The best recipe for happiness? Realizing you have your very own, built in paci on your right hand.
Tessa has developed a habit. It involves her thumb. Brady and I don't give Tessa a pacifier (paci) because, well, it makes her kind of crazy. She screams and screams when she can't have it and she would much rather have that piece of plastic than nurse. No bueno. So, no paci for Tessa. She sucks on her fingers all the time to make up for it. She's had little control of her hands so her fingers don't stay in her mouth for very long. Lately I've noticed her favoring that little thumb on her right hand but she still couldn't quite get it to stay in her mouth...until yesterday. Now all of the sudden they are inseparable. We've started to put her down for naps without a blanket and, sure enough, as soon as her head hits the mattress that little plumb thumb goes straight for its new home. Hopefully it doesn't plan to stay there until she's six.
It's called self soothing. We all do it in one way or another to calm ourselves, relieve stress, etc. Lots of children use a paci or a blanket. That is why kids have favorite things. Andy had a silky, any silky thing that he could find when it was bed time. Jodie had a finger and a blanket.
Being a kid is pretty stressful because there is so much to learn and each day is filled with mucho frustrations. I think that for you, I made a special small blanket (actually a small square) so that you weren't dragging around a whole blanket. That worked pretty well. : )
My pediatrician, who was also our stake president, said that the sucking instinct is very strong for small children, stronger in some than others, and that they will find a way to take care of it even if we don't let them have a paci or suck fingers. Some kids will suck on the ear of a stuffed animal, the corner of a blanket or hair. As he said, it is a very strong need and it helps them relieve stress and self sooth.
It's called self soothing. We all do it in one way or another to calm ourselves, relieve stress, etc. Lots of children use a paci or a blanket. That is why kids have favorite things. Andy had a silky, any silky thing that he could find when it was bed time. Jodie had a finger and a blanket.
ReplyDeleteBeing a kid is pretty stressful because there is so much to learn and each day is filled with mucho frustrations. I think that for you, I made a special small blanket (actually a small square) so that you weren't dragging around a whole blanket. That worked pretty well. : )
My pediatrician, who was also our stake president, said that the sucking instinct is very strong for small children, stronger in some than others, and that they will find a way to take care of it even if we don't let them have a paci or suck fingers. Some kids will suck on the ear of a stuffed animal, the corner of a blanket or hair. As he said, it is a very strong need and it helps them relieve stress and self sooth.