DD has been potty trained since August. She was 2y 4m at the time, so fairly young to be potty trained. Ever since then she has had an accident maybe every few weeks.
Two weeks ago we told her that she is going to be a big sister, and she reacted as any 2yo would who has no idea what's coming. However, ever since then her behavior has been terrible and most notably over the last few days she has had a major potty training regression.
More likely it's caused by being out of routine with the holidays, but I'm really wondering if it was the news of a new baby and she's aware that a big change is coming. I had expected a regression once the baby actually arrives, but not yet??
Does anyone have experience with this? Any tips on dealing with potty training regression in general? TIA!!
Re: Can the announcement that a sibling is coming cause potty training regression??
She's not potty trained. It has nothing to do with the fact you announced a new baby.
I would just sort of go back to basics. Ask occasionally or if she showing signs. Praise for using the potty. Reminding we keep underwear dry.
If you say her behavior is terrible, it may not actually be a regression at all. She may be doing it to get her own way in some form (control). My DD has been doing this because over the holidays, she got to stay up later while we were with family, and now that it's back to business as usual, she doesn't want to go to bed at night. Initially, she was doing anything she could to prolong bedtime (asking for toys, taking forever to put on her pj's, asking for a drink, snack, whatever). When we didn't respond to that, she resorted to pretending to sleep while we were in the room, then getting out of bed and peeing herself on purpose by the window immediately after we'd leave the room because she knew that we'd have to go back in and change her. Once we figured her out, we corrected the behavior by telling her that if she stops peeing at the window and goes to sleep, she can have a Smartie in the morning. (We potty trained her initially with Smarties as a reward, and for her, that's enough motivation). She hasn't done it in a week and getting her to sleep at night is getting back to normal.