Breaking finger in mouth habit. Someone respond!

I need help getting my 15 month child to quit sucking on her
first 2 fingers! Her skin is so raw and tears easily from
being so soggy all the time. Any suggestions?

x-no-archive:yes (mcp) wrote:

I need help getting my 15 month child to quit sucking on her
first 2 fingers! Her skin is so raw and tears easily from
being so soggy all the time. Any suggestions?

I had the same problem except that mine was only a couple of weeks
old. The doctor gave me some ointment to heal them, and I gave her a
pacifier to suck on. I don't know that you will have great luck at
that age though - in switching from the fingers to the pacifier.

My mom put me into a crib with a top sheet with a hole in it for my
head so that I couldn't get my hands to my mouth. She made this sheet
herself, with a zipper in it to put me through. I think it was her
own invention.

grandma Rosalie

Rosalie B writes:

My mom put me into a crib with a top sheet with a hole in it for my head
so that I couldn't get my hands to my mouth. She made this sheet
herself, with a zipper in it to put me through. I think it was her own
invention.

Yikes, don't try this at home folks :-)

(Seriously, it sounds like a strangulation hazard to me, though I could be
wrong.)

Sidheag
edd Oct 13th

"mcp" wrote in message
om...
I need help getting my 15 month child to quit sucking on her
first 2 fingers! Her skin is so raw and tears easily from
being so soggy all the time. Any suggestions?



I believe that there is a relatively inexpensive item you can buy to smear a
yucky tasting item on the fingers. I'd probably do *all* the fingers so she
doesn't just switch to different ones, and probably offer a substitute like
a pacifier or a lovie to hold. One thing to analyze is *when* she is
sucking. That will tell you the function of the behavior so you can more
readily determine what replacement behavior or item would be likely to work.
For example, if it is a fall to sleep item then you might replace it with a
lovie to hold. If it is a self soother when frazzled, substituting a cuddle
or something else might work, if you catch my drift. And, be 100%
consistent in both coating the fingers and offering the replacement
behavior/object - intermitten reinforcement of a behavior is the strongest
reinforcer known so letting her suck those fingers occassionaly will
entrench the behavior more strongly.

-Aula

x-no-archive:yes Sidheag McCormack
wrote:

Rosalie B writes:

My mom put me into a crib with a top sheet with a hole in it for my head
so that I couldn't get my hands to my mouth. She made this sheet
herself, with a zipper in it to put me through. I think it was her own
invention.

Yikes, don't try this at home folks :-)

(Seriously, it sounds like a strangulation hazard to me, though I could be
wrong.)


I thought that too, although I obviously survived. But I don't quite
see how I could have strangled myself anymore than I would have
stangled myself on a shirt that went on over my head for instance.

Not that I'm recommending it.

grandma Rosalie

x-no-archive:yes
"just me" wrote:


"mcp" wrote in message
. com...
I need help getting my 15 month child to quit sucking on her
first 2 fingers! Her skin is so raw and tears easily from
being so soggy all the time. Any suggestions?


I believe that there is a relatively inexpensive item you can buy to smear a
yucky tasting item on the fingers. I'd probably do *all* the fingers so she

Not to be a wet blanket, but children of that age will readily ingest
stuff that tastes yucky. Otherwise you wouldn't have kids drinking
drain cleaner etc. I think the yucky tasting stuff will work better
when she is older.

doesn't just switch to different ones, and probably offer a substitute like
a pacifier or a lovie to hold. One thing to analyze is *when* she is
sucking. That will tell you the function of the behavior so you can more
readily determine what replacement behavior or item would be likely to work.
For example, if it is a fall to sleep item then you might replace it with a
lovie to hold. If it is a self soother when frazzled, substituting a cuddle
or something else might work, if you catch my drift. And, be 100%
consistent in both coating the fingers and offering the replacement
behavior/object - intermitten reinforcement of a behavior is the strongest
reinforcer known so letting her suck those fingers occassionaly will
entrench the behavior more strongly.

-Aula

grandma Rosalie

In article ,
Rosalie B. wrote:
x-no-archive:yes Sidheag McCormack
wrote:

Rosalie B writes:

My mom put me into a crib with a top sheet with a hole in it for my head
so that I couldn't get my hands to my mouth. She made this sheet
herself, with a zipper in it to put me through. I think it was her own
invention.

Yikes, don't try this at home folks :-)

(Seriously, it sounds like a strangulation hazard to me, though I could be
wrong.)


I thought that too, although I obviously survived. But I don't quite
see how I could have strangled myself anymore than I would have
stangled myself on a shirt that went on over my head for instance.


My take on this is that a shirt would move with you, whereas as I
envision it, the sheet would be anchored to the mattress, and thus
not move, making it more of a hazard. Maybe I'm not envisioning
the right thing though. A safer idea along the same lines might
be to put the child in some kind of sleeper without arms (or without
using the arm holes provided). But this would seem to work better for
a much younger child than the one originally posted about. I don't
have any suggestions as to how to deal with this in a young toddler!

Good luck to the OP!

--Robyn

(Robyn Kozierok) wrote:

In article ,
Rosalie B. wrote:
x-no-archive:yes Sidheag McCormack
wrote:

Rosalie B writes:

My mom put me into a crib with a top sheet with a hole in it for my head
so that I couldn't get my hands to my mouth. She made this sheet
herself, with a zipper in it to put me through. I think it was her own
invention.

Yikes, don't try this at home folks :-)

(Seriously, it sounds like a strangulation hazard to me, though I could be
wrong.)


I thought that too, although I obviously survived. But I don't quite
see how I could have strangled myself anymore than I would have
stangled myself on a shirt that went on over my head for instance.


My take on this is that a shirt would move with you, whereas as I
envision it, the sheet would be anchored to the mattress, and thus
not move, making it more of a hazard. Maybe I'm not envisioning

Yes but do you think the child can get enough leverage to strangle
themselves if they are in the middle of the mattress? They can't
dangle over the edge by the neck because they can't get to the edge,
and I think when my mom did this with me I was very young and wasn't
crawling yet.

the right thing though. A safer idea along the same lines might
be to put the child in some kind of sleeper without arms (or without
using the arm holes provided). But this would seem to work better for
a much younger child than the one originally posted about. I don't
have any suggestions as to how to deal with this in a young toddler!

A strait jacket? (this is not a serious suggestion)

If the problem is mainly at night or for naps, it seems to me that a
sleeper with the arms inside the main body of the garment and the arms
turned to the inside would work. That won't help though with during
the day.

grandma Rosalie

wrote:

I need help getting my 15 month child to quit sucking on her
first 2 fingers! Her skin is so raw and tears easily from
being so soggy all the time. Any suggestions?

At this age, if raw skin and tears don't bother her, nothing else is going to
help anyway. I would just let her alone, maybe encourage some activities where
she needs to use both hands. See
http://216.247.224.230/forPatients/c.../chatter_6.htm for what you do if it
persists past an age when you need to be concerned (which is more like age four
or five! the vast majority of children will give it up on their own before
then).

--Helen