Reed is a thumb sucker. He always has been. He would never take a pacifier. I tried. I would have preferred that he take a pacifier because I've been wondering how I would get him to stop sucking his thumb. You can't exactly take it away.
I haven't minded that he sucks his thumb. He was pretty much only sucking it when he is tired or is in bed. I've noticed this past week that he's been sucking it more often.
Jack and Oliver both used a pacifier. I took it away from them when they started to walk. Jack was just over 17 months, Oliver was 14 months old. Why when they started to walk? Because to me, you aren't a baby anymore if you are walking and I'm not going to lie, nothing annoys me more than seeing a toddler walk around with a pacifier in their mouth. It is one of my biggest pet peeves.
Reed at 15 months, has just started to pull to stand and is starting to cruise the furniture. This to me, is the time to start weaning. The problem is, you can't wean something that is attached. At least with the pacifier you can go from having it during the day, to nap/bedtime only, to night time only to not at all.
Today, I decided it was time to try to nip the thumb sucking. I'm using Ecrinal Bitter Nail Polish. It is made to deter people from biting their nails. It can also be used to deter toddlers from thumb sucking. The package does say safe for children 30 months and over but I'm not waiting until Reed is 2.5.
Do any of you have experience with thumb sucking? How long did your kid(s) suck their thumb? How did you get them to stop or did they stop on their own?
2 comments:
Why not seek to replace it with something else you find appropriate? If it's for comfort, then maybe a toy? I'm not sure what would work for both of youbut I find it .... Harsh to just cut him off a source of comfort.
I guess because I assume if he is sucking his thumb for comfort and not out of habit, he will naturally find another source of comfort on his own. Jack started to find comfort in a blankie on his own (which he still has) and Oliver never needed anything else. I just don't think I can force something on him to find comfort in. It's something he needs to find on his own. I can't tell him what is going to comfort him.
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