29 Month Old Regressing with Potty Training

My 2 year old sometimes regresses and fights the potty for us, but uses it at daycare like a champ. She had a bunch of accidents last weekend (in panties) because she was fighting it. It's wasn't really that big of a mess since she was standing most of the time and actually said to us as she was going "I pee in my big girl underwear". I had read one suggestion that if you don't want the mess you can put their panties on underneith the pull-up so at least they feel the wet and uncomfortable feeling, but you don't have to clean up a mess....we haven't tried that yet, but it makes sense. Good luck

My son was 2 in August and he's pretty good with it. When we are home he is usually pant-less, nude waste down and always uses the toilet. He stopped using a potty himself about 2 months ago. He has a steady stool and climbs up to the toilet seat and pees standing or sits to poop. When we go out we pee before leaving and after returning, no diapers on outings. He's good for 2-2.5 hours. Sometimes when he does have his pants on when we're home he will pee his pants and then take the wet pants and undies off, so I know he can drop his drawers, but chooses not to. Naked- never a miss, no mess, potty every time. Just last week we were outside playing and he started pulling his pants down and I thought he was wet, but it was just that he was trying to go. I think he didn't want to stop playing to change/go in the house so he figured he drop em and pee in the yard! He's been doing that since. I would say to keep her in her panties and let her make a connection. Get a few trainers with the extra absorbency if your concerned about mess, they work pretty good and have cute options. Target or Wal-mart. I read a lot here on Mamasource/Mamapedia about going naked, and it seems to be a natural step and perfectly OK. He never used pull ups so he gets a better sensation when hes wet and diapers only at nap and bed. Good luck.

I waited until my son showed that he was ready-I was really ready for him to be trained for a while but I took many deep breaths and let him take the lead. When my son just turned 3 we visited his cousin in MD who had just potty trained. My son watched his cousin do it once and that was pretty much it!. He peed on the potty right then and there. Then I left him naked so he would let me know when he needed to poop and sure enough he did. Literally in 2 days he was totally using the potty and and then a week later he was overnight in underwear too. No tears or power plays and there were very few accidents.

Looking back at my situation and then at my friends-we started the process after all of them but were are the first to be truly "potty trained." Several of them are still having issues that had started the process way before us.

She will get there. Maybe you can go buy some pretty panties together for her for something to be excited about and then let her lead the way.

Good luck!

I am a firm believer in waiting until they are ready. My daughter practically trained herself when she was three and we had probably 3 accidents ever. My friends who potty train when the kids are younger deal with constant accidents, but they evnetually train. It is what you are willing to deal with. I have a 5, 2.5 and 10 week old. I am not even thinking about training my 2.5 year old until she is ready. Good Luck whatever you decide!

at this age they start to learn they can control certain things. I'd let her walk around in undies. Ihave many friends who do this and I have done it with my kids and it works. Don't worry! You'll soon be diaper free!!!!

Good luck!

My daughter just turned 2 on the 9th and she has had a potty for about 6 months and has never been interested in it. 4 days after her birthday she told me she wanted to use the potty, so we went into the bathroom and I sat on the floor, like you. She had books, juice, etc. and after about 1/2 hour she went. Of course we celebrated!! I put her in panties and she told me the next time she had to go. She's only had 1 accident since the day that she started training. So, when we're home we're home, she's in panties and I just ask her if she needs to go. She always tells me no. And then when she does need to she tells me. She's also pooping in the potty every day too. Her father and I are not together and I wondered if she would regress if he didn't keep up with her, but she tells him when she needs to go too. She's only in a diaper now during naps, overnight and if we leave the house!
Good luck!

Hi L.,

All 3 of my girls were fully potty trained like pros at age 3. that may sound a little late to you.. but that was the magic number that worked like a charm.
With my first daughter, I drove myself crazy trying to potty train her early.. and at age 3 (as soon as she turned 3).. it all clicked. So for daughters #2 and 3, I didn't even try with them, until a couple months before their 3rd birthday. and voila..
Unless you've got nothing else to do with your time.. (as my mother's generation seemed to do.. because i heard endlessly how I was trained at 18mos.!) Times are different now.. and it's not worth the stress and effort.. just wait until that appropriate time when they are ready.. Even the pediatricians will tell you you've got plenty of time.. good luck! L

I personally feel undies are the way to go. Pull ups act just like a diaper so the wetness doesn't bother them when they go. My first daughter was in undies and trained at 22months and my second has been in undies since 16months because she wanted to. We had accidents 1 or more a day and now at 19months she is maybe 1 or 2 a week. I always have her wear undies out and has only had 1 accident out. Right now I am ok with cleaning pee up and I am saving alot of money only jusing diapers at night with my younger. Good luck it can be a long process for some kids and some just get it right away.

