Those Two Fingers

Gabe's obsession with his two fingers have been both a convenience and a headache. We didn't offer the pacifier past his first month and somehow, the little one managed to find comfort in stuffing his fingers into his mouth as early as the second month. The choice ones are the fore and middle fingers on his left hand, as opposed to the common thumb. So anytime and anywhere he requires some comfort, he'll DIY, and we won't need to lug out extra logistics (pacifier) and ensure they are clean and sterilized (especially if they drop on the floor). This is especially convenient if there's only one adult in the car and he/ she is driving and won't be able to attend to his needs.

But, this habit has its down sides. Major down sides. Although it came to a point where he'd only suck them when tired/ sleepy/ sleeping or when he's in the pram/ car seat, it was a tough habit to kick. Most literature would encourage parents to wean the kid out of the habit by age two, and if it has to go past that age, to limit it to the bedroom ie when the kid requires some comfort to fall asleep. So for us, the fingers-sucking habit when Gabe is lounging comfortably in his car seat will have to be first to go.

So began our strategizing. Again. Sigh... being a parent requires putting so much brain cells to work at such schemes. We decided and communicated to the boy that if he sucks his fingers during the car ride, he will not be allowed to "drive car when papa parks the car at the multi-storey car park at mummy and papa's house". It took a few days before the concept sank in but it eventually did. There were times when you'll notice him fighting a mental battle, where his hands will be wide opened and hanging around his mouth and cheeks. Other times you'll hear him giving you the instructions that "sek sao ji [sucking fingers] cannot drive car" as a reminder to himself. Then there were occasions he'd be so tired out while we're getting home that he gave in to his drowsiness, sucked his fingers, fell asleep and woke up nevertheless to the consequence of no time at the wheel. But we're glad to see significant improvement and we've reached a point where we're almost at 100% success, at the expense of his verbal diarrohea. I'll leave details on this for another post.

Apparently, my in laws have been very successful at getting him to sleep without sucking those two fingers, citing the popping up of the "bubbles" [the callouses that pop up as a result of the habit]. Somehow I've not managed to convince him to do the same. But there are occasions where I instruct him specifically not to and he'd cry in utter despair "mummy let you sek sao ji!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The interesting thing is that on these occasions, he'd obey but due to extreme grouchiness, cry uncontrollably until I have no choice but to allow him to do so. Then he'll settle back down to sleep peacefully. Looks like a long way to go on the bed part of this habit, but we do hope to break it soon.

A look back at the journey of Gabe and his two fingers:

Trying out the various fingers before he turned two months old.

6 months

8 months

12 months

16 months