I was doomed from the beginning with Berkleigh. Before I even knew her, she was sucking her thumb in womb. I sucked my thumb, and apparently my mom did too, for a long time.
So when she debuted with Merrick back in '07, I thought it was kinda cute when she would pop that thumb in her mouth. Really? It is cute.
I tried to get her to use a pacifier instead, but she liked her thumb, and I didn't push it anymore.
Well, 4 1/2 years later, it isn't so cute.
We have tried everything...
THUM
(She just sucked it right off without even a squint of the eye from the soreness.)
TAPE
We taped her thumb, she peeled it off.
BANDAIDS
We wrapped bandaids around her thumb, she pulled them off.
DEVICES
Ok, so we didn't go there, but when I was finding pictures I thought this was hilarious.
FABRIC
I fabriced up her hand something fierce. I tied knots...
She got it off.
TAKE AWAY BLANKET
I tried to take away her blanket, but she wasn't being bad...
so we gave it back. It didn't help anyway, and she loves her blanket.
A week or so after Quincy was born, Berkleigh was munchin' on that thumb, and I was so frustrated. I would take it out of her mouth, and she would put it back in.
Tyson noticed my frustration and decided to use google images to prove a point. My point.
He found pictures of braces (well, actually head gear, it is more scary).
We told Berkleigh that she would look like that if she didn't stop sucking her thumb.
She was mortified. She cried.
We dropped the thumb sucking issue after that, more so because we had Quincy taking up our attention, than because we didn't care.
On the way to California for Christmas, it was getting dark and Berkleigh and Merrick were watching a movie. (Prime thumb sucking time)
But she wasn't.
She had her blanket and was rubbing her favorite corner.
(prime thumb sucking behavior)
(This was a super fluffy blanket. She has worn of ALL the wooly stuff!)
But she wasn't sucking her thumb!
All of a sudden, (think of whooshing sound as all the memories come back to me, like in the movies)
I thought about the previous three weeks, and I couldn't think about one time when I saw her sucking her thumb.
So, I asked, "Berkie, Do you suck your thumb?"
She got a scared and horrified look on her face and said, "No, cause I don't want braces."
And that is how a habit that was really hard to break, became really easy.
Head gear did the trick!
Tyson was hero of the day, I only wish we had thought of that earlier!
It all ends happy, except for Berkleigh. She may have stopped sucking her thumb, but she will still need braces (especially if she has my teeth), just hopefully we stopped the thumb sucking before her teeth got bad enough to need head gear.
so we gave it back. It didn't help anyway, and she loves her blanket.
A week or so after Quincy was born, Berkleigh was munchin' on that thumb, and I was so frustrated. I would take it out of her mouth, and she would put it back in.
Tyson noticed my frustration and decided to use google images to prove a point. My point.
He found pictures of braces (well, actually head gear, it is more scary).
We told Berkleigh that she would look like that if she didn't stop sucking her thumb.
She was mortified. She cried.
We dropped the thumb sucking issue after that, more so because we had Quincy taking up our attention, than because we didn't care.
On the way to California for Christmas, it was getting dark and Berkleigh and Merrick were watching a movie. (Prime thumb sucking time)
But she wasn't.
She had her blanket and was rubbing her favorite corner.
(prime thumb sucking behavior)
But she wasn't sucking her thumb!
All of a sudden, (think of whooshing sound as all the memories come back to me, like in the movies)
I thought about the previous three weeks, and I couldn't think about one time when I saw her sucking her thumb.
So, I asked, "Berkie, Do you suck your thumb?"
She got a scared and horrified look on her face and said, "No, cause I don't want braces."
And that is how a habit that was really hard to break, became really easy.
Head gear did the trick!
Tyson was hero of the day, I only wish we had thought of that earlier!
It all ends happy, except for Berkleigh. She may have stopped sucking her thumb, but she will still need braces (especially if she has my teeth), just hopefully we stopped the thumb sucking before her teeth got bad enough to need head gear.
7 love notes:
Ohhhh, you guys are in such big trouble if she remembers this when it is time to get braces!
Nice work, Tyson. If he has any brilliant ideas for stopping fingernail biting PLEASE pass them on.
This is hilarious!! She will sooo thank you later when she doesn't have to wear the geeky headgear! I love that she actually had the self discipline to stop doing it that fast. and i CANT believe that blanket!! I'm assuming that's the one she had as a baby!!??
I guess a paci is easier to take away then a thumb! My niece sucked her thumb til past 5 years old and her dad is a dentist. Chase is always always picking his nose and it drives me nuts. I keep telling him he is going to be teased in kindergarten if he doesn't stop. Doesn't seem to work. I will have to come up with something more horrific.
Woo Hoo Berkleigh! I am dying laughing at these pictures you showed her. I would have stopped sucking my thumb also!
That's brave.. What if Berk liked the look of head gear so much she decided to suck her thumb even more!?
It's sad when you have to scare a kid into seeing reason, but sometimes it seems to be the only way (like when Eva was running away from us for the billionth time in public so we pretended we were leaving without her). (she never ran away again).
I am laughing so hard right now, I just might pee my pants! That picture of the headgear is awesome. My sister actually had to wear it, and I'm with Berkleigh, it is VERY SCARY!
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