Bribing?....I like to call it "Positive Reinforcement"
Emily has been wanting a "Ponyville Salon Shop" for a while now, and I decided to use it for some "positive reinforcement" (not to be confused with bribing). I told her that if she could stop sucking her thumb for a month, then she could have it. Well, a month is a little hard for her to comprehend, so we broke it down into days. She would get a sticker each morning if she woke up with the bandaids still on her thumbs. If she didn't suck her thumb all day, she could have a popsicle in the tub at night. Again, "positive reinforcement" not bribing. After she had 28 stickers she would earn the much wanted "PONYVILLE". Secretly I already had it. Hehe. Well, she did it! I can't say that we are 100% weaned yet, but I would say about 99.5%. (My mom caught her one day. Emily asked her not to tell me.) What can you expect from a 4 year old girl who has had her thumb to comfort her since she was 2 months old. It was sad to see it go, but it was to her benefit. Way to go Emily! After Emily had been thumb free for a few weeks I decided that while I was weaning one, I might as well do the other. Binky training is a little easier because I could take it away. It is a little hard to take away someones thumbs. I started out by taking it away during the day. He didn't seem to notice much, but he would giggle when I gave it to him at bedtime. A couple of weeks later I decided to see what it would be like at bedtime without it. He didn't even notice the first night and he slept great; however, nap time was a lot harder. I tried snipping the end of the binky first. He immediately shoved his finger in the end of it and held it up to me. If looks could kill..... wow. Eventually he gave up on the broken binky, cried for a while, and then only napped for about 15 minutes. What could I expect from a little boy who always had a binky to keep him asleep. Slowly things got better, and we are back to our 2 hour naps and mere whining when it is nap time. Wahoo!I never realized that this little guy could even talk until I took the binky away. It has been a real eye opener. All of a sudden he became a chatterbox. He knew his animal sounds, he could count to three, and he knew about 20+ words. Weird words like, "Kroger", "Eww poo", "alright", "1, 2, wee" and, of course, "NO", and "MINE". (Which I think should be taken out of every child's vocabulary.) It was hilarious. Just the other day Emily came to me frustrated and said, "He won't stop saying what I am saying." It was amazing what he was hiding behind that binky. Again, hard to see it go, but much to his benefit.
HAHA this post is hilarious!! Good job getting Emily to stop sucking her thumb. And that's AWESOME that Gavin is a chatterbox- who knew?? That's so funny. And I'm glad to hear that you snipped the tip of the binky. I have heard about that method and have always wondered how successful it is.
After Emily had been thumb free for a few weeks I decided that while I was weaning one, I might as well do the other. Binky training is a little easier because I could take it away. It is a little hard to take away someones thumbs. I started out by taking it away during the day. He didn't seem to notice much, but he would giggle when I gave it to him at bedtime. A couple of weeks later I decided to see what it would be like at bedtime without it. He didn't even notice the first night and he slept great; however, nap time was a lot harder. I tried snipping the end of the binky first. He immediately shoved his finger in the end of it and held it up to me. If looks could kill..... wow. Eventually he gave up on the broken binky, cried for a while, and then only napped for about 15 minutes. What could I expect from a little boy who always had a binky to keep him asleep. Slowly things got better, and we are back to our 2 hour naps and mere whining when it is nap time. Wahoo!
I never realized that this little guy could even talk until I took the binky away. It has been a real eye opener. All of a sudden he became a chatterbox. He knew his animal sounds, he could count to three, and he knew about 20+ words. Weird words like, "Kroger", "Eww poo", "alright", "1, 2, wee" and, of course, "NO", and "MINE". (Which I think should be taken out of every child's vocabulary.) It was hilarious. Just the other day Emily came to me frustrated and said, "He won't stop saying what I am saying." It was amazing what he was hiding behind that binky. Again, hard to see it go, but much to his benefit.
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HAHA this post is hilarious!! Good job getting Emily to stop sucking her thumb. And that's AWESOME that Gavin is a chatterbox- who knew?? That's so funny. And I'm glad to hear that you snipped the tip of the binky. I have heard about that method and have always wondered how successful it is.
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