Potty Training Regression

[Jo123ABC]

Hi everyone!

I am struggling with a 2.5 year old potty training. She was home with her mom for a bit while as mom took time off on maternity leave and was doing pretty good with potty training. She started back with me a couple of weeks ago and has had a couple of good days with no accidents but now she is constantly having accidents. So far this morning I've taken her to the potty every 30 min and she still goes in between! I'm trying really hard and she just really doesn't want to do it. She doesn't fight sitting on the potty for me at all. Any suggestions??!

[storybookending]

Is she trained at home?

[Ac114]

Keep doing what your doing. Potty regression is very normal with a new member joining the family. My little guy did the same thing. Took about 4 months to get back on schedule and he was potty trained for a year when baby was born. It’s frustrating. Is mom helping with potty at home or has she just put diaper/pull ups back on?

[Blackcat31]

Hi everyone!

I am struggling with a 2.5 year old potty training. She was home with her mom for a bit while as mom took time off on maternity leave and was doing pretty good with potty training. She started back with me a couple of weeks ago and has had a couple of good days with no accidents but now she is constantly having accidents. So far this morning I've taken her to the potty every 30 min and she still goes in between! I'm trying really hard and she just really doesn't want to do it. She doesn't fight sitting on the potty for me at all. Any suggestions??!

She is showing you she is not trained. Or ready.

A truly ready to train child trains in just a few days.
Multiple trips to the bathroom initiated only by you is not potty training.

I would bow out and leave her be. If mom wants to train her at home on her time, she can but as a provider I don't "bring" kids to the bathroom....if they gotta go (first step for successful training is recognizing the need to go) they'll let you know...if the child isn't indicating a need to go or that they're wet...they aren't ready.

It's so hard to get parents to understand that toilet training is a developmental skill and not one you can just teach simply because the child reaches a certain age.

Training shouldn't take much more than a long weekend and if mom's at home on maternity leave...this entire process should be started and completed at home.

[Jo123ABC]

She is showing you she is not trained. Or ready.

A truly ready to train child trains in just a few days.
Multiple trips to the bathroom initiated only by you is not potty training.

I would bow out and leave her be. If mom wants to train her at home on her time, she can but as a provider I don't "bring" kids to the bathroom....if they gotta go (first step for successful training is recognizing the need to go) they'll let you know...if the child isn't indicating a need to go or that they're wet...they aren't ready.

It's so hard to get parents to understand that toilet training is a developmental skill and not one you can just teach simply because the child reaches a certain age.

Training shouldn't take much more than a long weekend and if mom's at home on maternity leave...this entire process should be started and completed at home.

I could get on board with waiting! My daughter took forever then one day she just was suddenly trained. What age do you find most of your kids are ready?

[nanglgrl]

I could get on board with waiting! My daughter took forever then one day she just was suddenly trained. What age do you find most of your kids are ready?

I find there is no exact age but generally girls in Daycare are between 2.5 and 3 and the boys are between 3 and 3.5. Sometimes a little earlier, rarely much later than 3.5 unless they just started care with me.
Really all you have is mom’s word that she was doing great at home and sadly parents lie, on top of that the word great is subjective. Parents view it as great that when they took their child to the bathroom at timed intervals the child used less diapers, providers usually define great as the child indicating they need to go potty and needing little to no assistance. I think “great” is when a child says they need to go potty and does all of the steps. I don’t care if they actually go in the potty or not because I know saying they need to go (even if it’s a little late and they just went in their diaper) and doing all of the steps means that within a few months they will be independent in the bathroom and wearing underwear.

[Blackcat31]

I could get on board with waiting! My daughter took forever then one day she just was suddenly trained. What age do you find most of your kids are ready?

I think kids can be ready to train anywhere from 18 months to 4 yrs old. It depends on the developmental level of the child. It depends on a lot of things really....

Those kids that are really supported in learning self-help skills are usually trained a lot sooner than those that are "babied" and learn independence later than their peers.

I've had kids in care as young as 18 months be trained (without the use of timed bathroom breaks and months of trying) and kids as old as 4.5 yrs still in diapers with no motivation or urge to want to be independent.

Ideally though when a child IS truly ready, the entire process really shouldn't take long. If you are still "training" months later with no real success on the child's part I would say the child isn't ready and the process was started too soon.

[AmyKidsCo]

I've been in this business for almost 25 years and still have "lightbulb" moments of learning.

My biggest one this past year is When children are trying to master a new skill, a previously mastered skill regresses.

My thought is that your DCK is so busy mastering the skill of having a new sibling, sharing parents/house, etc, so pottying has regressed. I'd back off and not push the pottying. As she figures out how to be a big sister the pottying will probably start up again.