In Her Own Time

Luci has always done things in her own time. When I was pregnant with her, she would never kick when we wanted her to. I was in labor with her 16 hours and pushed for almost 2 hours. She was perfectly content with where she was and would come when she was good and ready. I started saying then that this kid was going to be stubborn. No clue where that came from...because I don't have a stubborn bone in my body. Must be her Daddy. :-)

I have never thrown out unrealistic expectations for her. I just didn't feel it was necessary. I never put a specific time on her to start or stop doing anything. Now obviously I knew that one year old was a good time to stop the bottle...two years old was a good time to stop the paci and start potty training...but I never really had any specifics.

I cut out Luci's afternoon bottle when she was 11 months old and a week or so later she just refused the bottle in general. No biggie.

The paci however was a different story. You can click here to read about our paci adventures.We had 2 or 3 different occasions where we tried to take it away and just found out, she wasn't ready. It was that simple. She wasn't ready. In her own time, she became ready...and with a little encouragement, it was fine. So, she was 2 years and 3 months when her paci's went bye-bye.

Now potty training... Luci has had a dry diaper/pullup overnight for months. Months. Anytime Luci peed or pooped, she would bring me a diaper, wipes, and the cream and lay down to be changed. She has been ready to be in panties for a while. But, it just wasn't her time.

We have struggled with her not wanting to poop in the potty forever. She would have times where she was doing great with using the potty and then she just wouldn't use it at all. I finally just gave up, put her back in pull-ups, listened to the advice of a good friend, and reflected back on her prior behaviors. In her own time. 

Guess what? All of sudden, she just magically started using the potty. Not only was she using the potty, but she was letting us know when she needed to go. I have always said, she is the one being trained, not me. I don't have time to ask her 15 million times a day if she needs to go potty. I work all day so there is no time for drinking lots of water and making her go sit on the potty every 10 minutes. None of those were for us.

Yes, I was/am tired (still tired) of hearing people say "Well, my kid was basically potty trained out of the womb," and then getting that look that perhaps I was doing something wrong. Blah, Blah, Blah. Well, good for you. However, that isn't going to make my kid train any faster. Having the personality I have, I always want to be scheduled, always want things to happen when they are supposed to, etc. Well, you know what I've learned? I can't make her "be ready" for anything sooner than she wants to be. It's not about me. And you know what, that's ok.

She is doing great right now with pooping and peeing in the potty, and we are excited! I am so glad that I just let it go, removed the pressure, and just let her be ready when she wanted to be ready. It has made for a happy family all around!

Our little girl is growing up...in her own time.