Potty Training Troubles - Neosho,WI

Your 6 year old knows about the potty. She is just acting out due to the fear and lack of attention she has been getting with the little one being sick/at the hospital. Have you talked to her about why you went to the hospital? That it is getting better? Tell her how good and what a big girl helper she has been while her sister was sick??? We have no idea how kids process stresses that we have. She may still be worried about her sister getting sick again, she may think she is next to get sick, she may think you will leave her to take care of her sister and forget about her... lots of stress for her. A new baby is bad enough to get used to for a little 4 yr old who is used to ALL of her parents attention, but a sick baby would be too much for her to process. I am sure she is just scared/sad that she is not getting attention like she used to and that she doesnt understand all the hospital stuff... talk to her about it!!!

It is common for kids to regress or go back and forth on their toilet even after they've been trained for awhile. However, I suspect it has something to do with all of the changes in her life. She has a new baby sister, which is a lot to adjust to, and the baby has had medical issues, requiring much of your time and attention. Although things have been better the last couple of weeks she could still be processing all of that and either feeling a little stressed out or seeking attention, maybe even subconsciously. It's probably difficult with a new baby with medical problems, but you could try giving her a little extra one on one attention or taking her on a special outing and just be patient with the "accidents." Good luck and I hope your baby continues to improve and do well.

It sounds like a little regression going on. I wouldn't think much of it at all. I would try to keep your life as normal as possible and don't make a big deal out of it. Just keep reminding her and ignore her silly comments. She won't do this forever. In fact, once you treat it like it's no big deal then she will probably stop having accidents.

When my oldest was 5 (now is 13) my dad had a stroke and we were suddenly very stressed out. I was gone a lot at the hospital and went to my mom's to help her out. All of the sudden he starting wetting his pants in Kindergarten. I realized it was from all our stress and we as a family took a time out. It stopped immediately once we settled down. I think anytime there's a change in the home, good or bad, young kids can regress with going to the potty.

Good Luck!

What I found when potty training my 3 children was that when they were having trouble using the potty (regressing) that they were making other learning leaps like vocabulary growth spurts or large or fine motor or physical growths. So while they really could consistantly make it to the bathroom before the growth spurt they really could not make it to the bathroom during the growth spurt. So give her a little bit of grace she is probably growing quickly in some area and needs a little bit of understanding. I am not saying you let it slide but when we understand what is going on in our kids it takes a lot of the frustration out of the process for us.

She sees her sister getting attention from being changed so she thinks she can get your attention the same way and so far it seems to be working. With my daughter almost 4 years old know when she says no, I always ask her if we should just check (I get her to go to the bathroom and avoid an accident,especially before we go out anyway. You might want to try using a reward system especially if you know she was completely potty trained before the baby came.

We keep having these "regression" moments with our newly potty trained 2 & 1/2 year old boy. When he starts to have "accidents" we talk about it, but we also start making an effort to have him sit on the potty --- even if he says he "doesn't have to go".

Also, I bought plastic covers for cloth diapers and we use those over his undies when he is having regular accidents. We also use them for nap time (bedtime is still a pull-up). Usually one day of wearing his "plastic undies" and we are accident free for awhile.

For us, the "accidents" seem to be in-part related to the testing/challenging behavior we are now dealing with. Sometimes when we ask why he had an accident he tells us -- "because I wanted to."

Good luck.