Yesterday was the big day ~ one I both looked forward to, yet dreaded, all at the same time. We dropped Riley off at a friend's house and at 2:30 pm, both Matt and I took Sheridan back to the dentist. She threw a minor fit, screaming that she didn't want to get the "thingy" put in her mouth. After calming her down we realized that she really wasn't screaming about the device, she was more upset that Riley was going to play and she wasn't. Priorities people.
The entire dentist visit took less than 10 minutes. When they called us back to the room they already had everything set up; the device, the cement, the tools. We coaxed her to sit by herself in the chair while daddy held her hand and I stood over her snapping photos along the way. They tried the device on first to see how it fit before they cemented it in. A little sanding here and there was all that was needed, and after applying the cement and reinserting it in her mouth, we were on our way. No muss. No fuss. No discomfort. No screaming. Very few tears.
She was in great spirits the rest of the afternoon at our friend's house ... that is, until she bumped her mouth, cut open her bottom lip, and then tried to suck her thumb and realized that it wasn't going to happen. The first of many bloody lips I'm sure we're bound to see.
While we were warned that she would probably be cranky, irritable, lose her appetite or have difficulty sleeping, we have been uber lucky and have not experienced anything out of the ordinary. In fact, she ate quite well last night at dinner, and at all 3 meals today. More importantly, she slept soundly last night, not coming in our room once to "snuggle" as she usually does every-single-night. My guess is that without her thumb in her mouth she can finally breathe well, and isn't startled awake due to a stuffy nose or stifled cough.
The one thing we do have to work on is her speech. She now lisps as the device takes up all of the space on the roof of her mouth where she would normally put her tongue. But hey, if this is the worst of it, I'll take it.
For Sheridan, the worst of it is that she's no longer allowed to chew gum ... or anything else that's icky, sticky, or munchy, crunchy. So I gave her a new bottle of lip gloss and am letting her put as much of it on as she'd like... which today was about 1/2 the bottle. Love those schelacked lips!
We're heading out of dodge for the next 2 days. We thought we'd take Sheridan out of her environment so she could have fun and not think about her thumb. Have a great weekend!
Before the procedure ... the anti-thumb sucking device
Securing the device with cement ... showing everyone what it looks like installed
Appearing generally unphased by the whole ordeal... unlike her mother!
17 comments:
Glad it's going so much better than you'd expected. Have a great time away.
WOW! That's great! So happy for you, Daddy, Riley and especially Sheridan. Glad everything worked out well for all of you. I'm not dreading the end of my daughter's thumb sucking near as much now. Thank you for posting your trials and tribulations.
Much love from NJ,
Sue
Is this one of those things that is really less of a big deal than it looks - because that pic up there looks like it'd hurt. alot.
Then again, I'm a baby. Haha.
Yay for Sheridan and having a good couple of days post-procedure. HOpe you guys all have fun while you're away playing!
That's great that she hasn't had any issues with it so far...with my kids & their braces, the worst is not being able to have the gum too. Thank god it's all over, right? Have fun this weekend!
~Christy
She really did great! And my girls would totally sympathize with her wanting to play rather than getting an aparatus in her mouth.
So...where are you going for the weekend?
Wow, I never knew they had such a device. I just put that terrible tasting stuff that they use for anti-nail biting on my son's thumb. He did FREAK though everytime he tasted it so I'm sure your way is better. (:
wow that is really cool. I am glad things are going well for you and I hope that they continue.
Yeah! I hope it continues to be smooth sailing. So glad she's doing well. Good idea to go have some fun.
I hope it stays easy for her, I know how much my K loves her thumb, but we already have one with a palate expander and braces. K will probably need similar orthodontia for this too. Keep us posted!
Awesome. She's a little cutie! Thanks for the blow-by-blow; it was interesting.
I'm happy it went well for her (I do feel her pain!!)
Enjoy your weekend away...get some pictures of those newly shalacked lips!!!
Whew! Glad the appt. went well.
Enjoy your weekend :)
What a blessing that it went so well!! She's such a cutie!
She is too cute!
I can't believe they've got a device for this now. I was a thumb-sucker and probably could've used it!
It's so nice when things go better than expected!
I'm literally speechless. I have never heard of such a thing. Will it work for sucking fingers? I knew a couple of older kids with DS whom have deformed fingers from sucking them.
hi, I found this thread when I searched anti thumb sucking... we've been advised to do this for our 5 year old son. I've had anxiety about him freaking out and we can't remove it. Now that 10 months have gone by can you let me know when she got it removed and if it worked in the long run? My son only sucks his thumb unconsciously at night. We can not scold him, use the nail polish or gloves he still manages to suck his thumb. thanks for a reply.
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