Ah, isn't that a lovely word. Right now, my son is in the middle of some training. We began potty training after Christmastime, I have been attempting to sleep-train since the moment he entered the world; he is getting so good at throwing trash in the trashcan or putting his dirty clothes into the hamper.
The potty-training, or attempt at potty-training, started about a month ago, and I can say that my son has yet to pee or poop in the potty we got him. He knows what the potty is for, what goes in the potty, and he has even successfully demonstrated how to sit on the potty. But, he has not actually used it for its purpose. I know that it can take boys longer to become potty-trained or to really even get the concept down. But, my boy is smart, and he is a quick learner, but this activity is just not of interest to him whatsoever. Last night, when I was getting his bath ready, he had his diaper off, and when I went to pick him up and place him in the bathroom, there was a little puddle of pee where his feet were. The potty was not 10 inches from him at the time! It can be frustrating, and even more so, because within this past month after introducing it to him, he has not gone in the potty yet. How can I prevent my son from continually peeing on my bathroom rug and into his potty chair sitting RIGHT there!? Maybe I am just not trying hard enough. I seem to get wrapped up in whatever I am doing at home, amd I forget to take him upstairs to sit on the potty...on the hour, every hour... I hear you need a good, solid four days at home (not going anywhere...can you imagine being cooped up in the house for FOUR straight days?!) to be able to get potty-training through your toddler's head. I don't exactly have four days laying around where I can just sit in the bathroom and wait for my son to make some kind of progress. I do know that it has to happen eventually though. I think this weekend, I am going to make a serious effort in taking him into the bathroom and sitting him down on that magical, little throne until something happens. Do I encourage him with big applause and praise when he finally does it? Or do I act like it is an everyday thing and so not a big deal? I have honestly been told both. I am one to give praise to my child, so I suppose when that moment finally does happen, I'll be whipping out my camera, snapping pictures, and posting them on Facebook. Yep, I am that mom.
Since my son reached three months of age, I moved him into his own room and into his crib. It was a little rocky at first, like many new things to a child can be. But, eventually he was sleeping very well, and that meant that I was too. For months and months after the move, he would sleep through the night, getting about 13 to 14 hours of sleep. Save your oohs and ahhs. It has changed. As mentioned in my first post, we recently converted his crib to a toddler bed. The past two weeks have not been enjoyable on the sleep front. He wakes up two to three times a night now, and he does not want to go back to sleep. Last night, I finally got a decent amount of sleep, but only because I went to bed a little earlier. How long is this supposed to last? Am I just supposed to get used to the fact that every morning when I walk into work, I look and feel like some mommy-zombie? It's rough; those newborn days are supposed to be in the past. I have decided that no matter what, I can't revert back to him sleeping in a baby crib. He's getting too old for a crib; he has to get used to his toddler bed, and he has GOT to start sleeping through the night again in his own bed. It's kind of like a never-ending cycle. When we was a newborn, he slept in our room (in his pack-n-play) and woke up two to three times every night. And now we are back to that. Eventually, he moved to his room and adjusted quite well. I should probably give him a little slack, because children don't take too kindly to change. I need to just give him some time, like I did back then, to allow him to become comfortable sleeping in his toddler bed. I expect he will be back to his long slumbering nights soon enough, and I will be back to having a little more me-time at night. :)
For a couple of months now, my husband and I have taught our son (and I think I can give a little credit to his amazing daycare) to clean up after himself. After seeing us clean up and throw away trash, he has gotten the hang of it. He throws away papers that I do not need anymore and the wrappers of whatever snack he just devoured. He even makes it a point to throw away his own diaper after changing. What more could I ask for? After I change his clothes or finish drying him off after a bath, he runs to the pile of dirty clothes on the floor and hurls them into his hamper. I am training him early, and he already has it down pat. It makes me one proud mama. Something that he may not master for a couple of years is sweeping and wiping up liquid spills. He loves to pretend to sweep with the broom after I clean up the goldfish or animal crackers thrown on the floor. He uses tissues, paper towels, and used dryer sheets to try and clean up "messes." It is too cute to watch, and I honestly cannot believe how much he does at such a young age.
Speaking of how much he does...I have not yet been able to teach him NOT to throw food on the floor. During every single meal of every single day, half of his food winds up on the floor or under the couch or on the ottoman. This is driving me nuts! I tell him no; I smack his hand; I take away his food, but nothing seems to be working. He still does it. He did last night, yesterday morning, last week, two months ago. It has been going on for a while, and I am just stumped on how to get him to stop. This must be something that they are not covering at school. I have to give the daycare credit though, because he has learned so many things there. He came home one day from school, picked up a pen, and he held it correctly -- the proper way to hold a pen! I just could not believe my eyes. They do lots of arts and crafts there as well, and it makes me happy to see that my toddler is doing so many great and creative things. It can be hard, working full-time and not being able to spend every moment with my child during the day, teaching him and singing to him. But, I am happy to know that they are teaching him something, and he comes home happy. They challenge him there, and they have even taught him some sign language. They are able to kind of fill in the blanks and teach him things that I have either not thought of, or have not had much success with.
My son amazes me every day. He absorbs so much, and I know that using the potty successfully is on the horizon. I also know that he will eventually go back to sleeping through the night in his room, and I know that as a mother, I have to have some patience with him.
