Seriously Bad Potty Regression

The basics are that I have bb twins, 3 yrs old, started potty training Feb 10 - I have no illusions about how long it takes, etc. and was comfortable with a six month plus time frame for everyone to get trained. Things went super well and for all intents and purposes both were trained in 6 weeks (for real) - that means, pee, poop and about 95% of nights, no peeing. They continue to wear pull-ups for night time, but none for naps now for 2+ months. Both have had small regressions and I would declare "my youngest" complete now because he's been accident free for over a month - no issues whatsoever, even at night.... on to "my oldest" and please bear in mind, I've heard over and over how it's early for boys to be trained, to give him some time, etc. etc. BUT here's the problem...

He was the first one to start training of his own accord, he was the first to be complete in 6 weeks... then he had a short regression - problems with peeing in the pants... quickly over it, then good again for over a month... now we are here again, this time with pooping... he is CLEAN and DRY at pre-school from 8:30 to 2:30... then poops in his pants every day at home. I have tried:

Potty charts
Stickers
Rewards (daily, with a full chart, after certain number of stickers, big rewards, small rewards, candy, toys, anything you can possibly think of)
Ignoring him/the issue (he is very stubborn and VERY independent so thought this might work)
Going to the bathroom at regular 1 hour (less and more too) intervals and having him sit on the pot for bit, etc.
Threatening (and putting him back into) diapers
Throwing away his favorite underpants after he pooped in them
Taking stickers off his potty sticker chart after he had an accident
Being sweet and kind and saying, "it's no big deal, accidents happen"

ALL of these work... for about a day to as much as a week, then we are right back where we started.
Bottom line is I ask him "what happened?" and he essentially says "I wanted to play"
Okay, so we were at DISNEY for three days and he was perfectly clean and dry even with all those distractions... we got back to our house and within in hour he had pooped and peed in his pants!

I'm done - I can't figure it out - I even asked MY shrink, who said that he just has to put it all back together again, that he's got a lot going on, etc. and I get that - but come on... he knows when poop is coming, he knows how to potty, he's not afraid of the toilet and still no dice.

WHAT DO I DO??? Thanks ahead of time...

 

As frustrating as it is (trust me I know, going through it right now too!), I would have to agree with your shrink. I think the less you react the better. Just try to keep things relaxed and positive where the potty training is concerned. Acting negatively or with discipline will just add more stress to the situation and cause them to regress even more. Stay supportive with your redirection and I think in time he will be back on track soon! Hang in there!!

 

Yep, we are goin through this now. Both were trained an now one has regressed. He pees in the potty and is dry most nights, but has decided that he likes to crap in his pants. ardon: Whatever! I gave up on the battle. I finally realized that I had ZERO control and it was a battle that I couldn't win. I smile and nod, try not to get upset, and say positive things as I am wiping his :booty: :angry: Some day I will tell his girlfriend about it. :drinks:

 

ha ha about telling his future girlfriend!

my dd is doing great, but my ds hasn't yet pooped regularly in the potty... so I feel your pain... ugh! I haven't even gotten too far into this, but am ready for it to be over and just be trained!

to the OP you certainly have tried it all... good luck maintaining sanity!

 

Time is what will do it. I also agree with everyone else - the more you stress the more he will stress and the more time it will take.
He will get it. Ava is exactly the same way. She will go get a pull up and put it on herself just to poop in. I do not know if she is afraid to poop in the potty, or what is going on in that little head?? My 13yr old was a pooping disaster until he was 4 1/2. At first I thought he had a bad poop issue where he could not hold it (he had a medical condition that caused other problems and we thought this went along with that) THEN... I began to realize there was a pattern. He would not poop at preschool but as soon as he got in the car he would let it go! I spoke to our pediatrician who told me not to worry about it that he would not go to kindergarten wearing a diaper. Each time he did it we did not get angry or act frustrated, we got to where we would have him help with the cleanup and I am not sure if it was just that he matured or that he hated the clean up but once that kid got it, he GOT it! Yours will too!

 

Thanks you guys - I was thinking that was the road I needed to go down - it's just SOOOO frustrating... as you know... I think I just needed someone to tell me that it happens, it's okay, that there's nothing else I can do except for chill out a little and let him take his time. Now on to getting up at night and monsters under the bed... another fun issue to tackle :gah:

 

it is frustrating!!

As for the monsters under the bed - get a spray bottle fill it with water and label it monster spray. It gets rid of monsters very well!

 

We did this just the other night! :good: