As I was eating breakfast this morning I was thumbing through one of my parenting magazines and came across my favorite section called "It Worked For Me!". I love it - so many women with great ideas! So, I decided to start a blog version!
I'll share one of mine and then PLEASE, if you have a blog, will you do a post and share an idea that has worked for you? It can be about anything...parenting, cooking, homemaking, or even just life! Then link to your post below, so we can all benefit from your experience! I can't wait to read all of your great ideas! :)
Okay, here I go...
How we finally kicked Cameron's 3 1/2 year thumb-sucking habit...
The Berenstain Bears can solve any problem! :) In this book Sister Bear works on getting rid of her nail biting habit. Eventually they give her 10 pennies a day. Every time she bites her nails, she loses a penny. We read this book a few times with Cameron, talked to him about why thumb sucking was a bad habit, got him a jar for his daily pennies, and had him chose an item/activity he wanted to spend his pennies on. Every morning I gave him 10 pennies for his jar and took one out any time his thumb went in his mouth. At first we let him spend his pennies every saturday - he mostly chose activities (like the carousel at the mall), then we extended it to every two weeks. It only took about a month before the thumb sucking was gone and it has stayed away now for almost 6 months! HOORAY:)
This idea worked so well for Cameron, we kept it around. He still gets 10 pennies every morning, but I have changed it into more of an allowance system. He loses pennies for bad behavior and can even earn extras for extra good behavior. Right now he is saving for a new bike...or a small portion of one! :) It is taking a while, but he still seems motivated.
I know each child is different, and not every idea will work for every child, but this one worked for me.
