Thumb sucking - Yours or mine?

Posted By SLK on Sunday, July 04, 2010   { 2 Comment(s) }

Official release of my pinkie today – Hurray!

Little Kit has had control of my little finger as a pacifier for sleep for the last 3.5 years and a full week of non usage of my pinkie as a sleep inducer makes me think I’ve won my finger back!

Why did I do it in the first place? All new mothers whose babies do not stop crying in the middle of the night or keep waking for whatever reason during night or day must have tried every technique from white noise to lullaby to ignoring cries to whatever works. Something has to work!

They (who?) say that mothers are wiser second time around…ok so here I am to prove that this might not always be the case (always an exception to the rule!). Kit would not sleep in any easy way and after much trial and even more error I figured the only way to calm her and put her to sleep was to let her suck my little finger. To be honest, it felt really cute and harmless when she was newborn and then 3 months, 6 months or even a year old. It even looked cute and everyone complimented on it as it would pacify her so easily without the need for a pacifier!

So far so good…Then came the problems – Kit grew and somehow we both started looking abnormal having my finger in her mouth at nap times! I tried to reason with her (she became more adamant) and then gave up. It even came to the point where she would only suck my pinkie (not even Papa’s) and that too in a certain position and some nights she would like to pick a particular finger!

I thought my finger was gone forever when a couple of weeks ago Kit announced that she was a big girl and would only suck her thumb! One can only imagine the extent of my happiness and relief. I remember when Kat was sucking her own thumb at this age, I was working on getting her off it but as of now, getting Kit off my pinkie is a big achievement in itself. Baby steps... Happy July 4th Little Pinkie!

Tags: thumb sucking