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From: sophie@mnetor.UUCP (Sophie Quigley)
Newsgroups: net.kids
Subject: Re: Re: thumb sucking
Message-ID: <1422@mnetor.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 21-Jul-85 12:18:46 EDT
Article-I.D.: mnetor.1422
Posted: Sun Jul 21 12:18:46 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 21-Jul-85 14:15:46 EDT
References: <4018@alice.UUCP> <4021@alice.UUCP>
Organization: Computer X (CANADA) Ltd., Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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> How about asking her to suck her thumb when other people
> are around, telling her and them how cute it looks
> and generally being as cloyingly sweet about it as you
> can stand?  Betcha she gets bored in time.

I don't think that all thumbsuckers do this out of desire to get
attention.  For some, thumbsucking is an addiction, not unlike
smoking.  Some thumbsuckers need to suck their thumb to calm down, go
to sleep, before or after certain activities, whatever.  It tastes good
for a while (like smoking) but after a while doesn't anymore, but one
continues anyway because one can't stop.  Just like for smoking, there
is not one solution that will work for everybody, so one has to
experiment with different methods.  Some people do better if they are
weaned out slowly, some people need drastic measures.  Well, if you
haven't guessed by now, the reason I know so much about the subject is
that I am an ex-thumb-sucker myself. Stopping wasn't easy, and I have
occasionally woken up with a wet thumb since.

This is really an unfair addiction too.  One usually is born with it,
so it is not acquired when one is old enough to know better.
-- 
Sophie Quigley
{allegra|decvax|ihnp4|linus|watmath}!utzoo!mnetor!sophie