After talking about these methods that his friends were using at school to kick the habit, I asked Alder what method he would want to use when he decided to stop. He thought a "Cars" bandaid would be the best way, and this is good since we have a box of these already. We were hoping that by involving Alder in this process, rather than imposing it upon him, he would be much more likely to buy into it and to succeed. I need to mention here that Alder really loved to suck his thumb - when snuggling, when sleeping, when riding in the car, when watching something on a screen, and when generally upset or tired. And he did not passively put it in his mouth; he sucked on it. During this conversation I suggested that Alder could give it a try, to quit, after thanksgiving. He agreed and got unexpectedly excited about the idea. Then came the 4.5 birthday and as we stood in the kitchen soon after waking and talking about how he was now 4.5, he announced that he wanted to stop sucking his thumb today, a week before Thanksgiving! Excited, but honestly skeptical, I gave him a big smile and encouraging hug and we went to get the first of many bandaids to follow. Believe it or not, that was it. Since that day, nearly a month ago, Alder has put his thumb in his mouth only a few times, and all of these events were unconciously in his sleep. He used a sock over his hand for the first week or two and now prefers the bandaid only.
After about a week, once we realized that he was gonna keep pushing through, we started building up for a cupcake. Alder remembered that our friend Brayden had also recently earned a cupcake for the same feat. He requested strawberry, which luckily we had frozen from the Spring and made them work just fine. We made several huge muffins, put a little icing on them and invited some neighborhood friends to the park for a little celebration. He was beaming. Now we are working towards some frozen yogurt, we think. But, he doesnt even seem to need the build up. He knows how great it feels and is so proud to have big-boyed through it.
We are amazed by his willpower and self control. We have also seen a surge in his overall confidence which is more than we could have hoped for. We are so proud of him and remind him frequently of how hard it is for people, even grown-ups, to break habits like that.
2 comments:
that is great....glad to hear he was involved and able to overcome the initial challenges
Witnessing his determination was so inspiring. I was sorrt Of instrumental in him starting to suck his thumb when in Grand Isle and trying to sleep with his brace on. . He was about 6 weeks old and I nudged that little thumb to his mouth and he eagerly took hold. I think he would have found it eventually! But boy did he sleep!
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