After I gave her pigtails, she wanted me to give her stuffed animals ponytails, too, and take pictures with them.
We've reached another milestone in our household.
Last Saturday evening (a week and a half ago now), we put Bridget in her crib for a time out*, and a couple minutes later, she walked on out of her bedroom with a pleasant look on her face like nothing had happened. I double-checked with my husband that he actually put her in her crib, which he had. At that moment, we realized it was time for what we had been putting off - converting Bridget's crib to a toddler bed. A few minutes later when Bridget successfully climbed into and back out of her crib, our suspicions were confirmed, and hubs immediately got his tools out and went to work on the bed. Right away, Bridget was a fan. She loved the fact that she could easily climb in and out without help. Things looked optimistic.
* That's not a recommended parenting method since "they say" the child will associate the bed with bad things instead of peaceful slumber, but it worked for us. Each kid is different, etc. etc.
The first few nights, against our better judgment, we let her climb into bed with us when she got up in the middle of the night. Halfway through the week, we started bringing her back to her own bed instead. Here's how her first week went:
Saturday night: Woke up at 4 AM and joined us in bed.
Sunday nap: Came out of her room three times before she actually went to sleep.
Sunday night: Slept in her bed all night.
Monday night: Woke up at 2 AM and joined us in bed.
Tuesday night: Woke up at 11 PM and joined us in bed.
Wednesday night: Slept in her bed all night after taking her back to bed twice in the middle of the night.
Thursday night: Slept in her bed all night without getting up.
Friday night: Woke up at least four times between 11 and 1:30, and we brought her back to her room each time. Then she slept the rest of the night in her bed.
So far, naps seem to be more difficult than bedtime with the exception of the one horrible night when she woke up probably six times. My husband and I have different recollections of what actually went down that night (I thought she got up four times; he insists it was six), but he did get up more often, so he's probably right. All things considered, though, and of course again with the exception of that one night, it's not too bad yet. Knock on wood. I will tentatively call the toddler bed conversion a success.
As far as other milestones go, we've started working a little more on potty training. I've begun using M&Ms as a reward (just one - is that too stingy?) for actually going, and Bridget's much more excited about trying to use the potty more although I think being fully out of diapers is still a while off yet.
I used one m&m for pee and 2 for poo. I used Ana's crib for her time outs only when she was mega mega mega bad. So every hour ;) just kidding, maybe a few times a week.
ReplyDeleteWe were fully trained in three days. Due it over the weekend, ditch the diapers it confuses them and set her up in front of the TV. We set a timer for every 30 minutes if she went she got a skittle and a sticker on her chart as well as tons of cheers. If she did not go I set the timer for 5 minutes later and repeat. If she still did not go repeat the 5 minute timer, we did this until we figured out about how long she could hold it. By day 2 We had her on every hour and did the 5 minute timer if she did not go. By day 3....She was going on the potty by herself. We did use pull ups for nap on day 1 and 2. But ditched them on day 3. We have had a handful of bedtime accidents.
ReplyDeleteHonestly ditching the diapers right off the bat was what got A going. We had tried a few times before but she never got it. When we got rid of the diapers yes it was a mess, but she was able to feel it. We would run her to the potty pee and putt her on there and say "We go potty in the potty." or something like that.
We had a really easy time switching our oldest to the toddler bed but, an impossible time potty training him. He was adamantly against the whole thing right right from the start and when he decides to dig his heels in we are in for some big trouble. We've finally got him to go pee on his own without a problem but, to this day he has not pooped in the potty. He waits until we put a diaper on him for bedtime and then he poops. He knows exactly what he's doing too. *sigh* But, boys are much harder to potty train.
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