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potty troubles, food issues and toddlers :)

Being new I am sure you all get lots of questions. I have one that I am not sure how to handle the situation. My little one has been potty trained for about 2 to 3 months, day and night. She turned 2 in July. Well, bout 3 weeks ago I started watching my new nephew. He was 4 weeks old when I started keeping. I watch him Mon, Thur, Fri. and some Tue and Wed. from 7am to 5:15 pm. having a new born in the house has changed the mood of the house. Emily has taken to him or so I thought, she is good bout helping me with him, wanting to hold him, feed him and change him. But...now she is getting into things she knows are off limits (lipstick, bath beads, stuff from my bedroom) and she won't use the potty any more. She will use it for church but when I am present she flat out refuses and starts crying. Today she wants a diaper. I don't have any diapers but i do have pull ups. Do I let her? What do I do....I am looking for ways to give her more attention. I know this is all because of the new baby. She is my baby and always will be (we are not allowed to have any more, even though I am all for it, doc says no way) I don't want her to feel replaced. How would you handle this.

The food issues I have figured out. I am just being sure to provide several small snacks through out the day and have let go of the idea of sit down meals for now. This seems to have worked well, as my middle child has been doing a lot better when he can get food on his own to supply his growing body. And Emily I just have to let go of the idea of her not getting what she needs. I have to learn to trust her to know what her body needs....guess I should see that with clothing too. She doesn't want to ever wear clothing :)

Thank you for any tips you can give me about how to handle the potty issues. I guess the main question is should I let her wear a pull up?

Amanda

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Permalink Reply by Sandra Dodd on February 21, 2011 at 4:56pm

-=-I guess the main question is should I let her wear a pull up?-=-

Yes. It won't last long.

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Permalink Reply by Cindy Miller on February 21, 2011 at 5:25pm

I agree with Sandra to let her wear the pull-up.

We did foster care and I remember one of our little girls had been very badly abused. She would hold her bowel movements so the doctor gave me all sorts of ways to help her with the physical aspect of that issue. The real issue is that this child had ZERO control over what happened to her and so she controlled the one area in her life that she could. My point is that your daughter didn't get a a real say in having to share you with her cousin. I'm not suggesting that she should have but I think she is simply trying to "control" something in her life since she doesn't get to "control" this new part of your families life. I don't think it will last long either. :-)

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Permalink Reply by Amanda Mendenhall on February 22, 2011 at 6:36am

Thank you both for your help with this. I fully agree this is the one thing she can control. I will let her have a pull up if she wants and hope this passes soon. :)

Thank you again!

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Permalink Reply by laura bowman on February 22, 2011 at 8:12am

i found that the small snacks where they could reach them was so helpful!! even now, my kids will nibble throughout the day and we'll have only 1 "meal" and they are fine. i think getting over/continuing to get over food control has been my greatest and hardest leap as a parent. so i applaud anyone who is figuring it out and working on it.