Diapers are for babies, Panties are for big girls!

Those are Sophie’s words, not mine, and she is sticking to it.

We are DONE with diapers. A couple of weeks ago, before Easter weekend, Sophie’s teacher told me to bring plenty of clothes and Sophie in panties on Monday. I have to admit – I did not think Sophie was ready. I had tried a few times at home (and blogged about it) and had no success. To the point that Sophie regressed. Enclosed in those two sentences are some of my most frustrating moments as a parent. It wasn’t pretty. I decided to wait until Sophie gave me the indication that she was ready and apparently, her teacher thought we were there.

I swallowed my doubt and took the, “if you say so” approach. My initial plan of action was to do only what she said – bring Sophie in panties on Monday. Not work with her myself beforehand. But then I started feeling guilty. Did I want to be that mom? If the teacher can do it, so can I. More importantly, if the teacher says Sophie can do it – why should I doubt that Sophie can?

So we did it.

Saturday morning I put Sophie in panties…and she has been in panties ever since. I am still kind of in shock about it and so proud I can barely stand myself. It’s amazing to me that she can go from one extreme to the next without any kind of warning. Well, if she gave a warning, I missed the signs.

I have to admit that, at least initially, I was not so brave to try at night – all night – even though Sophie stayed dry through her nap times. I like to sleep. My weekends are my only time to really sleep. The problem was that Sophie refused to put on a pull-up before bedtime and stated to me, “Diapers are for babies, panties are for big girls.”  Who was I to fight her?  So she went to bed in panties…and about an hour after she fell asleep I snuck in and strapped a pull up over her panties. I felt so guilty about this, too, especially when she would wake up dry the next morning! But I sucked up that guilt and snuck in every night for 6 nights. On the 7th night I let her go pull-up free…and we have only had 2 nighttime accidents since.

Its been two weeks. After the first two days basically accident free, we have had a few accidents here and there. Some at daycare, a few at home, and a couple at night. And that is OKAY! Its normal. It does not frustrate me, it does not stress me out because I know my child is trying and wants to be in panties. I am doing laundry a little more often than I was 2 weeks ago but am ultimately thrilled about it. Talk about a bizarre realization.

There is nothing cuter than my Pookie’s little tush in a pair of Dora the Explorer panties.

We are officially a diaper-free household! Well, once I can figure out who to give all of our left over pull-ups to!