Potty Trained for 7 Months and Now Having Regular Accidents

Try having a potty in the room in which she is typically playing. I know it sounds disgusting, but it does work, especially if she is too busy to stop playing to use the potty. Also, having a potty may help her to poop easier, since her feet will be on the ground instead of danging while sitting on the loo. She needs to get the idea that she needs to stop what she is doing to go to the bathroom (something women need to continually relearn, can you think of when you didn't want to stop to use the toilet because you were trying to get stuff done?), and with a potty close by she can keep on playing or watching tv. A friend of mine recommended this to me, and it really helped with my daughter.

It may not be what the Dr.s recomend, but I have the same problem with my almost 4 year old. Every 6 months or so she does this. If it happens twice, I put her in a diaper (mainly so the mess is easier to clean up) and take away her "big girl" privliges. Any TV time, certain snacks, her gymnastics classes. Within a few hours, she comes to me in panties and says she wants to be a big girl. Then for a couple weeks, whenever she does go on the potty, I lay on the praise. I know some people will disagree with this stratagie, (my mom does for one) but it has worked well for me. Good luck with whatever you try!

K. - this is a very difficult situation. I raised 2 sons and now am raising my 3 1/2 year old granddaughter. I never had a problem with my boys, but my granddaughter was potty trained by 2 with great success. We were blessed. Then shortly after turning 3 she began to have accidents. I was so worried that we took her to see her doctor and nothing was physically wrong. That was a relief, but also not a relief. What to do now??? We decided to remind her to try and go potty and also cut out drinking after a certain hour, since she was wetting the bed. Didn't punish her for her accidents, but stopped doing some things like going to the park. When she asked about the park, a simple statement like we are not going, because you don't tell me when you need to go potty any more worked. She is back to going to the potty and waking up dry. Remember going to the bathroom is one of the few things a child can control in their lives. Encourage her, love her, and remember that this too will pass.

Dear K.,
I am a SAHM mom of 6, 5 girls and 1 boy. Your daughter could be doing this for attention. Then again there could just not be a reason for her doing it. Kids are funny creatures and we don't always understand how their minds work.
My advice to you is not to be angry with her when she does it. I would just get down to her eye level and say in a very even firm tone that accidents are okay but it's wrong to not even try to make it to the potty. Tell her she is a big girl now and big girls use the potty. You could try a reward system. For instance, tell her that if she goes in the potty for one day she can get a small treat with supper. Then if she goes two days then she can watch a movie with you. If she goes seven days, she gets to pick out new big girl underwear. The key is to get her excited and give her reminders throughout the day of going to the bathroom. Be sure to praise her when she does have success. It's alot like potty training all over but it shouldn't take long to get her back on track.
It's hard when you have three or more. They all need attention and love and there is only so much of you to go around. Just try to be patient and calm with her but firm also and let her know she is loved no matter what.
I'll be thinking on this for you and good luck.
C.

Although my son is not even 3 yet, and I have no other children, I have done some research on potty trianing. My son does go sometimes in the potty and he will let me know when he needs to go, and other times he will go in his diaper. I do not worry about this a bit. Children go through phases and everything I have read has told me while it is good to encourage your child to go in the potty it is also TERRIBLE to punish them if they don't! This only causes the child to associate potty time with something negative. I just let my son make the rules in that department for now. When he does go in the potty, we try to reward him or praise him or both! As difficult as it can be, sometimes you have to just let things happen in their own time and try to keep in mind that your child is only 3 1/2 which is still quite young! Good luck and try to be patient.

does she know any child who is not potty trained yet

also it could still be sibling rivalry.

sorry this is not much help, but she is not 5 yet so you are still doing good.

i would just start putting the nappy back on. i know going backwards but it is either that or you clean up a lot of mess.

Hi. Every kid goes through this. For my son, it was a matter of he didn't want to stop playing to go to the potty, so he wouldn't. If it had been a while since he had gone, then I would make him stop for a potty break. Even if he thought he didn't have to go, he would have to go into the bathroom and try for 2 minutes. Once he went, I would wait until about an hour had gone by. If he told me that he didn't have to go, and ended up messing his pants, then whatever game or thing he had been doing was stopped. Since it was part of why he had messed his pants.
M.

I think many kids go through this. My daughter backpedaled in the same way. But instead of it being a physical issue, it came across more as a laziness/inattentive/unmotivated issue. With us, she would have a lot of near-misses where she just wouldn't make it to thepotty in time.

How did I deal wiht it? First, I started to make her go to the potty every hour to "try." She hated that, but I told her that if she couldn't do it on her own like a big girl then I wouldhave to remind her. If she had an accident, I made her clean it up. At first it didn't seem to bother her, but it made an impression by the 3rd or 4th time. Finally, I did punish where appropriate if I thought she clearly could have prevented it. This was more work for me, but it either worked or she grew out of it! :)

SM is right, K. -- start taking her to sit on the toilet at very frequent and regular intervals. She may resist but don't let it become a power struggle; if you can stay calm but firm it will help. Easier said than done, I know! Tell her "I know you don't like to stop playing to use the potty, but until you can get to the potty in time, we'll have to take you to the potty each hour" or whatever time frame you use. Don't forget to praise her a lot, maybe even reward her, when she does use the potty and also have her help clean up every single time she makes a mess in her pants. If you don't want her handling her poopy pants, and I sure wouldn't, give her a related task like scrubbing the floor again with a paper towel after you've cleaned up the germy mess. Don't present it as a punishment but as "We all need to clean up our own messes and you need to help clean this up too." I think it's key to be consistent and calm without making a power struggle out of it or giving her so much attention when she does it (and even negative attention like yelling, getting angry at her and disciplining her is still attention!). It's likely that she's looking for some attention and knows that pooping in her pants gets it. Also, many kids her age just get too focused on play to remember to "go" in time, so the regular trips may help with that. Good luck!