Alyssa Grace has always been my oral fixated child...in other words, she's a thumb sucker. If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have taken her pacifier away. I'm not sure if it would have made a difference ...I probably would blame the pacifier for the thumb sucking if I had.
Kayla has been on her case for about a year and can't understand why we don't beat her for sticking "that nasty, dirty, slimey thumb" in her mouth. She's not our drama queen for nothing. Finally, we talked to her dentist since her teeth are protruding some but he was sure she would quit on her own when she started school. He said that peer pressure would solve the problem in no time. Well....no time has come and gone and she has progressed to not being able to function without the thumb firmly planted in that mouth. She opens doors with her four fingers, she tries to hold her pencil and talk without removing it.
Finally, after a year, the dentist decided there might be a slight problem and decided we needed to try something. He suggested starting with the stuff to paint on the thumb nail that tasted bad. I had told Lyss we were going to put something on her thumb that would help her remember to keep it out of her mouth. Today, the little bottle came and she was excited to try it out. She was a little disappointed that it was clear instead of red like nail polish but she was full of cooperation. We slapped that stuff on and waited.....no thumb sucking...or at least, not in my presence. After several hours it was going too smoothly. I asked her if it tasted bad and she was blasé. Hmmm....maybe it wasn't strong enough.
When I came in from church and getting the twins through the wild GO TO BED routine, I decided I would lick her thumb to see if it had washed off and needed a new coat. OH my word!!!! I've never came close to eating a dead rotten fish, stink bait, and rotten wood but I think this stuff is close. I lost my breath and when I finally inhaled I strangled on the taste. I couldn't spit it out or dilute the taste. After the first spasm of coughing was over then I had some in my stomach and the heaving began. Finally, I got myself under control to get them in bed and Lyss said she thought she had stopped the thumb sucking so she didn't need any more. That stuff would stop me from getting my hands close to my mouth forever but I think we might try a few more days to see if she's really cured.
