http://Stoppbedwetting.com

Reply-To : SONDRA@CABLEXVVI.NET

Sent : Thursday, January 13, 2007 8:52PM

To : info@stoppwetting.com

Subject : RE: RE: Today’s Top Replies to your post at stoppbedwetting.com

Thank you all very much for your kind comments and suggestions. Megan has been an absolute dear since she has been here, but I don’t feel like I’ve been the best step mom so far. She is still having a real hard time adjusting.

She wet the bed again last night, and wet her pants once today. I’m starting to think you are right about her wearing some sort of protection. I’m just not sure how she will react to wearing a diaper. I also noticed that she was sucking her thumb a couple of times today, but she hides it from me.

She is so tiny it is hard for me to treat her like her age. I just want to pick her up and cuddle her when she has trouble, but I’m just not sure if she is ready for that with me yet.

Any Advice is welcome

Thank you for your support,

Reply-To : info@stoppwetting.com

Sent : Wednesday, January 13, 2007 11:52PM

To : SONDRA@CABLEXVVI.NET

Subject : Reply received to your post at stoppbedwetting.com

Dear Sondra,

Last summer, my husbands other little girl Chloe came to live with us. We also have a three year old, Owen, and when Chloe came to live with us we were just getting ready to potty train him.

Right off the bat, Chloe started having troubles, she began wetting the bed and peeing her pants. I was concerned with what to do about it when my best friend suggested that we have Chloe “help” us potty train Owen.

It worked out better than I would have ever believed. One morning when she was dry, I sat her down and explained to her that I needed her to help me out. I told her that I was getting ready to potty train Owen in a couple of weeks so he would be a big girl like her. Since little babies like to be like their big sisters, it might be helpful if he saw her potty training with him. I did this while she was dry so it would be her idea, and not a punishment for wetting. I also made it clear to her that she didn’t have to use the diapers, but could still tell me when she needed to use the potty... I will tell you though, once she had the diaper on, she told me sometimes she wanted to go potty, but wound up wet a lot.

After she agreed to help, we laid down on the bed and I put her into a diaper. This saved me of problem of wet pants, her of embarrassing accidents. We wore diapers for a couple of weeks and then we started using the potty with Owen. It was a long process, but in the end, they were both out of diapers at the same time and she was able to work out her regression from the move.

Some suggestions from my experience though... you need to get two potties. You might think it sounds like a waste of money to buy two potties. Children at potty training age need to go to the potty when they need to go, not wait in line or even share their potty with a sibling. Keep in mind, too, that if you have two potties both children can go potty at the same time and be a good influence on one another at the same time.

Be Supportive of Both of your kids. While we were potty training there was both competition and accidents. To tell the truth, Owen was more successful than Chloe in the beginning. Make sure you are always very supportive of all of your kids successes at using the potty. Don’t allow the sibling to make fun of accidents, and be very nonchalant about the whole situation.

The other thing you asked about was your step-daughter’s thumb sucking. Avoid putting her down for this habit. The more anxious she becomes, the more likely she will need the comfort of her thumb. I always preferred pacifiers. Thumbs get so dirty, and I think pacifiers are better for teeth, especially in older children. I recently read an article that children whose mothers left them with a pacifier in a room full of toys stayed longer, explored more and played more with toys than children without a pacifier. A pacifier seemed to calm the their fears, so they explored more. Right now your step daughter has more fears and anxiety than she should have to deal with.

Chloe still uses a pacifier, but I’m trying to limit it to naps and nighttime. Still, I try to understand and respect her need to be comforted by sucking.

Good Luck,

Meredith

Sondra must have found me wet when she checked on Lily in the night. I couldn’t believe it. I was sure that she would ask me before she did this to me. Now that it happened I wasn’t sure that I wanted it.

I figured that it was what I had been working for so I decided to give it a chance. Knowing that Sondra would be in anytime, I relaxed and wet for the first time my diaper. It felt weird just to say it in my head, it was crazy weird to actually be wearing it.

I have to say, wearing a wet diaper was so much better than laying in wet sheets...

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