My three and a half year old is getting out of the toddler stage into little girl!
Just a few weeks ago we started the process of truly getting Kiera out of pull-ups and into big girl undies. She has been dry at night for a very long time, and knew when she had to go potty, but refused to tell us and that was the only thing holding us back. She was finally starting to communicate with us, so I took a leap, and decided one Saturday to try big girl undies. It went fairly well all day until just before bed when she pooped in them. Again Sunday, she did fairly well, and only had one accident. The next two days at daycare she did well also, but peed while taking her nap. Then the next two weeks just seemed to fly by without incident, and I couldn't believe that we did it!
Then, I decided to talk to Kiera about the paci(fier). I told her that she was a big girl now, in her big girl undies, and no longer needed a paci. She was adamant at first that I not take it. I told her that I wasn't going to take it from her, but that I wanted her to think of what it would take for her to give it up? I gave her a few examples so she knew what I meant, like a party, or a toy, or a special dinner. She thought this was a good idea and quickly joined me in the brainstorming.
The very next day Kiera told me she wanted Dora and Diego Play-Doh, we ran up stairs she grabbed the paci and she threw it in the trash!!!! I couldn't believe my eyes, so I quietly took the paci back out of the trash and hid it away for safe keeping, in case of a revolt later. We then went shopping for Play-Doh. That night was relatively easy, with Kiera asking quietly only once or twice for the paci. Again the next night went smoothly, but the following two nights were awful!!! She screamed and cried, not for the paci so much as she didn't want me to leave. I think she is having trouble getting herself calmed down to sleep. Since then it has gotten better, but now she wants a special stuffed toy every night, and still doesn't want me to leave. So, I give her some kind of 'treat' every night to calm her down, like a sip of water from a special glass, classical music on the radio, lavender oil on her neck, or whatever else I can think of. It's going OK, but still a struggle to get her to lay down and calm down.
Finally, in the midst of all this chaos, Kiera also started going up and down the stairs by herself!
I just can't believe how different a child she is now, compared to a few weeks ago!!!
