Desperate for Encouragments About Regressing 3 1/2 Yr Old W/potty Issues.

K., While reading your request I Had to double check to make sure i did not write it! I have a 3 yr old that will be 4 this month! and we have had such a hard time he was doing good with the number 1 but would not do #2 in the potty! We tryed all the above that you mentioned even the Miralax we were told to do! GROSS!!!! I eventually decided that i was gonna by diapers and start over and NO THAT WAS THE WORST THING EVER!! It confused him so much!!! I do not recomd that at all! Even after we did the diapers which he did not like we would try the underware for a few hours just like potty training and he would go #1 and #2 in his underware, everytime it never failed. What we did was just have patients he will go when he is ready My son finally one day out of the blue went #2 and by himself in the potty and he was so proud. SO i made a big thing about it singing and dance so did his 2 bigger sister and then we told him see how nice that feels when it is not in your underware! So the next day i would ask him periodically if he needed to go and he would say no but then later he would go by himself! BOYS ARE DIFFENTLY HARDER TO TRAIN then girls! But My advice is still work with him and encourge him maybe tell him he can do something he really likes if he does #2 in the potty! We would let our son play the WII with his sisters after he would go! I hope this helps i know it is very frustrating! and when you are pregnant patience do run very thin! Maybe give him a little extra alone time to play with mom this might also be a way that he is getting so extra uninvited attienton or feeling jealous about the new baby. Maybe explain that he needs to hurry up and go in the potty so he can show his brother or sister what a big brother they have and he will need to show them how to go potty!

GOOD LUCK! I know its very hard, We just got through this about a month ago! and we have been accident free!!

I agree with Stefanie. Go back to the beginning and make him sit on the toilet every two hours--or less if necessary. Hopefully, this will help him to retrain his body, and it should take less time than it did the first time. I have heard that the problem with the poop is not uncommon, so hopefully you will find some other mommies that have had a similar problem. Although you have not been making a big deal about the new baby, little ones are very sensitive to changes in their lives. Do not blame yourself, but the stress of the baby may be a factor.

I wish you the best with the new baby and this situation.

I would go back to the beginning, which is to make him sit on the potty every hour to two hours. If he goes, he gets a reward, if not he doesn't get a reward, but put him back on the potty again within an hour. Don't make a big fuss if he doesn't go or if he has an accident. You don't want him to feel guilty. If he goes, make a big deal out of it and tell him how proud you are of him. Tell him he is going to be such a great teacher for his little sibling and you will need his help to teach her/him. I would continue putting him on the potty every hour or two until you feel he can go a little longer in between. Remember, do not ask him to sit on the potty, grab his hand and take him to the potty...it is not an optional thing, so don't give him the option to say no! Making the time to go potty is something kids need to learn to do, so just by making him go every hour, you will help engrain it into his routine. Good luck! I hope this helps:)

I agree with starting all over. Obviously, he was just not ready when you started. Don't feel guilty, just learn from the mistakes that you(and all of the rest of us) have made. I tried to train my son before he was ready and it totally backfired. Sometimes I got upset with him or angry or made him feel guilty which was completely wrong. I had to just start fresh when he was just past his 4th birthday and apologize for getting angry with him. I then told him we would work slowly and I would never force or get angry. I would just encourage. I ASKED him if he would sit on the potty(told him the pedi said he needed to do it)every couple of hours throughout the day. If he did, I gave him a M&M. I had him sit for just a couple of minutes and made it very pleasent by looking at a book or just talking or telling jokes. If he decided to use the potty(number 1), he got 2 more M&M's and lots of genuine praise. If he went number 2, he received a small handful of candy. I didn't even think about night training until he was 100% day trained and had a dry diaper every morning for like a month. I know how hard it is to remain calm when you are pregnant. We switched our son to his big boy bed, which he refused to stay in, when I was about 7 months pregnant and I'm not too happy with myself on that one either. I certainly could have done better, but now I know for my second son how to do it all better. Good luck and don't worry. He won't be in diapers when he's 30!