I was eleven when my younger brother was born, and thirteen and a half when my youngest brother was born. Needless to say, I quickly became accustomed to pitching in with feedings, diaper changes, clothing changes, entertaining bored babies and toddlers, etc. In fact, my mom’s plan of having me help her out kind of backfired when I gave my seven day old brother a bath — on my own, without having help from her or even consulting her. He was fine, but she nearly had a heart attack when she realized her eleven year old daughter had just handled a wet, soapy and thus very slippery newborn without any kind of adult supervision. Go me? Heh.
Anyway, when I had Alyssa in 2004, I was already very used to diapers — and babies in general — from my brothers. And when Ryan was born in 2006, it was just one more butt to add to the mix. Then Alyssa potty-trained in 2007, and suddenly, I saw what life could be like. For about a year now I’ve been dreaming of a diaper-free household, and for the past six months I’ve been itching to get Ryan potty-trained. But the most important thing to know about potty-training is that They Will Do It When They Are Ready To. It’s the same way with weight loss. You can bookmark and visit http://www.weightlosspills.net until your mouse gives out, but until you’re ready to get the weight off, you’re not going to get anywhere. It’s the same with with toddlers. No amount of encouragement, motivational tactics, begging, pleading, rewarding, etc., is going to work until they are both physically and emotionally ready. Once they are ready, however, heap on loads of encouragement, motivational tactics, begging, pleading and rewarding, because you may need it!
So when we tried the whole potty-training thing in early March and Ryan took to it right away, I knew that he was Ready with a huge, bold, freaking underlined and flashing R. And it’s not surprising that since he was ready, it only took him a week before he had it perfected.
Now… I’ve been de-diapering the household. I’m no longer buying baby wipes in huge 500 ct. boxes; hell, I’m only venturing over into the baby section for kids’ shampoo and bubble bath. The diaper pails (one for baby wipes/disposables, and one for cloth diapers) have been tossed out, and I put all of Ryan’s cloth diapers and covers into the closet. I have a lot of emotions and money invested in those suckers… I’m not ready to get rid of them just yet. And when I do, you better believe I’ll be selling them on eBay. His FuzziBunz and Happy Heinys pocket diapers may be used, but they are in excellent condition. No tears, rips, or stains, and they always have been used and laundered properly!
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My name is Jenn, and I'm 27 years old. I'm happily married to my best friend and soulmate, Daniel. Together we have a six year old daughter named 
Name: Alyssa
Name: Ryan