Pretty soon, he won't need me to teach him much else.
January 27, 2012
January 22, 2012
"Pilot"
This is my first post, so be nice. Okay, so I'd like to start off with my background. Currently, I am juggling an almost-two-year-old with pending molars, being a military wife (while being in the military myself), bettering myself by taking online courses to eventually get my Bachelor's in Psychology, cleaning and maintaining a beautiful, newly purchased home ... and my sanity.
My husband and I recently converted our son's crib to a toddler bed. We felt like it was time for him to transition to a big-boy bed. First two nights went great. He slept all night minus maybe an hour, resulting in an earlier wake-up time, but that's okay. I'll forgive him for that. The next couple of nights...torture. My son woke up at approximately 11:30, 12 each night for a few nights in a row. We attempted to rock him in the rocking chair in his room, and as soon as he'd doze off, we'd (try) to move him back to his own bed. No such luck.
After failed attempt after failed attempt, we'd cave and bring him into our bed. Now, I am not an advocate for sleeping in the bed with your child, solely because I like my sleep, and if your kid is anything like mine, he does not sleep when he's in the bed with us, but you do what you have to do to get a little bit of sleep. From day one he has slept solo and from 3 months on, he's slept in his very own room. So after a few night's of an hour or two of sleep in a row while trying to recover from my second bout of oral surgery in two weeks, I'm at a loss. This happened again last night. He woke up around 11:30pm, and I took the first shift. I went in there, picked him up, rocked him and tried to move him into his own bed. As usual, he awoke as soon as his head hit head hit the sheets. I tried again and failed. I finally got him down and made my way back into our bedroom. It was 12:40am by then. He woke up as soon as my hand reached for the covers. I went back into his room and tried again. Eventually he climbed out of bed and made his way into our room where he obviously got to join us in bed. After tossing and turning and moving and kicking, he fell asleep and so did we. Almost every hour, on the hour, he woke up. I don't get it. Did I assume he could handle such a thing too quickly?
I had heard other people in my life with young children who converted their child's bed into a toddler bed, and I couldn't help but wonder if I was behind. I have debated all week long about converting his bed back to a crib, but I kind of feel like I could be robbing him of some serious growing up if I were to do so. Maybe I just have to endure it for a little while longer until he gets the picture. He's napping now (in his bed), and I wonder how long it will take for all of us to make it through a whole night without being woken up. This past week, it's almost been like having a newborn again. Which by the way, my husband and I are trying again, and the lack of sleep and constant crying has me remembering the early days of my son's life where all I wanted was some quality sleep.
Can I handle it again? I think so. I certainly am not the same woman I was a year and a half ago. My son has made me grow up quite a bit, and I should have more faith in him that this transition from crib to toddler bed will be a good thing for him and thus will result in a happier, more alert family in the days to come.
My husband and I recently converted our son's crib to a toddler bed. We felt like it was time for him to transition to a big-boy bed. First two nights went great. He slept all night minus maybe an hour, resulting in an earlier wake-up time, but that's okay. I'll forgive him for that. The next couple of nights...torture. My son woke up at approximately 11:30, 12 each night for a few nights in a row. We attempted to rock him in the rocking chair in his room, and as soon as he'd doze off, we'd (try) to move him back to his own bed. No such luck.
After failed attempt after failed attempt, we'd cave and bring him into our bed. Now, I am not an advocate for sleeping in the bed with your child, solely because I like my sleep, and if your kid is anything like mine, he does not sleep when he's in the bed with us, but you do what you have to do to get a little bit of sleep. From day one he has slept solo and from 3 months on, he's slept in his very own room. So after a few night's of an hour or two of sleep in a row while trying to recover from my second bout of oral surgery in two weeks, I'm at a loss. This happened again last night. He woke up around 11:30pm, and I took the first shift. I went in there, picked him up, rocked him and tried to move him into his own bed. As usual, he awoke as soon as his head hit head hit the sheets. I tried again and failed. I finally got him down and made my way back into our bedroom. It was 12:40am by then. He woke up as soon as my hand reached for the covers. I went back into his room and tried again. Eventually he climbed out of bed and made his way into our room where he obviously got to join us in bed. After tossing and turning and moving and kicking, he fell asleep and so did we. Almost every hour, on the hour, he woke up. I don't get it. Did I assume he could handle such a thing too quickly?
I had heard other people in my life with young children who converted their child's bed into a toddler bed, and I couldn't help but wonder if I was behind. I have debated all week long about converting his bed back to a crib, but I kind of feel like I could be robbing him of some serious growing up if I were to do so. Maybe I just have to endure it for a little while longer until he gets the picture. He's napping now (in his bed), and I wonder how long it will take for all of us to make it through a whole night without being woken up. This past week, it's almost been like having a newborn again. Which by the way, my husband and I are trying again, and the lack of sleep and constant crying has me remembering the early days of my son's life where all I wanted was some quality sleep.
Can I handle it again? I think so. I certainly am not the same woman I was a year and a half ago. My son has made me grow up quite a bit, and I should have more faith in him that this transition from crib to toddler bed will be a good thing for him and thus will result in a happier, more alert family in the days to come.
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