Oral Fixations from Thumb Sucking to Smoking

Well, it's official. The kid wants me to leave the tobacco behind and well, I want her to stop sucking her thumb. Currently, she is "thinking" about it. For a four year old, she sure does understand what not doing something means. There are times when I tell her, if you don't pick these toys up off of the floor, I am going to give them away. After surveying the situation and the loot on the floor, she tells me go ahead, nothing there is worth it.

This time, I think I've got her. She wants me to leave the tobacco behind and she needs to stop sucking her thumb or she is going to have braces until she is 50. And for the record, I only smoke outside and away from her. I am not that horrible commercial propaganda of a mini-van mom who rolls up the windows and smokes away while the kid sits in the back and dies.

So, as she surveys the situation and determines if her security (and the ultrasound photo proves her oral fixation was from conception) can be given up, I have to figure out how I am going to do this. I have "quit smoking" at least five times. From cold turkey, to the nicotine gum, to the patch, to even pregnancy, I have tried just about everything. I am addicted to the hand to mouth action of the smoking. I also love smoking. I know tobacco cigarettes are not good for me, but I love it! I don't really drink and I watch everything I eat so why shouldn't I be able to have one vice? I am an adult!

Thank the lord for my husband who happens to sell Electronic Cigarettes. This nifty thing gives you doses of nicotine through what looks like a real cigarette. You take a drag and an odorless vapor goes into your lungs and out of your mouth. I admittedly have had these things laying around my house for awhile. I have tried to go a couple of days without a real cigarette. I always loose. But then again, I LOVE smoking.

But what the patch and the gum do not take care of is the hand to mouth action. The oral fixation and the time fixation is not addressed. When I used these other methods, I found that my need for the nicotine eventually faded, but the hand to mouth fixation was giving me the shakes. I could feel my arm wanting to rise to my mouth.

After some reflection, the child decided that we were going to give it a go on both the thumb sucking and the smoking. So far, so good. In one day, I have gone from about 1/2 pack to 2 smokes. The electronic cigarette has been a life saver. I just have as many puffs as I need and then voila! The urge is gone. I did provide myself with 2 cheats yesterday. I figure, what the hell. It is just like brownies. If you tell yourself you can't have one, then the next thing you know, you have a brownie with ice cream, whipped topping, nuts, hot chocolate and a cherry. Should have just had the brownie.

I haven't seen the thumb in the mouth so she must be doing ok.