Potty Training, Big Girl Bed and Pacifier

For potty training, let her take the lead. You can ask if she wants to use the potty, and let her go whenever she wants. When she starts staying dry between potty tries, you can offer the underwear. I didn't use the training pants (I had planned to, but we got beyond that before I even ordered them). For night, still using the diaper (2.5 yo). No training pants, no pullups. diaper, then underwear.

For the bed, I think that depends on the kid. We moved my son to one when he was about 28 months because he was getting a new crib (last was recalled), and my husband didn't want to have to do it twice. :)

Please do not do all of these things at once. Pick one thing to work on at a time.

For my son we talked to him about how big boys don't have a pacfifier and gave him some warning. I made it sound like he would have to make a decision soon to give it up if he wanted to be a big boy. Then I cut the tip of the pacifier, but still gave it to him. He decided that he didn't like it (of course cutting it changes the whole feel of it) so he threw it away himself. Allowing him to throw it away made it seem like it was all his idea. He never asked for it after that. He was about 3 though. I know your pediatrician says 2, but if you can't wean her yet don't feel bad about her having it a little longer. For the record my son has no issues with his teeth from the pacifier.

Good luck!

So...as far as potty training, I recommend looking into a rewards system - this seems to work very well for many parents and it gives your child a little more incentive to use the toilet. Here are more potty training tips plus a little more explanation/examples of the rewarding:

http://www.theskinnyscoop.com/search/potty+training?utm_c...

And I am going to recommend 2 more links (easier to just show you then retype the info)

Big kid bed:
http://www.theskinnyscoop.com/search/toddler+bed?utm_camp...

These paci weaning ideas are creative and VERY helpful:
http://www.theskinnyscoop.com/search/pacifier?utm_campaig...

Good luck!! Hope this helps :)

I would go cold turkey with the pacifier, but be ready for a couple of days of fighting, just do not give in or she will learn that if she just throws a big enough fit you will give in!
I transitioned my boys to a toddler bed at 16 months, but I would wait until you have the pacifier situation under control, or wait to take the paci until she is used to the new bed. Only undertake one big change at a time.
I put my boys in pull-ups when they started to show interest in the potty. They also used pull-ups at night until they woke up dry for a full month. I waited until they were using the potty about half the time before making the switch to undies. Just like with the paci, it is best to hold your ground once you make the switch. My oldest had 13 accidents the first day, and really wanted his pull up back, but I reminded him that he was a big boy now. The next day he had 2 accidents, and than one or two a week for a little while. Over all it went really well after the first day with both my boys, you just have to get through that first day.

Best of luck, and remember to introduce the changes one at a time so she does not get overwhelmed.

Since she was born my daughter only got her pacifier during bed and naptime but she always had to have it at those times.

At 2 yrs old and 3 months, we went to my husband's uncle's house for the weekend. On Sunday morning, as we were eating breakfast downstairs, the dog came up to us with 2 of her pacifiers in his mouth. My daughter thought this was funny. The dog chewed them up. I made sure we brought the chewed up pacifiers home with us.

That same day at naptime, she asked for her pacifier. I reminded her that the dog ate them. She looked at me like I was crazy. I showed them to her. She looked so sad. She did not cry. She laid down and went to sleep. Every day I showed her the pacifiers all torn up. Then, she stopped asking for them.

Every time we see the dog, she tells him that he is a bad dog b/c he ate her pacifier but then she gives him a hug.

I never thought we were going to get pass the pacifier until that happened.

I would definitely start one at a time. Don't try all of these changes all at once or you will have an anxiety ridden child who is full of tantrums and what not. Pick one and start there. Every child is different. I wouldn't start the potty training until she shows some signs of readiness. However, put a potty in the main living area of your house. Let her run around naked and encourage her to sit on the potty every 20 minutes. Let her play with it, if that is all she wants to do. Start like this. There's tons of information on the web. You will have to figure out what works best for your little one. As for the pacifier, again, every child is different. Cold turkey worked for one of mine but it was traumatizing to the other (the second used it as a coping tool). You can clip a teeny tiny hole off of the tip of it and then keep clipping as the weeks go by. Some are more attached than others. It doesn't sound like she's terribly attached if she doesn't go and try to find it between sleep times. Lastly, the big girl bed. My child, who is 3, is still in a toddler bed. We are thinking about converting to a big kid bed but just haven't gotten around to doing so. I wouldn't sweat that one (unless you want to start there). I will say, make sure plenty of time goes by, once a new skill has been mastered, before trying the next thing. Or you might just have a child who regresses. Lastly, I think the potty training is the biggest challenge (so you might do that last, when she's just a little older).

