Thursday, July 23, 2009

Mommy advice needed: Potty Training and Pacifiers

Ok, I need some advice from moms with toddlers and older. Anything would be great, words of wisdom, recommended articles or books... anything at all. Here is the deal:

Pacifiers: Emerson is allowed a paci in her bed at night and naptimes and *sometimes* in the car for long trips. It really is just a sleep aid. I am totally fine with this because she does not use it during the day and therefore I have been in no hurry to get rid of it. However, in the past few days, she is showing a stronger attachment, ie. throwing a tantrum when it is time to wake up and leave the paci behind. That being said, I think it might be time to get rid of them. Advice? Should I wait and see if this passes? Should I take them away cold turkey? Anything?????

My big hesitation with taking them away now is that she is going to be in a major transition in the next couple months- starting school 2 days a week. I am afraid that she might *need* it then to emotionally get through the transition...

Potty Training: First of all let me state that I am NOT ready to potty train. I did not think that Emerson would be ready for a good 6-12 more months. In fact a couple of weeks ago I read a magazine article on potty training readiness and became even more convinced that Emy was no where near being ready. That being said, she has peepeed in her potty 6 times in the last 4 days. We let her sit on it before bathtime at night and she has been going and then a couple of other times I caught her pulling at her diaper in the middle of the day and when I asked her if she wanted to go potty she said yes. Sure enough, each time she sat on the potty and peed. So, what the heck??? Is this normal? Do I just roll with this casually or should I really pursue it this early?

My big hesitation here is that she can't (won't) talk yet and therefore can't verbalize when she needs to go to the bathroom.

Any advice or encouragement would be great!

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6 comments:

bethany said...

I'm definitely the WRONG person to give you advice about potty training. As I type this Jakson is dancing around the kitchen naked because I've been trying a new trick today-bribing with ice cream. It, like every other tactic I've used, is not working well. I say-if she's interested, go for it!!
The pacifier thing I have done and we went cold turkey, which personally I think is the way to go. Jakson was MAJORLY attached to it--he only slept with it, but would NOT sleep without it. It was annoying and was getting to the point of being disgusting. So he "gave it away" to a friend's new baby and I never heard him say anything about it again. Honestly, I thought it was going to be major drama, but nothing. Especially since Emerson likes to play with dolls and "babies" she might understand that.
Here's where I blogged about it:
http://vermillionrules.blogspot.com/2009/01/end-of-era.html
Hope that helps a little!

allison said...

ford still uses his pacifier. . . but, i did just read a blog of someone who cut her daughter's pass and it backfired majorly becuase it was her idea and not her daughters. i would say to try and start talking about how big girls dont use pacifiers and maybe that when she turns 2 she either gives it away, or it goes to a baby, or wherever. . . good luck girl.

CeCe said...

For Bethany:

I am totally not the one to give advice on anything child related, however I saw this on TV the other day and looked so great for boy potty training I thought I would share. It even has it's on button for flushing!

http://www.pottytrainingconcepts.com/Potty-Training-Urinal3.html

For Sabrina:

I would say go for it. It can't hurt anything and if she's really not ready then you just go backwards later- but at least she has been intoduced to the process!

Amy said...

Wow!! I can't believe she's showing interest in potty training already! For all the things you've felt like she took her time getting around to, she's WAY ahead of the game on this one, huh?

Found this on BabyCenter, looks like it's got tons of answers:

http://www.babycenter.com/toddler-potty-training-advice

Erin said...

I am officially breaking my nearly year long blogging hiatus to comment for you my friend...1. Hunter potty trained himself in the same fashion, I thought he was too young, but he just started using it and I thought I'd be crazy to fight him on it. Cierra, on the other hand, we started and stopped a million times because it wasn't her idea. I think the biggest thing is doing it when they're ready, and if she wants to use it...maybe she's readt, even if she isn't showing the "normal" signs that we read about.

Now, on the paci issue...not only do I have NOOOO way to help you out, but I'll be soliciting advice from you shortly too. Ryland has one perm. fixated in her mouth at all times...I dread DREAD dread the day we have to part with it...she's a screamer, and it's the only way to tame her inner velocaraptor.

love and miss you :)

Lauren said...

Dang, I have no advice for either thing. Noah gave up his paci at 6 months and would have nothing to do with it after that, so no wisdom there. On the potty training thing, though, I am starting to wonder when to start, too. I know girls generally learn much sooner than boys, so I'm not terribly hopeful that it's "time." Plus, we'll probably be moving back to TX in a few months, and that's going to be such a big transition that I'm not sure I want to throw potty training into the mix. In Emy's case, though, I'd hate to NOT go forward when she's showing interest! Go Emy!