Thumb Addiction

When my little monkey princess~Nina was born there were a couple of indications she would probably suck her precious little thumb. Actually, I guess the first one came before she was born. Her ultrasound showed her peacefully sucking her thumb in womb. Once born, she was a pro nurser. Immediately she went straight to the breast and was very ready to nurse or pacify. This was a very different experience from our first Monkey Princess~Mia.

Princess Monkey~Nina was calm and very peaceful mostly all of the time but even more so if she was nursing or sucking on her hands until she found her thumb at about 2-3 months old and from then on that's what she always preferred in her mouth (of course other than her nursing tool).

Monkey Princess~Nina will turn 6 soon and the habit that was once so cute and photo worthy has turned to not so cute and forget photos if she's caught with it in her mouth. It just has to stop. You see, I never had problems with Monkey Princess~Nina sucking her thumb. Not when we recently witnessed her permanent teeth start to come in a bit crooked or even when I gave her a manicure making sure to skip the thumb that has flattened and widened over time knowing if I paint it it will scrape off in a day or two. I did however get very bothered once we started trying to quit. I realized what an addiction and small problem she has that will need much motivation, diligence and bribery to attack.

The first night we tried to quit cold turkey, and this was a mutual agreement with a bit of a bribe attached, she had a panic attack/temper tantrum. She literally kicked and screamed on the floor until she got it out of her system then I invited to hold and lay with her on the couch until she fell asleep. The next night was a bit better and then the next better than the night before the previous one but then I went to my best friends home to visit about 5 days into the quitting and did not put her to sleep as I routinely had been doing so and it messed up our achievement causing her to relapse and go back to the dirty little habit. We've been trying but as you can see inconsistency really has hurt our goal. Back to the start and trying over again. Tonight she cries (more like whines) wanting to suck her thumb as I wait patiently for time to go by to see if she can put herself to sleep without her not so little thumb. As I end this I hear nothing in the distance....I think she has conquered our first night again. Much better this time.

Any suggestions?