Tag: toddlers

Kids, parenting, Parenting is hard

My Daughter has the bladder of a Camel

Michele

I promised I would give you life UnEdited each week, I am beginning to wonder if that was a really good idea because it is making me get really real with you with my adventures of Parenting and Marriage! If you are just joining us, click here to find out just why we are giving you Life UnEdited!

My Daughter has the bladder of a Camel
Real Adventures in Potty Training

My Daughter has the Bladder of a Camel

My husband decided it would be a great idea if we potty trained our 2 ½ year old before our upcoming family vacation, AKA Michele Potty train Talie while I am at work! He claims it will be easier while we are on vacation. As if I don’t have enough to do in a day I have now added potty training to the list to the MOST STUBBORN two and a half year old I know.

I have read the books guaranteeing success in just three days, but I am here to tell you they LIE! I mean seriously what child really potty trains in 3 days with these 5 Awesome Tips!

Talie and I started off the day talking about how big she was and how in order to go to school she needs to use the potty, so of course, she was excited and she was MORE EXCITED when she got to wear big girl underwear!

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That’s when the training began… Dragging her to the potty every 15 minutes for her to tell me she was all done. ALL MORNING LONG! Never once did she actually use the bathroom or have an accident. Naptime was upon us and she still had not gone to the bathroom, even after 12 ounces of apple juice! I begged, I pleaded, I bribed, but to no avail, she wouldn’t go….

I knew at that moment I would be doing laundry after her nap (because I have heard not to confuse kids by putting a diaper back on them after going to underwear). She fell right asleep and after her nap, she came into my room with a sad face saying, “I wet…” Yep! Potty training was going awesome and now I have even more laundry!

We went into her room took the sheets off the bed to get them washed by bedtime got some new clothes on and began sitting on the toilet every 15 minutes…Yep! You guessed it at 4:45 she still had not used the bathroom or had an accident since naptime! I mean seriously where is she keeping all this juice? The older kids wanted to go outside so off we went!

Yes, you probably guessed it as soon as we were outside for 30 seconds I had more laundry to do! Crying inside I took her inside changed her clothes and sent her back outside to play!

After many more attempts to try to get her to go to the bathroom she still hadn’t gone. We were sitting watching the Olympics and she was bouncing around the room and all of a sudden she ran to her toilet sat down quickly went number 2 and then began dancing around the room again! SHE DID IT! WE DANCED! CHEERED LOUDLY! ATE CANDY! WE DID IT ALL to make her feel so good about what she did! It was a victory that perhaps she understood where to use the bathroom!

At bedtime, we tucked her in and kissed her goodnight… Soon after she came to our room saying her room was “scary” which really means I want to sleep in your bed she climbed up snuggled in and peed…. Thanks, Talie! I wanted to do more laundry at 10:00 at night! Let’s hope tomorrow doesn’t result in two peed beds, one being mine!

 

 

 

Kids, parenting

How to Get Toddlers to Stay in Bed

Michele
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Our daughter was the most amazing sleeper while in a crib. She would fall asleep without even a peep and sleep through the night. Her naps consisted of three hours of “me time” (me time= dishes, laundry, cleaning toilets, etc) because everyone else was gone. When she was a little older than 1 we got pregnant with our last baby and knew we would need to move her out of the crib. At 21 months we moved her to a “big girl” bed and everything changed! She was no longer taking good naps. Bedtime became a three ring circus trying to get her to fall asleep. She was waking up with every sound, and she now was wandering into our room at all hours of the night to sleep with us.

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Being hugely pregnant, I didn’t have the time or the energy to continue the bedtime fight for who knows how long so we tried everything and I mean everything to get Talie to stay in bed! After 2 months we finally found the perfect bedtime routine that keeps her in her bed through the whole night 95% of the time!

