Bye Bye Thumb

It started early.




December 2008 (~1.5 months)


February 2009 (~3 months)


April 2009 (~5 months)

And we encouraged it. It was quite nice that she could self-soothe, and to this day we credit it for getting her to sleep through the night at 6 weeks and as much as 12-13 hours by 2-3 months. And at times it was even quite cute. The moment she was nervous, shy, sad, angry, or tired, in the mouth went the thumb.


August 2009 (~9 months)


June 2010 (~19 months)


December 2010 (~2 years, 1 month)

But we knew that it was something that would eventually have to go. Our pediatrician in Minnesota talked to us at her 1-year and 18-month appointments about different things to put on the thumb to discourage her from doing it, but we didn't want to try to break her of it when there was going to be so much change (new baby, move, etc.). Then our pediatrician at her 2-year appointment said we'd be fighting a losing battle to try and do it then but that we'd need to at some point. But how do you get a little one to give up their thumb? All our friends were dealing with getting rid of pacifiers, no one else had a thumb sucker. And our friends with older kids all said, they would just outgrow it...in response to our question of at what age, they'd say 6+ years. So we didn't know what we'd do.

Shortly before Alyssa's third birthday, we started talking to her about it. We told her that once she turned 3, she'd be a big girl and that big girls didn't suck their thumbs. And she'd tell you that too if you asked her about her birthday. So her birthday came, and we held our breath to see what would happen.

The first day, she wore socks to daycare to remind her and she'd sit on her hands in the car so she wouldn't suck her thumbs there. Every once in a while, she'd slip up and suck her thumb. When you asked her about it, she would tell you "I just want to be two for a little bit." And at night while reading books, she'd let baby suck her thumb for her. It was too cute.

But pretty soon, I couldn't remember the last time she sucked her thumb. She was a little slower to give it up at day care, but one day, she just crawled up on Miss Gwen's lap and told her that she wasn't going to do it anymore. They came up with a plan, a way for Miss Gwen to remind her to take her thumb out ("uh-oh" was the code word) and within a week or so, the thumb was gone there too.

So we made her a chart to work toward a prize - her choice? going to a hotel and swimming. Well, this morning she put the last sticker on her chart, so in the next week or so we'll be headed to a hotel to celebrate her giving up sucking her thumb. She's so proud of herself and so are we. She's a very determined little girl and she kept working toward her goal.



We're not real sure what she does while she's sleeping/napping. We don't see her with her thumb in when we're in the room ever, but if we had to guess, it still goes in on occasion. Alyssa was very proud to tell the doctor about it at her 3-year check-up and the doctor gave her a high-five. She told us not to worry about night time and that she's done a great job. Way to go Alyssa!