Thumb: Episode II

Due to the large amount of interest in this line of content, I have decided to let you all know how we did on our first full day of Thumb Guard.

Initial installation took place after naptime yesterday, January 9th. First he thought it was fun, installation was not that difficult. It does require his hand to stay sort of still. A still body helps too. He thought it was cool and then he took his thumb out of the tube and said "ha ha mommy, lets see you try again". The instructions say that if the child disengages the guard that it is either not on right or not on tight enough.

As I was sure it was on correctly, having checked the diagram again and again, I tightened that sucker right up. The little hand swelled slightly but since there was no purple and no obvious pain we left it on and went to the park to see the ducks. No complaints (not from Gabriel, not from the ducks). It says to put it on as tight as it will go in the first few days to teach the kid he can't get it off and then for the remainder of the treament period it can be on a little more comfortable because by then the child has learned he can't get it off. Stay tuned to see if that prediction rings true.

To my huge surprise, (I was dreading it horribly) bedtime last night was smooth sailing. To bed nicely, no crying, no complaining. Till 12:40 AM, he woke up, tried thumb insertion and was very unhappy to find his thumb was covered by a soft plastic tube. Wailing begins. I decided it was on too tight so I loosened it. He got quiet but when I put him down the wailing continued. I had to let him cry for about 1.5 hours. Quiet came upon us about 2:40 AM. As far as I know, he has not tried to chew it off. He slept till 7:26AM.

He has full use of the hand which makes things easier on everyone. Waking time is great, no complaints, no whining. Even eating is ok. I take it off to wash his hands and the guard.

Naptime was difficult today. He cried for about 25 minutes and then slept just under an hour and then cried for about 45 minutes more. It is quite clear he won't go back to sleep without the thumb ecstacy he likes so much.

The rest of the day was good except that now since I am alone here, I have to wrestle him to get the evil device back on. I believe he has started a hunger strike to protest against those of us who are anti-thumb. Crying, non eating and interrupted sleep made me nuts today so Bryan took him from me at 6PM. No eating but to bed at 8PM, out like a light, he is likely mentally exhaused. Tune in to Episode III to see how tonight goes. (we now only have one guard because stupid mommy cut the first one too short in an effort to prevent a choking hazard, silly me).

I had more photos of right after I put it on for the first time but I accidentally deleted them all from my camera.