Do NOT try to do all three at once! I can almost guarantee it will be disastrous if you do. Take one thing at a time.

Does she show signs of readiness for potty-training? The average age for potty trained children these days is 36-39 months. When she is ready, use rewards, I would definitely go straight to panties, but use pullups at night until she is staying dry through the night (for many children, particularly heavy sleepers, they don't start waking up dry until 4 or 5).

For the paci, we got rid of ours around 3. The paci-fairy came for a visit. It was rough for a few nights, but it turned out fine.

We transitioned ours to a big girl bed before she was 2. Again, it really depends on when they are ready. We had a climber so being in the crib wasn't really a safe option.

Good luck to you!

All of our kids were in their own twin/queen beds at about 18 months. We co-slept before that.

We never gave a pacifier, so I have NO advice there.

Potty training is different for each kid. Our oldest was 3 years old - on this birthday, we took his diapers qaway from him. Within a week he was 100% potty trained, even at night. It was a control thing.

Our 2nd potty trained himself at 2 years and 4 months.

Our 3rd (a girl) we started just taking her to the potty every 2 hours to see if she needed to pee. She finally did and she loved the praise. She's 2.5 now and sleeps in her own twin bed or in the queen bed with one of her brothers. She is dry all night and actually doesn't call us to help her in the bathroom. She takes care of wiping, flushing, washing her hands, etc.

Didn't read your other responses but thought I'd throw my two cents in here!

First thing about potty training is that you will know when she is ready. Other than being dry in a diaper (which is huge), she will show more interest, want to sit on the potty, etc. I would put the potty chair in your bathroom and then every time you sit on it, put her on it. As far as underwear, I bought the Gerber ones with thick padding so leaks would not be as bad. Then I bought the character ones and the Gerber plastic underwear covers. That way when we would go out somewhere, she could wear regular underwear but the plastic training pants would keep the leaks contained. I bought them at Walmart and Target.

As far as night, I would not even worry about that right now unless she is waking up completely dry in her diaper. My daughter has been potty trained for almost a year (she's 3) but usually wakes up with a full diaper. This is not something you can train her to do. Sure you can wake her up before you go to bed or something like that, but honestly her body will just 'get' it when she's ready to night time train.

For binkys - we were in the same situation. My daughter was 2 years, 2 months old and was only using them at bedtime (she no longer napped at home after turning 2 but still napped at daycare). I talked with her daycare provider only to find out that she NEVER had a binky in the three months that she was there!! So I KNEW she could fall asleep / stay asleep without it. That made it MUCH easier on me to get rid of it. That night, when she asked for it, I told her she doesn't need it anymore at naptime so she doesn't need it at bedtime. She cried for about 10 minutes and then fell asleep. The next night she asked for it 1x, I said the same thing and she said okay. It was literally that easy. Not everyone will have that experience but I think a lot of times we as parents have an attachment or THINK it will be worse on our children (and who wants that) when in reality it's not as bad/hard as we think it will be! So we did do cold turkey (as did my brother when my nephew was 4 years old). He gave them to my son for Christmas!

As far as a big bed, that is really up to you and your daughter. Mine started crawling out at 19 months so we got a toddler bed. She has a small bedroom and I didn't think a crib and twin bed would fit as I was pregnant and both my children were going to share a room. She was in that until a week ago (she's now 3 years 4 months old). I would not recommend getting a toddler bed. First of all, it's the same size as a crib mattress so there is not more room. Also, you cannot lay down with her on it. Third, it's just a temporary bed for a year or two. If she's happy / content in her crib, I would leave her in there!!! If she is trying to get out or crawling out, then I suggest getting her a twin (or larger) bed. We just put my daughter's mattress on the floor until we buy a daybed/trundle so each child will have a twin bed. But I do not plan on taking my son out of the crib until he is ready!

Now if she potty trains and also is night time trained, you must put her into a bigger bed so she can get up/ go to the bathroom on her own at night.

Good luck!!!

I haven't read your other answers so sorry if this is repeated.

I just wanted to mention that some of these things can be stressful on little kids and doing them all at once might be a challenge. Some kids don't care at all, but if you think your daughter will have a hard time (emotionally) with these things then I will would try to space them out a bit.

We went cold turkey on the pacifier at 1 year, but my mom said ours would just get "lost." We were old enough (2-3) to understand, so it wasn't a big deal. When we would ask for them she would gently remind us that they were lost.

My kids transitioned to a toddler bed at 13 months and at 16 months.

We used the 3 day potty training method for both kids and it was great. My son potty trained in 3 days, and may daughter did in a day and a half. We realized it was just about getting rid of the diapers and consistency. If you can, just get rid of all the diapers and they will learn very quickly!