Pacifiers, Potty "Learning," and Toddler Beds

[eatmisery]

My name is Amy and I live in Chicago. I have a three-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl. I am attempting to wean them both of their pacifiers, get them both to use the potty, and transition them into toddler beds this summer. I'm guessing that the pacifier will be the last thing to do of the three because they may need them to move into their big beds.

Any advice? What worked/didn't work for you?

[Toddler Toddler]

Hi Amy. Wow you will have a busy summer! For potty training with my son...we went cold turkey, from diapers right to underwear. It took just a couple of weeks. I did a lot of laundry for those two weeks, but didn't have to spend any money on pullups. At least it worked for us. Once he was potty trained I hyped up the "big boy bed" by saying that now he was big kid and could sleep in a big kid bed. He was excited about it. But I can't even imagine how to do it all with two kids at once. Good luck! :)

[Kristen]

How old was your son when you started potty training. I have heard such conflicting information/advice re: potty training boys.

[Toddler Toddler]

We did it when my son was just over 2 years old. For several weeks until that time we would have him sit on the toilet seat while I got the bath ready, just so that he got used to being on/near it. Then after a while I would have him try to pee right before bath time. Sometimes as soon as his feet went in the bath he needed to pee, so I would quickly lift him out and hold him over the toilet. We've always had him stand up and pee. That was just our preference.

The day that we started potty training I told him that he wouldn't be wearing any diapers and we put Superman underwear on. I had him drinks lots of water/milk, and then every half hour I'd have him stand in front of the toilet. We made a game of it and when he did pee in the toilet. I'd do a goofy little dance that made him laugh. He'd want to see me do the dance again, but I'd tell him that I'd do it after he went in the toilet again. I did keep a diaper on him at night, but most of the time it was dry in the morning, so we just took it off.

We did have accidents (one at Target!) and I did do a lot of laundry, but by the end of a couple weeks he had learned that he didn't want to be all wet in his clothes. And for the months after we still had the occasional accidents. Especially when he was busy playing.

(One tip I heard other moms use was to put underwear on your child and then a pullup/diaper over that. So that when your child wet, he/she would feel it, but it wouldn't make too much of a mess for you. )

Overall, it seems that there are many ways, and you just want to do what feels comfortable for you. I believe that if a child senses the adult's stress/uncomfortableness about something, the more he/she will become stressed/uncomfortable with it.

Good luck!:) BTW...the Baby Whisperer helped us so much too.

[Kristen]

I forgot one thing. . .my son never took a pacifier, but I have several friends who had children that used them. A couple have said that the SuperNanny has a book out with some good advice. Also, we used the Baby Whisperer for developing sleep habits and it was so great. . .I know she has a section on pacifiers too!

[Andrea]

Hi, Amy. I would suggest NOT doing all of those at the same time! Ha ha. I got my twins off the pacifier in one weekend. Actually, their grandmother put them to bed without a pacifier - because she forgot. They didn't really even notice. I just never gave it back after that night. They did fine. Prior to that event, I would only allow it in the bed. I would say, if you want your paci, you have to be in your bed.

As for potty training, I'm going to start that next weekend. So, I'll let ya know!

And, big girl beds (toddler beds) will be after potty training. My girls do not try to climb out of the crib so until they do, I'm keeping the cribs. Why rush the freedom?

Good luck!

[Chelsea]

Definitely that passy will be the last thing that the children give up. What worked for me is to only let the kids have the passy when laying down in their beds. I basically made the decision that once the last pacifier was done (i.e. lost or chewed up or hole), then it was gone forever. I talked about how it was the last one etc. and that we would not be replacing it. When the time came, it was rough for about 2 nights and then they were over it. My youngest is 4 and his mouth still makes little sounds like he is looking for the pacifier.