The Tantrum Issue Resolved... sort of.

Remember the tantrum? The only thing making diaper changes do-able was Teddy.  They went a little better when I had him use the potty chair (and when I say "use" I mean sit on for a second and jump up to wash his hands) because he likes to wash his hands when he's done, and when I change him in the bathroom he sees the sink and can see that he's going to get to wash his hands. 

You may be asking why I didn't just tell him he'd get to wash his hands after his diaper changes in his room... well, he was always too busy flipping out to notice I was talking.

So, since we have an extra teddy on hand at all times (one of my more brilliant purchases) I went ahead and gave in, letting him hold it during diaper changes.  And because the temper tantrums were getting to me big time, I let him walk around with his teddy whenever he wanted to these last few days.

Where's Teddy?

The "only at bedtime" rule has been for a couple of reasons:

1.) If he lost it around the house we'd be searching for it at bedtime... don't want to do that.

2.) We had every intention of helping him lose the thumb sucking habit, and getting Teddy at bedtime would help make him more willing to go to bed even though he couldn't suck his thumb... except we haven't really found anything that works well for us to help him quit the thumb sucking.  (My mom can wrap his thumb in a strip of cloth and he'll leave it alone, but I haven't gotten that to work myself)

My resolve has been broken by the fact that we do have two identical Teddys.  And by the fact that he is still very much a thumb sucker.  Does anyone have any tried and true methods for helping a toddler quit the habit??

There he is!

He loves that bear so much and it provides quite a bit of comfort for him which makes for a much happier Little Man, and a MUCH happier and less stressed Mommy!