Habits

When Porgie was a newborn, I tried in vain to give her a pacifier (she was a chronically fussy newborn).  My baby girl adamantly refused to keep that thing in her mouth.  By the time she was six months old, she was sucking her thumb (which John and I thought was adorable and sweet).  Fast forward 5 years, and she is STILL sucking her thumb.  But how do I make her stop?  It is her thumb and there is very little I can do about it.

When Porgie was about 7 months old, I strongly encouraged her to take a lovie to bed with her.  I thought this would help ease the transition from co-sleeping to crib sleeping.  We started out with one blanket, but every time someone gave us a soft stuffed animal, Porgie added it to her collection.  Fast forward 5 years, and she is carrying FIVE lovies around the house with her.  Porgie has two blankets, a stuffed elephant, a stuffed brown dog, and a stuffed polka-dot dog.  She rubs one of the lovies on her face while she is sucking her thumb, so these two problems are definitely interconnected.  My big girl still sleeps with her lovies.  She still carries them everywhere.  She still cries when we can't find one of them.  When is she going to outgrow the need for all these lovies?

Over the past 5 years, the thumb sucking has given my baby girl an open bite.  Porgie has several loose teeth (OH MY GOD, my baby is getting adult teeth!), and she is currently getting her six-year molars.  I don't want her thumb sucking to ruin the alignment of her adult teeth.  Unfortunately, my big girl (with her new big teeth) seems to be under the impression that she is still a little baby.