The topic of All Things Potty has not surfaced in a while, simply because there hasn't been much to write about. We've just been coasting along, perfectly trained during the day yet still holding onto our "security blanket" (that is, a Pull-Up) at night. There's no reason for the Pull-Up, really -- dry as a proverbial bone each morning, for months and months on end. Yet quite some time ago, after another long pee-less spell, I tried putting her to bed with regular undies. The result? A week's worth of peeing in her sleep. I haven't tried that stunt again since.
But now she's nearly 4 and a half and does not need to wear these things. Plus, I don't want to spend that money on something she no longer needs. So last night, for no reason and with no prompting whatsoever, I decided to keep her undies on while we changed her clothes for bed without saying a word. She went to the bathroom ("It's so cold in there, Mommy!"), ran back into the room, and quickly donned her warm-and-fuzzy PJ's without giving one thought to the fact that I "forgot" her undies were still on. Apparently she forgot too.
At 7:45 Don finally emerged from their room after performing their own little rituals of singing, crawling into Grace's bunk together (now, that's a sight to see!), and so on. Aidan, as usual, fell promptly to sleep, while Grace continued singing ... and singing ... and singing ... After a while she started yelling (oh-so-ladylike) -- "I have to pee and poop!" -- so I somewhat begrudgingly got up from my comfortable spot on the couch to assist her. Because of her brace, she still hasn't managed to figure out how to crawl to the bathroom and take care of herself, but that's OK. By the time she did that -- and wriggled out of her sleeper and layers of PJ's underneath -- we'd have a larger problem to deal with, and I'm not quite ready for that battle yet. I picked her up, helped her into the bathroom, and put her back to bed when she was finished. Still no mention of the fact that she was not wearing a Pull-Up.
I thought she had fallen asleep ... until I heard crying at 9:30 p.m. Annoyed that she was still awake, Don went into her room this time to take care of whatever issue was presenting itself. "Sue!" he hissed, not wanting to wake Aidan yet for some reason needing my help. I sighed, probably rolled my eyes (is my duty never done?!), and went back into their bedroom. There she was, stripped down as far as she could manage, sleeper and pajama bottoms tangled around her feet.
"I need my diaper!"
Talk about a button-pusher ... For two hours she could have cared less what was on her bottom. For two hours she never gave it a thought. And now, when she should be fast asleep, she realized what was missing -- her "security blanket." I was faced with a decision -- do we give in? Take off all of those layers of clothing, remove her brace, put on the Pull-Up and reassemble her? No, that particular button was pushed too hard ... no way. I took the stern approach. No mushy Mommy here.
Guess what? After a waterfall of tears and loud protests, she went right to sleep. And this morning she woke up dry, without a single word. This is all strangely familiar -- this approach is how she became potty-trained in the first place. I guess with Grace, "enough is enough" is the tactic to use.
We'll see how long this lasts ... but I'm quite pleased with the results today.
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2 comments:
Yay for Grace and Yay for you!
Matthew was 2 1/2 yrs old, it took 4 days and he was night time and day time trained, no looking back. Ever.
Ryan, well, that is another story. I won't go into the details, still too painful to dredge up. Suffice it to say, I feel your pain and celebrate with you.
Here's to no more pull ups!
JJ's been sleeping with underwear since July, he was 3 years and 4 months at the time, we do have accidence, but that's once in a blue moon. Try not to give her anything past 7 to drink, and she should be dry every morning. Don't give in to the pull ups or she'll never be trained at night.
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