Please don't think I am horrible

[blaineysmom]

I am the mother of a beautiful DD age 2.5 She will be 3 in January 2002. She is very bright and bold. However she still has her diapers ad bottle. Any advice to make these transitions a little easier? Her bottle is interferring with her appetite. And she has been showing signs of potty ready for almost a year. I am just unsure of how to do what? Any and all help will be appreciated.I have tried pull ups and am an unhappy mother they get twisted and everything gets soaked ( or worse lol ) Please again Help me...... By the way if anyone is in the Lexington KY area and would like to get together I would love it I have NO FRIENDS. My DD never sees children her own age....HELP

[JeannieOR]

My kids never used bottles but the had pacifiers. Based on my experiance with binkies. I'd say first get her to stop walking around with the bottle. Searve cheese and milk in a glass. Don't have the bottle available to her until just before bed time. Then after she has adjusted to that routine, work on weaning her at night.

It been a while since I've had a two year old, but I do remember having a horrible time getting my dd to use the toilet. (I used pull up with her.) With my ds, I switched him from disposable diapers to cloth at 2½. He actually liked the cloth better until he soiled them then diaper changes were a breeze. Just before his 3rd birthday, I brought him a potty seat and told him that after his birthday he would go in the potty instead of his diaper. The day after his birthday I bought him cloth training pants and he used the potty. Only two acidents that was it.

[Sasha Rowan]

I nursed, so bottle was never an issue.

Can your daughter drink from a cup? If so start offering a choice between cup with milk, juice, whatever in it and bottle with water in it. She will soon choose the cup. When I weaned my son at 3 from no-spill sippies, he went half a day without drinking because I wouldn't pour it into his sippy cup. Dh came home and asked "Ds, what will make you drink from big cup?" Ds responded "I want my Pooh cup." If he had told me that I would have switched, but it had become an issue not to drink from the cup mom wanted and to save face he pretended it was the cup.
I'm rambling any way after that there was no problem.

Diapers: get OUT of pullups.
They prolong the potty training process. I have yet to see a child at the potty age that was proficient enough to pull them up and down and they feel like a diaper. My ds was showing signs of potty readiness when he turned 3. We switched to pullups and waited for him to try going on his own or ask for the potty. He never did. When he was 3.5 years, dd was born. So he ended up being 4 before he was potty trained. Finally had to say "That's it, no more pullups. It took about 2 days of wet pants for him to hit the bathroom regularly.

Look at library for books on potty using for toddlers and for moms. Also story time at the library is a good place to meet new friends.

Hope this helps.

[Mickey]

I know it's not a popular approach, but I let ds take the lead with everything. I figured, it's unlikely that he'll be going to go to his prom (or kindergarten for that matter) in a diaper with his bottle and binkie, so I didn't push anything.

[angie r]

Originally posted by blaineysmom
By the way if anyone is in the Lexington KY area and would like to get together I would love it I have NO FRIENDS. My DD never sees children her own age....HELP

Find a MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers) group in your area. This is exactly what it is for!!! www.mops.org

[blaineysmom]

thanks thanks thanks..... I am going to try offering water in the bottle and everything else (that taste decent lol) in a cup I think that will work best for this child.My MIL(mother in law) DRIVES me crazy...my husband works and does'nt need to be bothered with our scuffles,but she has been telling me how to raise my DD since before she was born. She thought I should have just took her bottle at 12 months no weaning....well needless to say she went home and slept at night I was left with a baby that I couldn't give a bottle to.
I also agree to just let them lay it down,but she goes to the refidgerator (sp) and gets it in the morning takes the top off and lays down in the floor in front of the tube and drinks it. I appreciate the advice very much.I will give updates as soon as I know something .

AngieR is MOPS just for moms? I NEVER LEAVE Blainey anywhere. She also needs interaction I think.

As for pull ups dd treats them just like a diaper she never mentions needing to potty or not to potty when she is in them.I think they are a gimmick to get you to spend money.but thats just my opininon. they work for some people. Well gotta go her lunch is ready.

[angie r]

Originally posted by blaineysmom

AngieR is MOPS just for moms? I NEVER LEAVE Blainey anywhere. She also needs interaction I think.



You take Blainey with you. They have a program for kids while you are with the other mommies. It is called Moppets and it is an awesome program. My kids beg to go....my five year old wants me to take him out of school (which he loves) to go with me on MOPS days.

[Amy2]

Just more of the same. A couple of months before ds's third birthday I told him "when you're three, no more bottles!" and we talked about it every couple of days, until just before his birthday. We marked how many days on the calendar and stuff. On his third birthday he got up, opened the drawer that the bottles were kept in, put them all in a bag, took them outside and threw them in the garbage. I think it really helped him to actually see that they were gone. His first nap sans bottle was like watching a heroin addict on withdrawls (no that I've actually seen one, but you know) but after that NO problem. I do think that your dd needs to start with a bottle only at bed or nap time.

As to the potty stuff, again, I agree with the no pull ups. One thing that was recommended to me was to put them in sweats with no undies. That way the poop and pee is somewhat contained, but still they can feel it when they potty, and sweats are really easy for them to get on and off. If you are anywhere that she can run around naked, that's a great thing because you can set out the potty chair and she can use it where ever. Or you can bring it into the bathroom, and have her sit on it while you sit on the big potty. Also, my son loved the video It's Potty Time (not Once Upon a Potty~boring) and that helped him get into the idea of using the potty.

Amy