End Toilet Training Regression Now

My daughter's doing this, though I don't know why. At school, she will sit on the toilet without pulling her clothes down, even though she didn't use to do that. At home, when I ask if she needs to go, she says no, and then she says "mama, I wanna go potty" but when I check her clothes, she has already peed herself. Nothing has changed for her, so I have no explanation for this. I immediately take her to the tub after this happens, if this is her way of saying "I love going to the tub", it sure is an odd way...

I agree somewhat with this article. My son was trained a little after his third birthday. I agree with keeping them in underwear and not reverting back and forth to pull ups and also with the point of not disciplining them if they have accidents.

I do not agree with forcing a small child to sit on the potty. With my son I tried to enforce potty breaks and he refused to sit on the potty and it became a power struggle. The minute I backed off and let him decide when he needed to go he was trained.

I also think that when children are not quite ready to be trained (early 2's and before 2 years) they are more likely to regress because they are not emotionally and they are not physically ready to train.

Sarah, I'm so sorry for all your losses and stresses as well! Just be patient with your daughter...she'll figure it out soon enough!

Yes, thank you for this post. I will definitely be using some of your tips for my son, who was completely potty trained about about 16 months, but at 21 months, we moved, had a baby and several other stressful things...plus he had a tummy bug that held on and on and on, so it caused him to regress (and me to finally give in and put him in pull-ups to save his underwear and my pocketbook, which made me lazy too in taking him consistently), but now at 24 months, we are getting back on track. I have to remember the "not make it disciplinary" and "don't take your frustrations out on your kiddo for accidents" because I am guilty on both accounts- example on what frustrates me...how can my son go almost 2 hours without an accident when we are out and about, but wet every 15 minutes at home and not hold it AT ALL...ugh 8^)! Anyway, my patience is getting better and my son is now starting to tell me when he has to go potty and can now go at least an hour between potty breaks, which makes ALL the difference in the world! I am definitely seeing a light at the end of the tunnel! Good luck to all those other moms out there potty training! You are not alone!

We made our first attemp at training my daughter when she was two-and-a-half. She caught on quickly and had very few accidents. But the third time she pooped on the potty, she suddenly became afraid of pooping. We tried offering rewards, sitting in the bathroom with her, having her watch us in the bathroom, reading potty books, everything we could think of. We finally decided to back off and try again a few months later, but she was even afraid to poop in her diapers. It took several weeks for her to poop in her diaper without crying. She is three now and will pee in the potty sometimes. She tells me when she needs to poop, but insists that she does so in her diaper. I don't want push her to go on the potty for fear that she will start holding it again. I know she is physically capable of potty training. How can I help her to get past this fear of pooping on the potty?

My daughter made a huge regression. She was staying dry during the day for days at a time and then one morning she said to me, "no more potty more mommy" and that was the end of it. I don't know if it was a bm that scared her or what but now she only goes on the potty here and there. Basically when she wants to get out of something, she asks but rarely goes. I guess I should try the big girl undies.... I am really at a loss. I tell her it is time to go potty and she says No! I did revert to diapers because the pull ups were getting too expensive. I tried old fashioned training pants that have a rubber pant built in to the outside but she did't seem to care that the pee was running down her legs. She just sat there and finished dinner. Help!

Thank you so much for this post I have a 3 yr old son who was fully trained a few months before his 3rd bday, May 4th, and now he has been wetting very irregularly. He did start a new school in Sept. but has now made that adjustment. No more accidents at school but now it's happenning at home and when were out. I never thought about the emotional connection. I split with his father a little over two years now and as of late it has been very ugly becasue I think the fact that I left for good this time is affecting him. He feels the sense of permanency and this is his only way of dealing with it. Thanks for all the tips I will definitely try thenm cuz I was beginning to get frustrated and lose patience. I now have a sense of renewed faith that we will get through this. I just have to remember that this is a phase and he won't be like this forever. Thanks again.