So once I started to sleep next to my child, I was fully aware of when and how often my child sucked her thumb. I realized that because my child was a very light sleeper, every slightest sound would wake her up, and she would suck her thumb to go back to sleep.So I decided that every time she sucked her thumb, I would nurse her. This is so that I could make her feel more loved. After about two months, I realized that this reduced her thumb sucking habit slightly, and she is now only sucking her thumb just before she sleeps or while she was sleeping, rather than any time during the day. Because I was working, I was not able to be there to nurse her or comfort her during the day. I could not give her the kind of security she needed. But sleeping with her at night was a helpful step.
Then slowly, after a few months, we realized that she reduced her thumb sucking down to only the sleeping time when she had her favorite bolster with her favorite bolster cover. We still ‘allowed’ her to suck her thumb because we were trying to wean her off the breast at the same time (not a very smart thing to do). So she would need her bolster every time she sleeps, and she would suck her thumb to sleep, with the bolster in the same hand.
We continuously talked to her about her thumb sucking habit, and researched on all the methods that were used to remove thumb sucking habit. We heard a few nightmare stories where some children sucked their thumbs until there are 16 years old (unconsciously in their sleep). I assured her every day I love her, and tried to show her love in many different ways. This helped reduce her thumb sucking time before she sleeps (with the bolster in hand, remember) down to a shorter time.
