If there’s anything I should really stop doing as a mom, it’s to never underestimate my kids, Nadya especially cos Raees is too young now, it’s hard to say. Lol.
At two yrs old, I was scared of letting go of her pacifier. She was really attached to it from young and she is the kind yang kalau her pacifier takde, she will call out for it. “chootchoot… Where are you.” hahahaha
So I was really nervous. First time I tried, it went badly cos I gave in cos tak sampai hati. Then one day I just tried again. I didn’t plan on anything. I just told myself, talk to her nicely.
The 1st night was hard cos I did a cold turkey on her. She went to sleep sucking on an imaginary pacifier, woke up twice to look for it again but fell asleep right after. The next morning, she went looking for it but I asked her if it’s okay she doesn’t use the pacifier anymore cos she’s a big girl and she was surprisingly calm. I was really surprised cos I was honestly expecting a meltdown. The 2nd night, she went to sleep without the pacifier with no fuss at all. And that was it. It went surprisingly easy. Each time she sees any kids with a pacifier on, she will look at me and say “Nadya big girl, cannot.”
Then came the milk bottle at 3yrs old. She had this nasty habit of biting the teats. We use Comotomo bottles and the teats are expensive. Bankrupt aku every week beli baru. So one day, I told her “if u bite the next one, I’m throwing this away & you drink from a cup”
She gigit lagik lah seh. It was a gaping hole k. So I took the bottle & threw it in the dustbin & made sure she saw me doing it. I gave her milk in a cup and at night she asked for her bottle and I reminded her why I threw the bottle away. She never asked for it again after that. So she stopped her milk bottle at 3yrs old. Kinda accidental but works for me.
I then made a goal to potty train her at 4yrs old. I was adamant to only start when she can fully express her need and understand what holding in pee means. Cos I got no time to deal with messy accidents while being pregnant and handing a baby so I guess 4yrs old is fair? Pretty late considering her peers started at 3yrs old.
But again, it went on very smoothly. So far she only had 2 accidents in the early days. She also knows how to hold her pee quite well when we’re outside. We did initially face some problem cos she refuses to sit on the toilet bowl. Either she finds it smelly or she was afraid she might just fall inside the toilet bowl cos there’s no potty on it. Oh, God.
Then few nights, we accidentally forgot to put diapers on for her and only realised it in the morning cos she will wake up and ask to go to the toilet and my reaction will be “eh mummy lupa pakaikan Nadya diapers eh?!” hahahaha
Then one night I told her “ok lah Nadya, malam tak yah pakai diapers can? Can u do it?”
And she answered me Yes confident gila k. I make sure she doesn’t drink too much after 7.30pm, let her go to the toilet before she sleeps and then she will wake up at 7.30am to go to the toilet and so far no accidents. Yet. I hope no ah.
Initially, i was really worried if she is not peeing enough. Like should I wake her up at 3am to make her pee? But I read that it’s perfectly normal that they just sleep through and don’t pee at night. Well, both Rusly & I are not the kind yg bangun tengah2 malam to pee. We’re the kind yang tido pas tu tau2 eh dah pagi?! Asal rasa mcm baru tido 2 jam eh. Padahal padahal hahaha
Then recently she started showering on her own and all. It’s almost like she don’t need me as much except to cook for her and you know, clean her up after No 2. Kinda sad that she’s growing up too fast but also really glad she is very independent. Sometimes I don’t know if it’s good to let her be too independent but… Entah lah eh. I’m forever questioning my parenting style.
I don’t want her to feel neglected that you know, semua benda pun kena buat sendiri that kind. But I also want her to rasa that nice feeling of being able to accomplish something on her own. Cos that feeling is addictive and also one of my favourites.
I don’t know how it will be with Raees. I just hope I don’t compare and allow him to take his time. Cos I sure did that with Nadya. When friends tell me their kids potty train at 2yrs old etc, I knew it will be too early for her and I don’t want to rush her just because we can save on diapers.
It is an achievement for me as well now that she has stopped wearing diapers at night cos, believe me, I sometimes overthink and I end up not doing anything cos I weigh too much of its pros and cons and the thought of waking up frequently to bring her to the toilet at night puts me off. Thankfully, Nadya prioritises sleep over toilet break. Hahaha.
And Nadya is a heavy sleeper. I probably have to drag her to the toilet.
Actually, I think someone has to drag me to drag Nadya to the toilet.
Deardyan 