Seeking Advice on Potty Training - Austin,TX

I would not go back to diapers at this point. You're probably going to have to come up with some kind of reward system that will incent him to want to go. This happened with my daughter. She had NO accidents for about 4 months and then all of a sudden decided she didn't want to go poop in the potty anymore (this was much harder for her to do in the beginning as well). She would actually tell us that she didn't want to stop playing to go. Anyway, she's over it now, but we had to step up the rewards. I took her to the ice cream store and let her rent a movie. That was just if she would poop in the potty for one day (we had to give her some immediate gratification so that she would be able to connect the reward to the potty). Then, we started a sticker chart and when she filled that up, we would go back to the movie store or go to the dollar store and pick out a toy or something along those lines. Now, she doesn't even ask for the stickers anymore...it's just routine again. I noticed you have a new baby in the house. I think that had something to do with my daughter's regression too even though she didn't start training until after my son was born and had it down. There came a point when I think she felt like she wasn't getting enough attention and that's when this all started, so it was a control thing and an attention getter for her.

Try some different rewards and see if you can get him started again. Also, you may want to make him help clean himself up. My daughter didn't like how long that took (especially if she had to help) and decided it was faster to just go in the potty and be done with it!

I started using balloons as rewards when we started. I thought we were going to have to go with a pony for BMs. I finally got him to poopoo on the potty and used candy as a reward. He loves candy and that's the only time he gets it. He's really progressed with it and doing well.

Good luck!

My daughter did the same thing your son is doing. She was potty trained at 17 months and regressed for about 2 weeks (shortly after my twins were born). UNTIL I talked to my SIL and she put me on the right track...the "3 day thing"--truly is magical. I learned that getting mad and griping only hurt feelings and left her scared when she'd had another accident. My SIL reminded me that accidents are called accidents for a reason and my sweet child was not going in her pants and on the floor on purpose. (I felt horrible).

He's regressed but you shouldn't. Keep moving forward or you'll have an even bigger challenge. Plan on staying home for 3 days (the magical number)(Fri, Sat & Sun since you work) and BE CONSISTENT. Keep him in underwear; wearing pull-ups and/or diapers part time will only confuse him. You're going to have a lot of stress and wash a lot of towels, but be patient and stay calm when he has an accident. Getting upset will make him feel ashamed. Use positive reinforcement when he does well.

You need to be the one who does this. Your son's security lies within his own household with his own mom. You can do this. Remember...3 days! Consistency!

P.S. You might even use the thicker cotton "training" underwear (without a plastic cover). This will save you from cleaning a bigger mess (somewhat) and he'll not like the feeling of even more pee in his pants.

Hi C.,
Potty training is such a challenge- especially with little boys. It happens, sometimes little boys do regress a little. Has something happened with his child care providor that has him a little upset? or with some other children in the group- Perhaps it is the new little one in your house- sounds like you are doing all the right things in the right way- the pull ups are gret- I would not put him back into diapers tho- just being patient with him is the best thing- little boys are a lot harder to potty train than girls- at least it was that way with all 8 of mine- he will be fine- patience is the key=
Good luck and Blessings