Tips That Work- For Me

I'll share with you some tips that have been passed along to me in the last month that have worked wonders in my house.

Potty Training

1) Let your toddler run naked for a few days (or I was told weeks, actually) to start the potty training. I have no idea why it works, but after a few accidents Kyra got the hang of "holding it" long before I could pick my doubtful jaw off the floor.

2) Do. Not. put them back in diapers. Okay, so I cheated on this the first week. I didn't trust Kyra to suppress her business even on the short "we're out of all the essential food" trips to the grocery store. But after I tested the waters in church (of all places I figured The All Mighty might help me out here the most) I stopped putting a diaper on her for anything more then nap and bed times. Accidents happened, heck, they still do but for the most part it is usually my fault for not paying enough attention to Kyra's warning signs.

Bed Times

1) If your child wants to climb into bed with you in the middle of the night, and this causes you to get a crappy nights sleep... put them back into their own bed! It may take you 4 and 5 times a night, every hour, on the hour - for two weeks - and you begin to wonder if it's just not worth it to go ahead and let them sleep with you already, don't give up. I've been there, done that, still have residual bags under my eyes to prove it. They will scream and cry and let you know you are the worst Mommy in the whole wide world, but eventually they'll figure out they are not even going to step so much as a toe in your bed to sleep.

2) If your sweet little ball of sunshine is getting up consistently before the sun, let them cry in their bed for 15 minutes before you come in to get them. Keep pushing back that 15 minutes until they they are waking up when (a)it's an acceptable hour and (b) they get the understanding that you will come get them when you are ready. One of my girlfriends passed this tip on to me as her son was much like mine- up by 6:30 every morning, if not earlier. When she told her pediatrician's nurse, the lady swore by this, and now so does my friend and so do I.

Kyra would wake up between 6 & 6:30, I'd tell her to get back in bed (and sometimes put her in when she refused to budge), let her cry for 15 minutes before letting her crawl into my bed and watch some PBS kids for a few minutes until I could pry my eyes open. Folks, for the last (almost) week now she's been getting up between 7:20 & 8. Instead of crying in bed for 15 minutes she's now quietly playing with her dolls until it's time for Curious George or Clifford the Big Red Dog. She gets to watch one full (or partial we miss the beginning) episode before morning routine begins. It's my way of rewarding her for making it past the early hours when Clifford's Puppy Days is showing.

Now, if any of you have tips on how to make my child eat, as she is lately taken aback at the thought of swallowing more then a bite or two of for meals and snacks are now used to fatten up the dogs, I'll gladly accept them. Last thing I need her doing is loosing any weight before her 2 year well baby check up next week.