Middle of the Night Moments

For the past couple weeks (ok, months) we've been trying to let Xandra know that it really is ok to get up out of bed at night... if she needs to go to the bathroom. We've been struggling with being fully potty-trained for quite some time. I tend to blame myself most of the time, but also her old sitter at other times. We left Xandra's old sitter when she was about 3 1/2 years old. She wasn't even close to being potty-trained at that time. I had tried. Many times. But every time I tried to use pull-ups or (God forbid) regular underwear, I would get a lecture from the sitter that it was just too much work for her to try to potty-train Xandra with all the other kids in the house (red flag anyone?). Without walking too far down that ugly path, let's just say, that was one of many reasons we parted ways with the sitter & not on good terms.

Anyway, within about a month of being at her new daycare, she was pretty much "day-trained." God bless the people that work at the daycare (I LOVE them!!). But we have not, no matter how much we try, been able to keep her dry during naps/rest time or nighttime. It's becoming very frustrating. She's finally, in the last couple months, started staying dry all day at school- even through nap time. Unfortunately, this new skill has not come home with her-- meaning on weekends & breaks from school, she wets every day during nap time without fail. I've been thinking that part of the problem may be the fact that once she's in bed, she Will Not Set Foot Out of Bed EVER until one of us comes to get her.

So, back to the original story-- we've been drilling in her head that she has permission to get out of bed to go to the bathroom whenever she feels the urge to. She's tested us on this the last few evenings. She's very stealthy - about 10 minutes or so after I say goodnight to her, she will sneak her way down the steps & sit there until daddy or I find her. Then she quickly says that she just needed to go potty. Last night, same story, only I caught her before she made her way down the steps. I told my little fairy (she always looks so innocent at those later hours) sitting at the top of the steps to go potty & get her little butt back in bed.

Later when I was on my way to bed, I stopped in her room to take her for another bathroom break. After I'd tucked her in and was headed out the door, I heard her whimper. I came back & asked what was wrong. She said, "I sad Mama. I want my movie." "What movie?" "No!! No movie! I want to see the snow!" I tried really hard not to laugh out loud. Instead, I calmly took her hands, realizing she was most likely half-asleep & told her everything was ok & we would talk about it in the morning. She quickly drifted back to sleep.

Unfortunately, she ended up getting up at least 2 more times through the night (it may have been more, but I was too exhausted to count). Thank God for Matt- I've said it before & I guarantee I'll say it again about him - he saves me. I'm not really great in the middle of the night. Who is? Matt. He went in & rocked her until she'd calmed down from whatever it was that woke her - hopefully not the want to see the snow.

**On a parting note: If anyone out there has any really great potty-training advice, I'm all ears! We've tried most of the "tried & true" methods, but at 4 1/2 years old... we're still awaiting the day when Xandra can be pull-up free (Milo will be another story).