What happened?!! 3yo potty help!

[fxmummyduck]

So background, we waiting until a month before ds turned 3 (Oct) to introduce the potty. We were away on a long trip July/August so waited until we were back home and then a few weeks of settling back into a routine and the house etc before starting. We chose pants, let him try different pottys in the shop, he picked one he felt comfortable with and a seat for his bathroom toilet too.

Day 1 he was excited to wear big boy pants and I just had the potty in the living room and said if you need wees we go here etc he had a few accidents but by bath time he did his first wee on the potty and was so excited and proud! He was showered with praise and a treat etc. the next few days he did really well, he learnt to hold it for longer and longer and by a couple of weeks he was dry out we took a potty in the car and we had no accidents . Except for nap time! he then started to have accidents, wees and number twos so I put him in a pull up for nap time. I never expected dry nights so he always had a pull up for night.

We get to December and he just stopped asking to go on the potty, if I asked he said No and started getting annoyed with me. He caught a bad cold/virus so I didn't push it at all and now here we are in January and he completely refuses to go on the potty! What happened?!!!!!
The most he'll manage is a wee on the toilet before his bath. That is it!!! He just says no every other time. I've tried asking him or reminding him he just gets angry. So I tried not saying anything at all and he just never asks to go.

I'm completely lost, bribery hasn't worked, sticker chart didn't work, we've gone backwards. Nothing has happened, no changes, same routine, he still naps. He drinks well water and milk all day, and is really wet in his pull up so I don't think he's dehydrated or ever had an infection.

I haven't tried anything for a few weeks hoping he'd start asking again but no joy. He is ready in terms of showing all the usual signs, he's interested when I use the bathroom, knows when he needs a wee or poo, communicates clearly about both, can pull his trousers down with help etc

Thanks for reading! Please help!

 

[pa2k84]

Have you tried just putting him in pants and leaving him? I know with my youngest he hated being asked, would constantly have accidents when he was with my parents because of this issue, no issues at home because i just let him get on with it. Maybe little reminders at certain times eg. we are going to sit up to eat so now would be a good time to try, we are going out in the car now so mummy is going to have a wee before etc. but don't push if doesn't. Also don't make a fuss if does have an accident (sure you are not but just incase!) maybe again just reminders, oh no you have had a wee in your pants, next time remember go on the toilet/potty before lunch/going out/playing game etc.
Hope that makes some kind of sense!

 

[erinprime]

When I reached the no going back phase of potty training with my daughter I bought 2 boxes of pull ups. On one of the boxes I drew a sun, on the other I drew a moon. I told her that the ones in the sun box were for when she was awake, and the moon ones were for sleep times only. I made sure to point out that the box was getting more and more empty. When the sun box was completely empty and she wanted a pull up during the day I would just say "sorry, we only have night time pull ups left"

I did it this way because my daughter had completely bladder control, but just would not go on the potty. I paired it with some pretty heavy bribes after learned that she can hold her pee allllll day until nap/night time.

I don't know if it would work for you. If I tried the same tactic today, my daughter would probably just tell me that we need to go to the store.

 

[JenX]

Sounds like he's not ready yet. I'd put him back in diapers and wait until he tells you he wants to use the potty.

 

[SarahBear]

Who changes him and who does the clean up? Except for the obvious of wiping and cleaning poop, he should be old enough to clean up after himself and change himself. After enough cleaning up, he may find that it's just not worth going in his pants. When Violet was a couple months short of 3 and was in a complete potty regression, I used this as part of my strategy for getting her back to using the potty. I had some pull-ups left and I lot her we weren't buying more. I also told her that every time she went in her diaper, she had to change it herself (I cleaned the poop, obviously). On top of this, if she went in the potty, she got a chocolate chip. She was upset about it for about two days but came out the other side just fine and it worked.

 

[fxmummyduck]

Thanks for all the replies, tried putting him in pants this afternoon and he had an accident in then but said at the the time 'I'm going to wee in my trousers' arghhh!!! Do not know what to do with him!

 

[pa2k84]

Make him change them perhaps, in a very nonchalant way! Oh dear here are some more clothes, pop those dirty ones in the washing machine when you are changed, and find something to do yourself away from him? Not really sure as never had problem bit would prob go down this route if I did.

 

[Teri7489]

Try to keep going with that. He will eventually get fed up wetting in pants and it will click. Just hand him wipes and tell him to clean up then leave him to it. The lack of attention to accidents will get boring and he will more than likely just pee in the potty x

 

[Starkette]

So I had a rough time with my DD and FINALLY found what worked for her and me. She's 3. She sounds exactly like your little one. She even would pee in her pants right in front of us while announcing it.

Sticker chart!! She earns 1 sticker for pee (without having an accident first) and 2 for poo. Once she gets 5 stickers she get a special surprise. We went to the dollar store and I let her pick out a ton of prizes and a prize box. Things like play-do, little dolls, a sparkly ball, etc. She loved it. Before that she would have a million accidents and we both got so frustrated with each other.

Also she wears diapers during nap and bedtime. They can't hold it in their sleep yet...can take a year or longer until they can. That is normal.

Once she started having a lot of success we made it so she gets a prize every 10 stickers...then 20. Then she forgot about the prizes and was just potty trained. Yes We had accidents outside the house occasionally but they were only occasional and stopped quickly once I made sure to tell her she get a a sticker if she goes while we're out and about, too.

Also the sticker charts were long. When the prizes ran out, if there was still room on the sticker chart we went out and got more prizes. I also had to redo the whole chart when we visited my parents for 3 weeks over Christmas. New home, New accidents. But she got back on track super fast with a new sticker chart.

Hope that helps.