How to Get Your Toddler to Stay in Bed

Before beginning bedtime, you need to think of your child’s sleep schedule. Toddlers that take naps will naturally stay up later than those that don’t because they aren’t as tired. Make sure to allow at least 5 hours of playtime after they wake up from their nap. So on those “late nap” days that we all hate, it means you will probably have a little one bouncing around the house still at 10 pm.

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Yeah… That was a LATE night!

Be Consistent with the same routine for getting into bed. Talie always says goodnight to everyone before she heads to her room. Then she and I head in there. I put her pillows on the floor, pull back her blankets, she climbs in and then I hand her each stuffed animal one at a time, with their correct name, Pink bear, dog sheep, super dog, and Minnie. I push her hair off her face because it is usually everywhere and I kiss her good night. She kisses me and I tell her I love her, which then leads, I love you more, I love you most, I love you right up to the moon. After that, I kiss her again and remind her that she is a big girl and she is going to sleep in her bed all night and we will see each other in the morning. I sing her one song! I then kiss her one more time and tell her goodnight and as I am a little bit away from her room she will sit up and say, “I love you, mom. Goodnight!” Of course, I say it back and that is the end!

In the morning I praise her for being such a big girl for sleeping in her bed and tell her what a good job she did.

This is our routine now that works, although it didn’t always work that well!

How We Got to What Works Now

I remember when we first were sleep training Talie we would go into her room to tuck her in. We were a little inconsistent with things and like I said we tried everything! Every time we laid her down and would walk out she would run out behind us crying and screaming.

This is what we did at that point:

We would carry her back in coddling her and loving her telling her it was going to be okay and that she needed to sleep.

Once we were in there we would sing her additional songs, which then would have her chasing after us for more songs.

We would lay with her as she poked us in the eye, played with our hair, stuck her fingers in our mouth while we (more my husband) slept and she entertained herself until she was exhausted and fell asleep.

ALL OF THESE METHODS WERE EPIC FAILS!

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What We Did That Worked When Toddlers Get Out of Bed

As stated before we had a consistent routine when we were in Talie’s room. She knew what to expect. She looked forward to each part of this routine. After we said goodnight and left that was it.

When Kids Get Out of Bed

At first, Talie would get up A LOT! The first time that she got up we picked her up gave her a kiss and told her it was time to sleep and that was it. We carried her back to her bed and laid her down with nothing else said. She begged and pleaded for another song and a hug, but we said nothing and did nothing. She, of course, started crying. We walked out. It is crushing as a parent to do this, I get it… I have been there, but the extra hugs and songs after the initial tuck in defeat the whole purpose of getting them to stay in bed. You are establishing the fact that if they get up you will come in and give them the attention they want.

At this point, every child, of course, will chase after you. This is where you need to stay STRONG! You will simply pick them up, no hugs, no kisses, no words and put them back in their bed. You will do this until they stay in their bed. It might take an hour the first night, but the point is to be consistent. Do not after 15 minutes say this is not working and go and lay with them because you have now just established with your toddler that they can follow you out for 15 minutes and then you will give them exactly what they want when it is bedtime.

Additional Tips

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Nightlight: Sometimes a nightlight can really help toddlers feel safe. Think about it, they are in a big room with “noises” all by themselves. We didn’t realize at first (because Talie couldn’t communicate that well with us) that she was afraid of the dark. She would say it was scary. Once we bought a nightlight and put one in her room and one in the hall bedtime became a lot smoother.

Be Consistent: Have the same routine. Do the same thing. Toddlers thrive on consistency. When you give them that the world is a better place in their eyes. If mom has always tucked in the toddler and dad is going to do it tonight, make sure dad has the same routine or the whole night will be thrown off for your toddler.

Find Something Comforting that they Like to Sleep With: Toddlers love to feel a sense of security. Find a stuffed animal, a special blanket, or something that they like to sleep with. This allows them to feel safe while they are away from you.

Getting to toddlers to stay in bed takes consistency and time. It will be a struggle to teach them to stay in bed. In the long run, it will be beneficial for your toddler and for you and your spouse (wink, wink).

