Only in Bed, Sleepyhead

A few weeks ago, I began limiting Katy's chupon (pacifier) to sleeping times only.  Initially, there were lots of tears when I took the chupon from Katy, placed it in the bed, and said, "only in bed, sleepyhead."  After a couple of weeks, however, Katy began placing the chupon on the mattress herself, sans tears, when I greeted her in the morning or after her nap.

During the day, I usually hide the chupon under Katy's pillow so that it will not be a visual temptation, but sometimes I forget and Katy will see the chupon through her crib rails.  The first few times this happened, Katy reached her tiny arm between the rails and popped the chupon in her mouth.  Lots of tears would follow when I returned the chupon to the crib.   With time, however, Katy learned to reluctantly return the chupon to the bed herself when I reminded her that the chupon is only for sleepy time.

Today, I forgot to hide the chupon and happened to be in Katy's room when she saw it laying on her mattress as she stood next to her crib.  She impulsively stretched out her hand but then stopped and began shaking her head no as she stared at the chupon with her hand mid-reach.  And then she walked away.  Lots of praise and positive reinforcement followed.

Dare I say, "Impulse: 0; self control: 1?"  Nope, not at all.  With a toddler, impulse wins 99 THOUSAND times a day, which is exactly why a seemingly small self-control victory caused my heart to grow three times its size today.