Princess girl had her very first dental appointment today. I think the people in the office were a little nervous about how she'd do since she's only three and a half. She wowed them. She wowed me. I was so proud of her. She behaved so well (not necessarily typical of her public behavior) and listened so nicely. It couldn't have gone better - and her smile has never been whiter and brighter!!! My little darling loves, LOVES her blankie and "sumbthucking" at bedtime. She puts her little thumb in her mouth, finds her very soft blankie and starts rubbing and strumming it. It's actually not just at bedtime. If I'm not paying attention, she'll also do it while watching movies and any other time she can sneak it. 
It's becoming a problem. Her little front teeth are starting to be affected. The dentist had a little chat with me today about her needing to stop. I wanted to cry. She LOVES this and I have to somehow make her stop. I can't bear the thought of taking her blankie away - even though it would put a fast, albeit painful, end to the sumbthucking. Anyone have any ideas for me. The task of retraining her feels completely insurmountable to me.
It's becoming a problem. Her little front teeth are starting to be affected. The dentist had a little chat with me today about her needing to stop. I wanted to cry. She LOVES this and I have to somehow make her stop. I can't bear the thought of taking her blankie away - even though it would put a fast, albeit painful, end to the sumbthucking. Anyone have any ideas for me. The task of retraining her feels completely insurmountable to me.
7 comments:
nooooooo! as a fellow blankie-needer, PLEASE don't take her blanket away!!! i hate this. :( when i nannied for the twins in e.c. avianna was big on thumb-sucking, too. and it was also usually with her blanket. but for about a week, her dad taped up her thumbs, so she wouldn't suck on them. it was pretty devastating for her (and me, really), but it didn't take long for her to stop trying. ... maybe you could give that a shot? if you explain to am that it's making her teeth not work right, maybe she'll be more accepting of trying to kick it. SAD.
Don't do it, Jolene.
I STILL sleep with my blankie. I also sucked my thumb right up until they put braces on me. (At 16.) I turned out just fine (ha!) and I have pretty nice teeth.
She's probably been sumbthucking since she was in the womb. You can't retrain that!
Thanks ladies. Erin, could you please tell me if your teeth were affected because of the sumbthucking? I'm sure this girl is going to need braces regardless (she has a killer overbite - oh but could this be related to the thumb??)
I think I'll try the tape thing - and limiting blanket access to be much more strictly only at bedtime. If I can't take it away (and I can't - it's breaking my heart) then maybe I can at least minimize the damage.
Any other points of view? thoughts? suggestions? sympathy pouts? :)
Oh! And also, I suggested to her that we get some "Princess Gloves" to wear to help her remember to keep her thumb out of her mouth. She was quite interested in that idea and was asking me all day when we would be able to go shopping :)
Ah yes, the infamous thumb sucking. I in fact was an avid, avid thumb sucker and was completely obsessed with my ratty blanket I called, "Nigh-night". My parents finally threw it away, but allowed me to keep a few patches of it. I remember when I was moving rooms at my house when my sister went to college I found the patches in my closet and realized I missed my old friend. Sigh...how traumatic for a kid!
I had an overbite and braces, but it's like asking if the chicken or egg came first. If she's going to need braces anyway, what harm does it do at this point?
Did I have buck-teeth or anything crazy like that? No.
They say a pacifier is more damaging than a thumb. I think the idea of limiting blankey time is a great idea. That's what my mom did. In fact, my blanket wasn't allowed off of my bed. That might really help keep it to a minimum. Other than that, I vote to let it go for a while.
Your baby, though! : )
alright, and that picture with tyler is breaking my heart. is that from the christmas where he was soooo sick? poor little man.
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