The Ultimate Showdown: Thumb vs. Binky

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The Ultimate Showdown: Thumb vs. Binky | Des Moines Moms Blog
The oldest with her binky.

When my oldest was a baby, people always commented on hating pacifiers. Comments flew around about the addiction to the pacifier, how hard it was to break the habit, how bad it was for her growing teeth. She was a hardcore binky girl. Took one wherever she went. Needed it for constant comfort and calming her to sleep. When it came time to rid her of the binky, it wasn’t hard. We left for the weekend and she forgot about it. We never looked back. Cold turkey. And it was easy. Because she could forget it ever existed (while we purged the house of the hidden pacifiers).

The Ultimate Showdown: Thumb vs. Binky | Des Moines Moms Blog
She started so young. There was no hope.

Three years after taking command of the pacifier situation in our house, we had our second child. I KNEW giving the new baby a pacifier would be no big deal. Only problem? She refused it. Not only did she refuse it, but she would spit it out and almost laugh in our faces. Our second child happened to be a thumb sucker. From the day we came home from the hospital she refused pacifiers. Any kind. Did not matter what we presented to her, she would spit it out and reach for her thumb.

I questioned my skills as a mom, because obviously I failed at something, right? The pediatrician assured me that some babies start the thumb sucking habit in the womb (who knew!), which was probably AJ’s case. Nothing we did mattered. She preferred her thumb over anything we could offer her.

Here we are now with a three-year-old thumb sucker. We have dealt with horribly cracked and sore dry skin and a weird lip bubble, and yet – nothing stops her from putting her thumb in her mouth the moment she is uneasy about the world. She is getting better though. Keep her busy and magically she doesn’t need her thumb.

What I wouldn’t give for those nights when I had to army crawl in the dark under the crib to find the lost binky or search bags and toy boxes for spares. Looking back at those hard moments, it now seems so easy. So easy compared to not being able to hide a thumb. Because, you know, it’s attached to her body.

The Ultimate Showdown: Thumb vs. Binky | Des Moines Moms Blog
Still going strong….

We haven’t fought hard to stop her from sucking her thumb. We haven’t tried the yucky paint on stuff, the orthodontic brace thing, or any of the other ideas out there to stop her. What we have talked about are germs. Getting sick from putting your fingers in your mouth. Showing her pictures of germs. She thought it was cool… but I am not super worried.

For now, we will remind her she doesn’t need her thumb. At night when she is sleeping and I see it in her mouth, I will remove it. We will continue to talk about germs. We will continue to distract her.

What are your tips for stopping a thumb sucker?

2 COMMENTS

  1. This can be a hard habit to kick!! My daughter (child #3 of 4) is a thumb sucker. She has done it since day 1. She is 8 yrs old almost 9. She has gotten WAY better but still sucks her finger when she’s tired. Our dentist suggested the nail polish that doesn’t taste good, a sock over the hand and she even brought out the horrible orthodontic brace thing (more than once). We tried the polish and the sock but let’s be honest…night time is the worst. When my daughter started to going to school I used the “big girl” approach and tried to help her see that big girls don’t suck their thumb. This helped a lot and kicked the habit during the day. Now it’s when she’s tired or sad, more for comfort. Although braces will be needed, yuck. Keep talking with your daughter, time sneaks up quickly!

  2. My youngest (about to turn 3) is also a thumb sucker. I thought the binky stage was hard, too- especially after dropping it at a high school graduation- under the bleachers. Grandpa was the hero that day! But having a thumb sucker presents its own set of challenges, all of which you described- we can so relate! We’ve started encouraging her to only suck her thumb at naptime or bedtime- with gentle reminders throughout the day, if we see her doing it.

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