Maybe It's Time

Brooke stopped taking a pacifier and started sucking her thumb not long after coming home from the NICU. Once she got to where she would reach for things, she was grabbing anything in reach to hold while sucking her thumb, usually the bottom of her shirt or a nearby receiving blanket. When she was 6 months old, I decided to get her a little lovey. It's the same one in the picture to the right. I found it at Walmart and I've probably bought 4 or 5 total since then. It all started when one night she spit up all over her blankie at like 9pm, right before bedtime, so we had to put it in the washing machine and then the dryer and she refused to go to bed without it. So we figured it was time to get a spare. And of course some went missing here and there, so I would buy another to replace it. She has slept with it at naptime and bedtime every time since then. She likes to have it when she's tired. There for awhile I only let her have it at naptime and bedtime instead of using it throughout the day (only when she was having TV time would she want it, really). I used to never leave the house without it because it would usually curb any meltdowns, but I've even slacked off with doing that.

Her and Ryan were with their dad this weekend. I was talking to their dad on the phone yesterday morning and while we were talking, Brooke found her blankie that was at his house that had apparently been missing. So she slept without it Friday night. And he said she slept fine. Today when I met him to get the kids, he said she still hadn't had it at all and that she slept fine again without it. She asked for it once in the car on the way home and I told her she's a big girl now and doesn't need it and the Blankie Monster took it...hehe. She laughed and yelled "No!" at me, but she hasn't asked for it again yet. I'm hoping she goes to bed without it tonight without crying. It would be great if she can be done with it before she gets much older and even more headstrong and stubborn, but I also don't want it to be traumatic for her. It would be even greater if she would stop sucking her thumb, too!

Crossing my fingers!

Click here and here if you want to take a walk down memory lane and read about the first time I posted about Brooke and her thumb sucking (and taking after her mommy) and about when she got her first blankie.

*Update*

As soon as she got in bed, she started asking for her blankie and cried when I told her it was all gone and she was a big girl. I talked to her for a couple minutes and reassured her and reminded her she slept without it at Daddy's house. I got her to stop crying and told her I would be back in to see her after I got Ryan to bed. Joe came upstairs while Ryan was getting in to bed and after he was tucked in, Joe and I went in to Brooke. She wasn't crying, but she wasn't happy. We told her goodnight again and came downstairs and turned the monitor on. She whimpered a couple times and then was quiet for a few minutes. Then she started really crying. Joe went up because I was in the middle of cooking and he came down and said she was trying to hold the tag on her comforter to suck her thumb with (something Cole does - hold on to tags and suck his thumbs when he's tired or going to sleep - and something she will mimic) and she got herself uncovered, so it seems that's why she was crying. He covered her up and showed her the tags on her stuffed animals that are in her bed. She was quiet after that and a few minutes later Joe could tell by her breathing that she was sleeping. I ran up to check on her and I'm not even sure if she sucked her thumb to go to sleep. Her hands were both up by her face, on her pillow, but her thumb was bone dry. I thought it would still be at least damp if she'd sucked it to go to sleep...but I could be wrong. Either way, I'm so happy that she did so well! Maybe she will stop sucking her thumb now, too....