave up the thumb all by himself when he was almost 5. I think that if your son is only doing it when he’s sleepy and has his “nigh nigh” it will be an easier habit for him to break. It’s harder for the kids who walk around with their thumb in their mouth all day.
Besides, it is awfully cute!
My oldest, now 10, had a blanket, too. It had blanket stitching on it and he would play with it with his fingers. He even had a name for it…cranking LOL! That blanket and paci went everywhere we did and I wouldn’t change a thing!
They DO out grow that stuff. I promise he won’t be in first grade (or college) with a blanket by his side
Up until age 2 I allowed him to have his blanket and paci whenever he needed it. From 2 - 3 it was only at nap and bed time. At age 3 we gave the paci to the “paci” fairy and soon the blanket lost its appeal. He does still ask about his blanket and remembers it fondly.
They grow up SO incredibly fast…let him stay little for a bit longer.
Two of my sons sucked fingers. My youngest stopped on his own as a result of falling off of his truck when he was two and scraping the fingers that he sucked. I guess the scar detered him.
My oldest son who will be 8 in July still sucks his thumb. It has affected his teeth and he will need braces.
It was cute when he was a baby ut now it is just plain disgusting. He only sucks his finger at home while curled up under a blanket or at bedtime.
I ask him why only at home, and he says that it is embarrassing to suck a thumb in public.
I would work on detering your son just for the simple fact that If he doesn’t grow out of it it may possibly affect the structure of his teeth.
Note: I attempted to stop my older son from sucking his thumb when he a few months old. We put tiny socks on his hand. He would cry and becom aggrevated trying to get to his thumb. My husband felt sad for him and decided that I should let him have his thumb.
He regrets that decision now because of my sons teeth.
Here’s a post I can definitely comment on! My 2nd child was a thumbsucker and definitely the most easiest baby to put to sleep. She had her own automatic pacifier that soothed her at moments notice! lol She eventually only did it at bedtime. I let her give up her habit on her own…her doctor never encouraged me to do it any sooner. She was 8 years old when she finally quit. Now 3 more children later, (now at 13 years old) she’s hoping her new baby brother (3 mo.) will be the next thumbsucker in the family! =)
My son loves his pacifiers. When he was 1 years old I allowed him to only have it when he was in bed. That way he would not be walking around not talking. I think around 3 years old is when we will give them away. He just turned 2 last week, so we will see. My older son (4 years old) is a thumb sucker. I tell him to only suck it when he is sleeping. Right now he is having trouble not doing it when he is tired, in the car or watching TV. I would be interested to hear what other people are doing.
I don’t have any thumb-suckers (yet) but both our daughters like to put their finger in their belly button when they are sleepy (strange, I know, but I did the same thing when I was little). Our oldest is 4 and I recently noticed that she rarely, if ever, reaches for her belly button at nap or bedtime. Our 23-month old, however, is still a grand belly button digger… I just let her do it. Hopefully she won’t teach her baby brother to do it when he gets a little bigger!!
I agree with the previous commentors… let your little guy be little. This is good advice for me, a fellow mama of young children, to heed as well!
Kristy @ Homemaker’s Cottage
Even though they may give it up around 5 I would talk to the your pedatric dentist about the thumb sucking as ours said it could cause problems and maybe they will have a suggestion as to how to get them to stop or a favorite parenting magazine may have info also. denise
I have a 4 year old and an almost 3 year old that both have blankies and suck their fingers. I don’t mind it so much because I have never let them take the blankies out of the house (unless we are going somewhere to sleep over). They really only suck their fingers and use their blankies when they are tired and putting themselves to sleep. I just figure they will grow out of it soon.
My daughter was a pacifier junkie….she’s now 15 and has been pacifier free for at least 2 years. So don’t worry, he’ll outgrow it.
KIDDING!!!
I did step in and take her pacifiers away when she was about two-and-a-half. She never had a lovey or anything else. My son (18-months-old) is following in his sister’s footsteps, and is a pacifier junkie. We’ve tried to banish it…but every single time we tried to cut back on it, he started teething again. So now I’ve decided to stop fighting it. He WILL outgrow it eventually. I try my hardest to only allow him to have it at nap/bed time.
So my advice is to just do your best to limit the behavior…but if you can’t, you can’t. Eventually he’ll outgrow it. I understand thumb sucking can be harder to break, since you can’t actually remove the thumb
But I think eventually he’ll stop doing it. I think if you take away the blanket, he’ll just start getting attached to something else….
Funny Tiffany! You actually had me going there for a minute!
Thanks you guys, for all of your advice. I guess I’m going to just let it go, and not worry about it… for a while, a couple more years at least
And I think I’ll continue limiting the blankie to naptime.
Hopefully he’ll give up the thumb before he’s school age! We’ll see…
Do what feels right to you - just remember that it will be harder on you than it is for Titus! I “accidentally” forgot to take my 18-mo. old’s “lovey” out of the dryer and he has been without if for over a day now. So I just put it in his dresser. It was so much easier to take “lovey” away than I thought, it was ME who had the issues about taking it away, not my son. Thumb-sucking, that’s a harder one. You just have to discourage if it gets out of hand and interferes with talking. My 3-yr. old’s version of sucking his thumb is sucking his wrist and holding his hair with his other hand. He does it to comfort himself when he’s tired or stressed-out and as he gets older he does it less. Ok, that’s my experience on this topic - best of luck with whatever plan you pursue!
My mother always says “let the child have (fill in the blank) it’s not like she will walk down the aisle with it.
So I was a blanky girl. I sewed a part of my blanky into my slip of my dress and got married with my blanky.
I showed my mother at the reception. She was shocked.
As for the blankie - my SIL always buys 2 or cuts them in half. That way if it gets lost or damaged and another one ABSOLUTELY is needed, they have a back up. My other SIL took that advice and bought like 8 of them, which I thought was a little ‘enabler-like’. For us, we cut the ‘nutchie’ tip off at 2yo. A few tears before sleep for a few days and then the discussion that only babies use them worked. We have a teddy for sleep, but we’ve been ok w/o him on vacations. I guess I agree w/most other people - let him have a little longer but limit it if you can to just sleep time. And yes, enjoy this stage!
As the child that did (and still does) have a blankie, I say let him have it. I am 26 and have slept most of the nights of my life with the same blanket. I took it on my honeymoon, which I know might not be encouraging, but it was never worth the fight or the trauma to get rid of it. I have had a couple of naturally occurring events that tried to take it away (it got lost at Disney World a couple of months ago), and those times were more painful than loosing a family member.
I follow my mom’s logic, “If and when the child is ready to give it up they will, and if not they will take care of it as they get older.”
After age 5 I only had it to sleep with at night, so washings and chance of loosing are much smaller. I do agree with the idea of having multiples and washing them all at the same time so that they all feel and smell the same so they are interchangeable.
Girl, just let it be. My sister sucked her thumb until she was, like, 7. My parents tried everything. She did need to have braces because of it, but guess what! Her teeth are SO much more beautiful than mine are now…
He’ll give it up when he can. Don’t make him grow up too quickly.
I have no advice on the thumb-sucking, as my kids didn’t do it. Regarding the blanket, let him have it. Both my kids were blanky kids. I thought it was great that they figured out something to use to comfort themselves. I think my son wanted to take it with him at first, but i convinced him to leave it home so that “blanky” didn’t get lost. They both used the blanket primarily at night to comfort themselves when they went to bed.
Did you ever pull a soft blanket up to your face? It feels good, and smells great if it has just been line dried. Imagine how soothing that is to a child.
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