Children, Blankies and Thumb Sucking

All three of my children have a special blankie, two are thumb suckers and one is a nail biter. I’m not surprised, these are typical coping mechanisms children use for stressful situations. I not only allow, but encourage children to develop what coping mechanism works for them …and is socially and developmentally appropriate.

As a busy mom and wife and pediatrician, I have had to learn over and over again how to cope. Our parental responsibility is to help our children foster appropriate coping skills. One of the best ways we can do this is by simply teaching them to communicate. They can then carry this skill into the world to manage other stressful situations. It can help them deal with hurt feelings, loneliness and fear.

We all need coping mechanisms. We just need to encourage ourselves and our children to develop ones that are healthy. Writing has been a big stress reliever for me. Just getting my thoughts down on paper actually helps me clarify what I need. Two glasses of wine and some ibuprofen might be more fun but not as effective. So as I hone my coping skills, I’ll let them hone theirs. If I start to see them dragging their blanket around Linus-like, or if they are still sucking their thumb… in public… at fourteen, I’ll have to set some limits. Until then I’ll keep waiting and watching.

Sheila Cason, MD