I blogged about this eight months ago and we really only committed to helping him quit in late June.
Benjamin was thumb sucking often, especially at sleep times. He was a champion sleeper and irregular napper at 3+ (from 0-3 was crazy stellar!), but if there was any nap happening at all, we had that thumb to thank.
After a visit with the dentist, she scared us with words of head gears and mouth surgery if this continues and affects his overbite drastically. Sure, she gave us worst-case scenarios, but that was enough for us to head straight to Target for a new water bottle (to attempt to ditch juice as well) and some nasty thumb polish.
Thum was purchased. For $3.04, I thought it was a steal because the stuff they were selling on Amazon was like $14. Still VERY cheap also considering mouth surgery and whatever.
Regardless, this wasn't about the money. It was about potentially putting him through all that later in life when we felt responsible for teaching him good habits (or overcoming bad ones).
He was sucking his thumb within the hour. Not because he wanted to, as he'd heard the dentist and actually seemed to want to follow her instructions, but because it was a habit. He didn't even know he was doing it most of the time!
I needed that Amazon stuff
IMMEDIATELY. Our local Ulta carried it, so I headed over with Benjamin and we snagged a bottle for like $16.Worked like a charm. Really, if you have thumb sucking or nail biting issues, this is the stuff. Look nowhere else. We've used about .0004% of the bottle and he's done. No thumb. He hasn't put his thumb in his mouth for 2.5 weeks.
The first few nights, I was sweating it. He was waking 3-5 times and I was certain my good sleeper had just turned into a bad sleeper. I was super bummed. He'd wake screaming because he'd accidentally put his disgusting thumb into his mouth. He'd been sleeping with the aide of his thumb since he was 6 months old, and now we're nearing the corner of 3.5 next month.
After three days, he was back to normal sleeping and hasn't looked back.
We stopped using the Mavala Stop stuff after 5 days. He'd even tell me he needed it occasionally or help me apply it (little goes a long way).
It's been a huge relief for us all. The only major casualty in all of this is knowing he is officially never going to nap again.
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6 comments:
Oooooh I wanna put this stuff on the paci and see how it turns out!
This stresses me out. I'm sending soothing vibes to all in your house.
Grace loved her paci and we ditched it at age 2.5. She went cold turkey, it took a few days, and she got over it. Then she met a friend at school who sucks her thumb and at age 3, she followed suit and started to sucks hers. She went from doing it occasionally to now doing it ALL THE TIME. I will look into this product! Thanks!
I was just going to say, I'm going to try this on the paci when I get out of jail! Awesome that you got him to stop so easily. I was a thumb sucker and did it behind my parents' back prob til I was like 10!! Thankfully no terrible damage to my bite.
Oh my. Sometimes I think he is the same child as my 5 year old. She also was a major thumb sucker. We purchased the same Mavala product, and you're right - it is SO foul that no one would ever accidentally suck their thumb with it on. I also got my daughter to stop sucking at 3 years old (we ended up using band-aids with Mavala under it). Worked like a charm, and she never sucked her thumb again after those first few days. As for naps, I do recall it being much harder. But at that age, I was OK with fewer naps, because naps were causing her to fall asleep too late at night. If you give him time, though, he may start napping again.
WOW! Go Benjamin! As for naps, if you figure out a magical, fool-proof way of exhausting 3 year olds... besides swimming, biking, scootering, and tearing around trying to keep up with big kids in 90F, please do post :-) Those methods of inducing naps have failed at our house. My 3 year old may have left naps behind, but I'd like a back pocket cure some days...
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