Thumb ****ers...

[MN Day Mom]

What do you all do in regards to thumb ****ers. I have a little man, 20 months old who is constantly ****ing his thumb. He is only my 2nd finger ****er in over 16 years.

My first one was very good about quickly learning to only **** on it during nap times. This little guy, he'll pull it out if I say "finger" but will also give me a defiant noise and 30 seconds later he is sticking it right back in his mouth. If it wasn't for the constant germ factor I wouldn't really care.... any advice on how to curb this habit and reduce it to just nap times??

[missnikki]

Every time I see a finger in a mouth or nose, I tell them to go wash hands. EVERY TIME.

[MommyMuffin]

I like the washing the hands advice but it wouldnt work for me...I am busy feeding infants...cooking..I would not be able to bring the child to the bathroom everytime to wash.

I had a dcb who came to me at 2.5 yr old. Everytime he had his finger in his mouth I would take it out and say "yucky" "only for naptime." This took about 2 months and now he only does it at naptime or when his parents come. I think his parents are trying to keep him a baby forever.

[missnikki]

How about have a box of wipes, and if you see him do it, tell him to go get a wipe and wipe his hands....can get expensive, though.

[MN Day Mom]

I clean his hands often. He is only 20 months old so he cannot yet wash his hands independently and the wipes... well that would get spendy as his thumb is in his mouth constantly.

I guess I will just continue with the constant verbal prompts and hopefully eventually we make progress.

[Lucy]

Just have a pump jar of Kid's hand sanitizer handy.

Not to sound gross, but you really shouldn't be 100% sanitary. As odd as that sounds, they do need some germs in their system to help fight off the big germs. Go ahead and slam me, But I'm not saying to be gross and dirty. It's just that I see some moms who are just anal about cleanliness. And often, their kids are the ones who end up getting something bad - because their body doesn't have the "experience" of fighting things off. I don't expect you all to agree to this. I hesitated even saying it. LOL

[missnikki]

I agree, Joyce. I do the 'go wash hands' thing mainly to remind them that they get interrupted when they put their fingers in their mouth.