Is it worth straight teeth?

Monday morning we took A to the dentist. He had been complaining that his gums hurt and it had been over 6 months since his last visit so we made an appointment. A, of course, did a great job and had a super appointment. He sat perfectly still during the teeth cleaning and as soon as the dentist walked in he opened wide for his exam. The dentist found nothing wrong and apparently the visit and compliments on how wonderful his teeth were miraculously made A's gums better.

The dentist did notice that A used to suck a pacifier (until the age of 1 1/2) and said his mouth still showed signs of damage from that. The damage is correcting itself though. He told us that pacifiers are not healthy so I told L that hers would hurt her teeth and we need to take it away. I didn't think it would be that big of a deal since we took away the bo-bo during the day a couple months ago and she did well after the first day or so.

So... A has a great dentist visit and L loses her bo-bo, the prize possession that has caused her to be a wonderful sleeper. She gets into bed, pops the bo-bo into her mouth and falls asleep. Ah, the peacefulness of putting her to bed with a bo-bo.

The new reality is, we returned home from the appointment ate lunch and got ready for nap. I hid all the bo-bos before I put her in her room and when she got into bed she asked for one. I asked what the doctor said and she relied, "no more bo-bo. hurt teeth." That began our battle.

Not only did L scream for two hours before falling asleep, she yelled, claimed she had to go "poo-poo in potty", told me she was awake, told me every part of her body hurt, and scratched her dry skinned legs enough to bleed. She finally fell asleep for a short time but woke up upset and super cranky. Bedtime was a tad bit better but not much.

Tuesday night is when the real fun began. We put on jammmies downstairs and L went potty. Numerous times actually as she never actually wet, just sat down and asked to be wiped. Her diaper was wet so I figured she was empty. L and potty training is a whole different story in itself... We brought the children up and finished the routine. L got into her crib and asked for bo-bo. I asked what the doctor had said and she repeated "no more bo-bo. hurt teeth." (Yes she will hate the dentist when she has to go for an appointment. Better him than me!). I leave the room and hear her using every excuse in the book to get out of bed, very loudly. A of course had to repeat everything in order to protect and watch over his little sister. This is a sample of what my night began with.

L: "poo-poo in potty"
A: "Mom, L has to go potty"
L: "poo-poo in potty"
A: "Mom, L has to go potty"
L: "poo-poo in potty"
A: "Mom, L has to go potty"
Mom: "Yes A I know, I can hear her. Please ignore her and go to sleep."

L: "L toe hurt. ouchy. need Band-Aid tape."
A: "Mom, L's toe hurts. She wants a Band-Aid."
L: "L toe hurt. ouchy. need Band-Aid tape."
A: "Mom, L's toe hurts. She wants a Band-Aid."
L: "L toe hurt. ouchy. need Band-Aid tape."
A: "Mom, L's toe hurts. She wants a Band-Aid."
Mom: "Yes A I know, I can hear her. Please ignore her and go to sleep."

This went on for almost an hour. A continuous hour where I was about to pull my hair out. Next thing I hear is a diaper being removed. I asked A what was going on and he told me that she was changing the babies diaper, a common occurrence these days. I ignored it until I heard L complaining again to go potty, and saying she was wet.

Thinking something was not right, I walked into the bedroom to find L standing in the crib, pj's unzipped and off the feet, onsie unsnapped, and diaper on the bed under her doll. Her bed had a wet spot so I called up Dad (who didn't button the onsie so deserved to clean the sheets) and asked him to change the sheets while I took L to the bathroom. We returned to the room, put her back in bed and left her alone. We put A in our bed so he could sleep since it was almost 10 PM.

A little while later, I hear another diaper and since L has been complaining that she had to go potty since we last went I went into her room. Once again she was unzipped, unbuttoned (this time we buttoned her onsie), and diaper-less. I put her diaper back on(a pull-up this time), buttoned her onsie, put on pajama pants, put her feet back into her footie pajamas and put her to bed. By this time she was so tired Daddy convinced her to fall asleep quietly. She awoke the next morning still in her multi layer pajamas and cranky.

Nap time today was a little better. I only had to listen to her try to get up for an hour. Tonight as I write this, A is in our room to sleep and L has finally stopped complaining. She does have on multi-layer pajamas again though so it will be harder to get her diaper off.

I have learned not to potty train and take away a pacifier at the same time. Not that I am potty training, but maybe I should have done that first and then set forth to conquer the bo-bo. That could eliminate at least one complaint, which would help.