Twenty One Days

I once read somewhere that it takes 21 days to break a habit.

We have been working with Landon on breaking his habit: sucking his thumb. 

On his 4th birthday we took away his jammies. We had prepped him for a few months that on his birthday he would say good bye to his jammies.  If he had his jammies, he sucked his thumb. No jammies, no thumb.  The jammies were kept on his bed and he could have them at naptime and bedtime.

His birthday came. The jammies went. He found a new comfort item and continued to suck his thumb.

I talked to the dentist. I talked to the pediatrician. Both of them said, he will grow out of it and there is really nothing we can do to stop the thumb sucking.

Some friends of ours told us that they had let their son pick out any toy he wanted (within reason) from the store if he stopped sucking his fingers. The boy did it in 4 sleeps!  

I am not above bribery if it will encourage him to stop sucking his thumb. 

I offered Landon the chance to go to the store and pick out something he wants if he can go 21 days without sucking his thumb.  He was strongly opposed to the idea at first. Then I think his older sister enlightened him on what kinds of things he might get at the store.

He decided one night to put his blanket in the closet and go to bed without it.

Night one, night two, night three, night four, night five..... going well. He hasn't asked for his blanket and has been going to bed like a champ.

Then yesterday I asked him to lay down for a bit in the afternoon and here is what I find:

He told me he can sleep at night without his blanket and sucking his thumb cause its a long time but naps are too short and he needs his blanket (which leads to sucking his thumb).  

 

Anyone else have a thumb sucker? Any ideas on how to break the habit? It was really cute when he started sucking his thumb at 6 months of age, but now that he is 4 1/2, not so cute.