She's probably not ready...Take a break and try again in maybe a couple of months.

I think she was in the habit of using a potty because it was interesting for a while, and not because her body is mature enough to really know when she has to go. Potty training before age 3 is unusual. You will hear some people say they did it at 1 year or 1.5 years, but it's not really common. The developmental stage when the "full bladder" signal gets to the brain comes much later.

She MAY be stubborn, she MAY be exerting control over you, she MAY be bored with what was a novelty, who knows? The bottom line is, it's not in your control. Put her back in diapers or pull-ups, don't give her stickers, and stop stressing yourself out. Use that time to ignore the whole issue and do something fun and constructive like arts & crafts, nature walks, museum trips, whatever will stimulate her and occupy both of you. She will get back to it sooner or later, and she will NOT go to kindergarten in diapers! Put the potty back in the bathroom where it belongs, and just move on to other things.

My son was past 4 when he was reliably potty trained, and my pediatrician was very helpful in getting me to see that they eat, sleep and potty train on their own schedule, and you cannot FORCE any of them. Totally helped me relax and move on to other constructive activities!

With my older two, I used panties, and will with my youngest when it's time, too. To me, pull-ups are just glorified diapers, so I never used them. It took more than a weekend, but using panties definitely worked. I didn't find it cruel; instead, my girls knew when they were wet, and learned quickly. Good luck! I know potty training can be frustrating at times.

We introduced the potty before our daughter was 2. She would sit on it, clothes on, then gradually practiced pulling her pull ups down/up. Since we had no clue how to toilet train a child we thought waiting until she was ready would work. Age 2 came and went. One day I decided I did not want to change pull ups anymore. Since she would be going to pre-k she had to be trained. At a PPT (prior to the start of the school year) her teachers told us to let her run around naked from the waist down. Our daughter did not like being 'naked' and screamed. So...I put regular underwear on her. Day 1 she had 2 or 3 accidents, day 2 she had one and that was it. She wears a pull up for sleeping but she stays dry.
Try going without pull ups, kids hate the feeling of being wet and learn to associate the potty with staying comfortable.

L.,
Why stress about it? It's not the end of the world if they don't potty train at a young age. Seriously ask yourself why this is so important that it be done RIGHT NOW? I, personally never used pullups with my kids because I have seen them hold back way too many kids. My mom has run a daycare for many years and I have seen so many kids start in pullups at 18 months and still in them at 3 1/2-4 years old. They are no different than a diaper. The novelty of pulling them up and down yourself wears off about three seconds after they leave the bathroom. If they are playing and all of a sudden are soaked right down to their feet this is a much better way to learn. Pull ups are a perfect way for the diaper companies to continue to make money for a longer period of time. Don't buy into it!
I have always felt that if you need to remind your child multiple times and make them sit on the potty when they really don't want to then they are not potty trained. When your little one comes up to you to tell you that they need to use the bathroom consistently then that is potty trained. If I were you i would take a break for a little while and when you start up again, just go with the panties. Don't even let the pull ups be an option. Even at night when you put her to bed keep her in panties and as soon as she falls asleep put a diaper on over her panties. When she wakes up you can take it off before she is even awake enough to realize. I think when most kids go to bed in a pullup it gives them the green light to wet their pants before they fall asleep if they don't feel like going to the potty. All kids are different, but this worked great with all three of my boys. They were good and potty trained in 2-3 days. After doing the diaper over the underwear for a week they were also trained at night.
I have also seen a lot of cute princess panties in the stores. This could be incentive :)
Good luck!

I could have written this post about my daughter, who will be 2 1/2 at the end of November. She was 90% potty trained this summer, peeing in the potty, not peeing in undies or pullups all day, waking up dry, etc. (Pooping has always been a challenge, so getting her to poop on the potty was a game of chance-- catching her in the act and running to the potty. Ridiculous.)

In the last two months, she fights every time we suggest the potty. She will tell us she needs to go to the potty AFTER she's peed in her pullups. She is wet after naps or in the morning, which is a sign she is not ready. We still try the potty at least every two hours, but she goes in the toilet so little, we put her back in diapers (I was going bankrupt on pullups).

I'm heartbroken to start over, but holding on hope that it's her age. My son was three when he trained and it was SO easy. This little girl is so stubborn that it blows my mind. All the 'experts' say not to get emotional and make it a big deal, so I'm taking a step back and waiting for signals that she is ready to try again. Good luck and please share anything that works!!

L.,

She is not ready. Why the rush....she is only 2.5.

D.