Losing Battle

Since this past weekend when Ava discovered her thumb we've seen alot more thumbsucking... I'd rather her suck a pacifier than her thumb because it seems like breaking her of thumb sucking will be harder later, but I think we're losing the battle. I've been replacing her thumb with a paci as much as I can but she definitely started showing a preference for her thumb - of course it has to be her left thumb.

In the middle of the night for the past two nights she has fussed for a second or two - so then I think "okay it's time to eat" - I get ready to pick her up and she finds her thumb and puts herself back to sleep. I should probably be ecstatic that she's soothing herself back to sleep but it will take some getting used to. I guess I need to wait a minute from now on when she fusses in the middle of the night to see if she'll put herself back to sleep or if she's really actually hungry.

This whole thumbsucking thing could really help with her sleeping through the night but first I need to let go and get over the fact that she's not going to take her paci and that she may not need to nurse at night anymore. Its been so natural for me to wake up for a feeding (sometimes two if she goes to bed real early) during the night that I think I'll miss the quiet times with Ava. Oh and I tried giving her her paci instead of letting her have her thumb during the night...that was a joke. She knew what she wanted, got mad, spit it out and got her thumb...

It really is cute to see her suck her thumb though. She hasn't figured out how to close her fist and still find it so her hand covers most of her face.