Oscar has been a thumb sucker ever since he was first able to navigate his hand to his mouth. His standard "comfort position" is with his right thumb in his mouth (with index finger hooked over nose) while he pulls on his hair with his left hand.
This is his go-to position anytime that he’s tired or having a melt-down. When he was a baby, Anna and I tried introducing a pacifier a few times, but he never really took to it — he always preferred the thumb. We were happy that he’d found an easy way to comfort himself and the fact that he didn’t have to carry around those dumb pacifiers was simply a bonus.
We recognized that we were going to have to break him of the habit at some point, but have been putting it off. In fact, I don’t think either Anna or I have ever said anything to him about his thumb sucking. Yet, last night when Oscar and I were sitting down to watch cartoons he made the announcement to me that he wasn’t going to suck his thumb anymore. Throughout the show (which would normally be prime thumb time) I could see him really making a conscious effort not to move his hand up to his face. A couple of times he moved his thumb up to his mouth and then moved it away quickly. He was clearly working extremely hard to keep his thumb sucking reflex in check. Imagine someone trying to kick a nicotine habit while holding a pack of cigarettes that they can’t put down.
We have no idea where this sudden determination to not suck his thumb came from. We’re guessing that one of his friends at school may have said something to him about it. Wherever it came from, he’s certainly showing a level of self-consciousness that we haven’t previously seen. Back when we were struggling with the whole potty training thing, a number of his friends made comments about his diapers but he always just shrugged them off. I never got the impression that he was feeling any sort of peer pressure about the potty training and he certainly wasn’t bowing to the parental pressure.
But here he is, deciding by himself that he’s going to go cold turkey on the thumb. This kid is growing up!
When we were reading stories before bed last night, he was again struggling to keep his thumb from his mouth. At one point he broke down crying and said to me, "Dad, I really want to suck my thumb." I told him he could if he really wanted to, but he wouldn’t do it. It was very sweet and a little heart-breaking at the same time.
I have no idea how long this interest in self-improvement is going to last, but it has been fascinating to watch so far. Leave your messages of encouragement/support for Oscar in the comments and we’ll make sure he gets them.
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Wow, Oscar, you’re so strong!! You can do it!
May the force be with you.
You are very inspiring, Oscar! Maybe you could draw a face on your thumb and when the mood strikes, you and your thumb could have a little talk about it.
Good job!
Oscar, you are AMAZING! What a great superpower you have… determination =)