Potty Regression

khartner

My youngest turned 1 in May and my oldest is 3.5.  He has been peeing in his pants, on the bathroom floor, on the couch, at naptime.  I don't know what to do.  I put him in timeout and today went as far as to put a diaper on him and tell him he was going to have to be treated like a baby if he was going to act like one.

I know it's harsh but I'm at my wits end.

Any other suggestions? 

ilovemygirls

I know it's frustrating but you need to take a deep breath here.  There's a reason he's doing it, even if you don't know what it is.  My youngest was day trained at 2yrs old and even now, at age 4, she will have slight 'regressions' where she holds her pee for too long & then goes a bit in her panties.  Your situation sounds a bit different, but I still think that you should handle it much like I do.  You say "Oops, you had an accident.  Lets try harder to get to the potty next time!"  Have him help you clean up.  Institute rewards if that is something he responds to.  If my DD starts doing her thing regularly again, I'll tell her that if she makes it to lunch without piddling in her panties, she'll get a treat- again until dinnertime.  When she was a little younger, instituting the sticker chart for rewards helped.  I've set timers before & when they ring, it's the "potty fairy" telling her it's time to try to pee.  Praise, praise, praise for successes.  The bigger deal you make of it, the more it becomes a power struggle.

believeown

jlw2505

Potty regression is totally normal and punishment is not the answer, this is a normal phase.  I would go back to a reward system - do a potty chart and give a star every time he goes on the potty or a checkmark for every day he is dry/no accidents with a reward for x amounts of accident free days in a row.  When my kids have regressions, I typically go back to the Skittle reward for going on the potty for a week or so and that typically gets them back on track with a few days.

Brewtowngrl

I am going to guess your youngest just got more mobile.  It is really common to have regression then.  I would give your older one the option of a baby diaper or underwear.  I also remind DS that we like having a big kid.  I will point out some milestone that DS2 is doing and remind him how proud of him we are because we want him to be a big kid too.  Go back to reminding him that he needs to use the potty and give a small reward like an M&M.