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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

A whole lot of poop and not much sleep

Stephanie Ukkola
Posted 6/2/21

My wonderful daughter, Dot, has impressed me with her potty skills. She’s only 21 months and has managed to successfully poop and pee in the potty. She’s quite the amazing girl. The …

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A whole lot of poop and not much sleep

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My wonderful daughter, Dot, has impressed me with her potty skills. She’s only 21 months and has managed to successfully poop and pee in the potty. She’s quite the amazing girl. The problem is that she has also pooped in my dresser, on the carpet, in the kitchen, in the laundry basket, and she made quite the mess in her crib.
No matter what I do I can’t stop this little thing from taking her diaper off. Forget all those cute pants and dresses in her bureau, those clothes fly right off just as soon as I put them on.
I’ve been lucky enough to find two bodysuits she can’t wriggle herself out of. The poor girl has been wearing these same two outfits day after day. Of course, I do have to wash them sometimes, when that happens, her diaper is off before I know it and Dot poops and pees all over my house again and again, like some kind of bad puppy.
We keep encouraging her to use the potty. Sometimes she does, but more often she waits a minute to find a better spot to go somewhere else.
In an effort to increase her wardrobe options my husband Mack and I bought some regular onesies we thought she could wear under her clothes. Haha! Good try, mom and dad. We came to check on her during her nap time; she was in her crib, not sleeping, and this little Houdini had managed to take her diaper off while her onesie remained on! And of course she had peed all over her onesie and mattress. What dark magic is this?
Her older brother Ed has never been so free-spirited. He was always happy to leave his clothes on and didn’t cause much trouble that way. We did struggle to potty train him; we had been working at it for years. During that time he only had a few accidents around the house. Just a few months ago, at age 3, after Ed mastered peeing on the potty, we increased the pressure and started offering bigger treats for pooping on the potty. Ed started having tantrums. “I DON’T WANNA POOP! YOU’RE A BUMMER-HEAD!” I’m surprised he didn’t traumatize himself with all that screaming. I just did my best to stay cool, calm and collected and to encourage and support him, all while he screamed and screamed at me. It wasn’t fun but within a couple weeks he got it and uses the potty all by himself now.
My kids were never naked outside and I was proud of that. This summer is shaping up a little differently… Besides Dot’s unstoppable desire to take off her clothes, we also set up a little pool for the kids to play in and now both of the kids’ clothes come off all the time. Which has led to my little Dot pooping on the sidewalk and on the giant cedar tree. One day while I was at work my husband reported that Dot pooped outside ten times, not an exaggeration, really, ten times. I’m glad I wasn’t home that day.
So on top of this poopy mess, our sleep schedule has gotten a little whack too. Out of necessity to save my arthritic knees I’ve had to give up my upstairs bedroom and have moved into Ed’s former room, causing him to share a room with Dot. They had always had separate rooms before. That’s been quite the adventure. They seem to like sharing a room. When I ask them, they tell me they do and if I offer to let Ed sleep elsewhere he says he wants to sleep in his bed.
I don’t know all that’s been going on in there, but I’ll tell you what I know. At first, things were mostly fine. Dot slept in a crib and Ed in a twin bed. Dot would blab at Ed, and Ed would be so tired he would fall asleep to her gabbing, sometimes he’d get mad though. I once walked in on Ed punching Dot through the bars of her crib because she was trying to steal his blanket. Another time I walked in and Ed was in her crib. I’m not sure what he was doing but I’m sure he was up to no good.
Within a week of the room change Dot learned to climb out of her crib; now this is where things get interesting. For now she’s sleeping on her crib mattress on the floor so she doesn’t hurt herself climbing out of the crib. Unfortunately, she’s not old enough to understand that she needs to stay in the bed.
Nap time? Forget it. I keep trying but she will not stay put and hasn’t been napping. I tried laying down with her in my bed so Ed could get some rest. Good try, mom. She was wired and wouldn’t stay down. Too bad for me, I really needed the rest that day.
Bed time? Let’s just say I’ve walked in on many wonderful sights. Dot and Ed jumping from bed to bed. Dot’s mattress leaning off Ed’s to make a slide. Ed and Dot fighting. Now they stand the crib mattress up and let it fall back down on their heads. I can’t wait to see what shenanigans they come up with next. I’ve walked in on some cute scenes too though, like when Dot fell asleep kneeling, her knees on the floor and upper body on the bed, National Geographic animal book next to her. Needless to say, a twin mattress they can’t move is in the near future.
Ed escaped his crib at about the same age as Dot. When he did he would wander around his room, talking and singing to himself, and then forgo the bed and fall asleep curled up next to his bedroom door, listening for his parents. What a sweetie.
These kids are piles of fun, but man, when I chose to have kids I didn’t realize I was signing up for this! My respite time at nap and bed times has (temporarily, I hope) flown out the window. Wish me luck, I need it!