What have you found that works for you?

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Kids, parenting, Parenting is hard

How to Lose a Pacifier in Just 3 Days!

Michele

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Each toddler has that one thing that they love more than anything in the entire world!
For some, it’s their blanket. Others kids love a favorite stuffed animal, and then there are those kids that love a certain toy…

I wish my daughter loved one of these things that I wouldn’t mind her always having with her, but it wasn’t… My daughter’s favorite thing just happened to be her PACIFIER!

To say her pacifier was her favorite thing is a huge understatement! I think she would choose her pacifier over food if she had too; in fact, there were times when she would take her pacifier out just long enough to stick a piece of food in her mouth. She then would stick her pacifier right back in.

We could not go anywhere without making sure she had a pacifier as well as me having two spares just in case she lost one. It was bad!

My 2 ½-year-old was addicted to a pacifier and I had NO IDEA what to do about it!

 Then one Wednesday at our Wandering Wednesday link party, where bloggers come and share great blog posts, I found an idea from Have Twins First on how to ditch the pacifiers in just three days! It was an idea she found here called Bye Bye Binkie: Ending the Pacifier Habit. I read her post and sort of laughed because I thought to myself, “YOU HAVE NO IDEA JUST HOW ADDICTED MY TODDLER IS… I mean that thing is in her mouth for at least 20 hours a day,” but I decided it wouldn’t hurt to try it out!

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How You Lose the Pacifier in 3 Days

Step 1

From what I read from Have Twins First and Bye Bye Binkie, the process starts three days before you actually take the pacifiers away. You do this by starting the conversation about the pacifiers going away.

So 3 days before, I prepped my daughter telling her how big she was getting and how she could do such fun things. She said she was big too! I then said there were babies that really needed her pacifiers because they were little and that they really needed those pacifiers… She happily agreed (Yes, I was still laughing inside thinking this will never work). We had this conversation 5-6 times a day for the next three days. Each conversation lasted less than 30 seconds.

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Step 2

It was the big day, Day 3, the day I had been dreading… I went through the whole house and found all the pacifiers because I knew if she had to find them she would have a major meltdown when it was time to give them away. There was only one more left and it was in her mouth! I distracted her with some candy and took the last pacifier and shoved them in the bottom of a drawer in a dresser so she would never be able to find them.

Then it happened, she asked for her pacifier! I told her that we gave them to the babies. This satisfied her! What?! Was this working? Throughout the day she continued to ask for her pacifier and I continued to tell her that we gave them to the babies.

No Pacifier at Bedtime? Send Help!

We made it through the day without any major meltdowns because we didn’t have a pacifier and I was relieved! It was time for bed. We got ready like normal. We sang and gave kisses, and then it happened… She asked for her pacifier. I reminded her that the babies had it and she lost it… There was no comforting her… She sobbed…I told her how the babies are happy now because of her! That night she cried herself to sleep and my heart was breaking… I was so tempted to go give her a pacifier, but I didn’t!  

The next morning she woke up and sadly came down stairs. She asked me for her pacifier, I reminded her that the babies had them now. Throughout the day she continued to ask, but less frequently than the day before at bedtime, it was similar to the day before, but not as bad or for as long. After a few days, she was no longer asking for it during the day, unless she got hurt doing something. Nap time and nights became easier too and got to the point where she was laying down without crying.

It’s been one month of no pacifiers and our life is so much better without pacifiers! Our toddler is happier (I never thought that would happen!), she talks more and plays more. Honestly taking her pacifier away was the hardest thing I have had to do as a mom with her. There were many times where I thought, “this isn’t worth it”. Other times I thought “if I gave it to her she would just stop crying”. Trust me there were many other tempting thoughts. With all that being said I am SO glad that I was strong enough to stick to the plan because we are so much better off without Pacifiers!

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I know that it is heartbreaking to take their pacifier away. This goes for them and for you!  If you stick to the plan you will be pacifier free in no time!

