First night without thumb-sucking? Perhaps... (**updated)

We're trying something new tonight. It's called a thumb guard and we got it from Etsy of all places.



Ree has always sucked her right thumb* at bedtime. She doesn't do it during the day, and her thumb pops out of her mouth as soon as she falls asleep. Anyhow, we've never been concerned in the slightest and figured she'd just stop when she was ready. We still feel that way. The only reason I'm even writing about this is because last week the girls' dentist said that it was no big deal but it would be nice if we could break the habit by the time Ree turned five, and then I was browsing around on Etsy (looking at kid clothes, of course, because we don't have enough of those, heh heh) and somehow ran across these intriguing-looking soft handmade items called "Thumb Guards." Huh, who'd have thought? I swear you can find anything on Etsy.

I asked Ree if she wanted to try one and she thought it was a great idea. She picked out the fabric she wanted (pink polka dots with purple fairies) and then waited impatiently for it to get here. Well the thumb-guard arrived, and Ree is so happy and excited to try it out tonight. I forgot it on the kitchen counter and was in the middle of reading bedtime stories when she suddenly said "Mama, can you pause the story?" and raced downstairs to get it. Funny kiddo.

I'll report back in a few days to see if it works or if it bothers her and we scrap it. By the way, I think it has always irked Ree that Ro kicked her own sucking habit so easily. Ro used to suck on her Drea (a soft little blanket with a bear head) every night until she got a bad rash from the sopping wet nasty fabric and the pediatrician told her to stop. She quit cold turkey that very night and never looked back. So it will be interesting to see if this has a similar immediate-and-freakishly-easy result.

* Note, the thumb that required a trip to the pediatric dermatologist (and is still giving us trouble so we've got a followup appt this week) is her left thumb

~~~ ** Update in the morning: Cool beans, that little thing actually worked. It didn't bother Ree at all, but it did the trick and made her thumb undesirable. She had plenty of stuffed animals and loveys in her bed to snuggle with (and smell, she's big on smelling), so she didn't feel deprived at all. And she actually forgot the thumb guard was even on until it was time to get dressed and I noticed it. When I asked her about the thumb guard this morning she jumped up and down and said "It was awesome! It worked awesome!" then ran away to play. Heh. We'll see how it goes after a week of wearing it. For now, for the first night, I'm calling it successful. More later...