Monday, August 6, 2012

finger sucking

Having a kid who sucks their finger(s) is awesome
until you want them to stop.
If you want your kid to be done with a pacifier you have so many options...
hide them, 
throw them in the trash, 
give them to a new baby, 
or my personal favorite cut the end off so they don't suck anymore.
But if your kid sucks their finger it's not like you can just cut their finger off.

We tried sticker charts and rewards and yucky tasking stuff.
Nothing worked.
Well I should say it kind of worked
she went from sucking two fingers down to one.  
Woop dee doo.

But now it's time to stop
for real.
So a friend from church had the great idea of wrapping the sucking finger in a band aid. 
Genius. 
Except Mackenzie realized when in desperate situations she wasn't partial to which finger she sucked. 
So we had to start bandaiding all of her fingers. 
And then it was a little weird.
Everyone kept asking what happened to her fingers, etc. 

Anyways, the band aids are gone and she's still sucking.
Any ideas out there? 


11 comments:

Ana B. said...

a "mild" pepper sauce? some parents do when their kids eat nails (in Brazil) but maybe it would work the same?

Mindy Fresh said...

My daughter went through a nail biting/peeling phase and I told her I couldn't paint her nails until she stopped. It worked!!!! I've had to remind her a few times plus she sees me paint my nails. Hope this helps!!!

Sandy said...

Wish I had a good suggestion. I was a thumbsucker myself, and my Mom says I did not stop until I went to kindergarten, when the other kids made fun of me and called me a baby when I sucked my thumb! Peer pressure always works I guess :)

Katie said...

I was a thumb sucker. My parents put a brace on my thumb for broken fingers. It worked for awhile until I realized I could take it off.

Then, they took me to the dentist (just for a regular check up). The dentist told me it was time to stop sucking my thumb because it would ruin my teeth.

And for some reason, it worked. Although I would still find that I woke up with my thumb in my mouth just out of habit while I was sleeping... so we put the brace back on my thumb for a few nights and broke the night time habit, too.

I hope you find something that works!

SarahJarnagin said...

I have a thumb sucker and we've struggled. He rarely does now but still does on occassions. At one point, we safety pinned socks on his hands to his pajamas. It only worked when he wore long sleeves and he mainly did it to go to sleep. He wasn't a constant thumb sucker.
We did the bandaid thing a lot too. It really worked for the thumb sucking! Good luck!

Elise said...

I sucked my thumb constantly until I was seven. SEVEN. My parents (actually my mom) ended up telling me that if I didn't suck my thumb for a whole week - I could go to the store and pick out a toy. Any toy I wanted. Every time I sucked my thumb the week started over. My mom says that it took awhile - and I probably cheated a couple times... but it ended up working!

lbattaglia said...

I wonder if a glove would work?

Caroline said...

I thought it was only our problem with some little boy! I don´t know too... but I join with you in this search!

Laura said...

3 of my 4 kids have been finger suckers. When #1 was about 5, we told him he could only suck his finger when he went to bed. He decided to quit shortly after that, but he did still put his hand in his hair for a few more years. (He would pop his left index finger into his mouth and kinda twirl his hair with his right hand.) #3 is 7 and sucks her left index and middle fingers while twirling her hair. We are trying to work on getting those babies out except for sleep time, but it hasn't worked well yet! She did quit biting her nails so that she could wear nail polish, though. #4 is 5 and sucks his right thumb and sticks his right index finger up his nose. Since he was less than a year old! Definitely takes away from the cuteness of thumb-sucking! I actually have no solutions for you. It's like potty training, I think. You will get the desired result. Eventually!

Unknown said...

My mom put icky tasting nail polish on my hands. You can buy it online http://www.amazon.com/Mavala-Stop-Biting-Sucking-0-3-Fluid/dp/B0000YUXI0 or this at Walgreens http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/thum-thumb-sucking/nail-biting-liquid/ID=prod922-product. Good luck!

Wendy said...

My daughter sucks her two middle fingers. I use Malava ~ I put it on her fingers right before I go to bed, when she is already sleeping. She is convinced that she they taste icky because she is getting older ;) It seems to be working ~ it's been about 5 days (we were on vacation and I forgot to bring it) and I haven't had to say, "fingers out" We've been doing it for a few months, so it isn't a fast process, but I do think it's helping. Good luck!