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Blogmas, Christmas

Getting Toddlers Involved with this Simple DIY

Michele

Welcome to Blogmas 2017! Today we are joined by Yvan with some great ideas to get your toddlers involved! Visit her at Yvan Agno 

It’s that time of year again: the time where we start thinking about ticking off that gift list, Christmas to-dos, and how we’ll be decorating for Christmas this year. This year, I came up with two little projects to help get my toddler involved in our holiday preparations. The great thing about these projects is I found everything I needed to make them at our local dollar store. I don’t know about you but I find the holidays to be the easiest time in the year to spend so much money and not even realize it. So being able to create something mostly from scratch and save money doing it is something I enjoy doing.

The first one I have for you here is a Candy Cup Décor.

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I bought a small Christmas tree to decorate our bedroom last year, and with help from my daughter, I will be adding something extra this year. My three-year-old loves to help. It is easy to involved her in theings like this. She was so excited she got when I asked her to help me put together a simple decorative add-on to our bedroom which she can easily get to whenever she wants.

What you’ll need:

A glass cup

Multi-coloured chocolates (optional)

Shredded decorative paper filler

I started by having my daughter organize the Hershey’s Kisses by color. Please keep in mind that you don’t need to use chocolates. Decorative beads / balls / spheres would work as well. I just chose chocolates because we love them. Let’s be real, they will not really take up any space in storage after the holidays, especially in our house!

I then proceeded to have her put the shredded paper at the bottom of the cup. Adding these at the bottom kept the chocolates from not going all the way down at the bottom of the cup.

After that, I asked her to fill in the cup with chocolates starting from which color she likes. She kept on asking me when she could have some chocolates to eat and I kept on telling her soon. 🙂

This little candy cup décor can be placed in any room in the house, provided ofcourse no one is allergic to what is in the cup if you do decide to put something edible in it.

 

The next project I had for my daughter are homemade Christmas tags.

Yes, I know that some store sells a pack of tags for really cheap, but I find that homemade ones says a lot more regardless of how simple the end result is.

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What you’ll need:

Sketchbook or construction paper

Scissors

Christmas themed stickers

Ruler

Pencil

Pen

I decided to use a sketchbook.  Then I started by measuring tag sized rectangles on a piece of paper. I marked the pieces I wouldn’t be using with an ‘x’ so my daughter understands that we won’t be using those pieces.

After cutting the pieces, I had her place stickers on one side of the tag leaving enough room to put holiday messages on such as “Happy Holidays”, “Merry Christmas” or the classic “To: and Fr:”.

 

 

Let me tell you, she loved every single bit of making these two items. She knew she can get into the chocolate cup which I placed in our room with my small tree. In addition to that, she was very proud of herself for being able to create the Christmas tags which will be used on presents.

There you have it! Two Christmas DIYs on a budget. I believe I barely spent $15 on everything. Hopefully, these projects help in getting your toddler be more involved with your holiday preparations.

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Yvan is a soon to be mother of two who enjoys reading, writing, pocket scrapbooking, coffee and tea. She currently resides in Canada with her husband and daughter enjoying all the festivities and snow the holiday season brings. Her blog is home to her thoughts regarding everything which she finds interesting and enjoyable. You can find her blog at Yvan Agno. 

Kids, Mom Life, My Life, parenting

What My 2 Year Old Has Taught Me… So Far

Michele

As a toddler mom again after 11 years I feel like I have been blessed with learning things a little quicker this time around. Maybe it’s because I have had prior experience, or perhaps it is because I am a little older and a little wiser. We will just dwell on the wiser part ;). But regardless I feel like I have learned to do things better, had more patience, shown more love, enjoyed the moments more rather than stressed about the small things and learned to live in the moment rather than let the moment pass me by. Today I am sharing with you the 10 things my 2-year old has taught me… so far

What My 2 Year Old Has Taught Me... So Far

What My 2 Year Old Has Taught Me… So Far

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