Should we go back to nappies? Any success (or disaster) stories welcome!

[LyraBelaqua]

I would really appreciate some help or advice with regard to my DS and potty training. He started potty training by his own choice probably 4 months ago now. He is currently 2yrs 5 months so I felt it was very early but went with it as he was telling me when he needed to go and was mostly and clean throughout the day.

About a month and a half ago this started to go down hill and now he is mostly wet through the day, either just wetting himself completely or half wetting himself then taking himself to the potty to finish off. Sometimes he stays dry but not often.

I spoke to our HV who said I should not put him in nappies again and should do reward charts little treats etc. He has however been in nappies for the past few days as he's been poorly and he's been so much easier. The trouble is he still wants to go to the loo even if he has a pull up on, it just means his clothes don't get wet.

I don't know what to do. Has anyone gone back to nappies once they have started potty training and was it difficult to potty train your child after this?

Thanks in anticipation.

[snowgirl1]

The first couple of days we potty trained our DD (2.3) she got so upset when she wet herself that we started to use pull-ups, while still getting her to use the potty. We bribed her to use the potty (one choc button for a wee and two choc buttons for a poo ). The bribery worked brilliantly and after two weeks we transitioned to knickers. I know some people say children find pull-ups confusing, but they worked for us while DD got into the habit of telling us she needed the toilet/getting used to using the potty.

[givemecaffeine21]

I'm an 'early potty trainer' - DD is 21 months and pretty much done, but we started off slowly with pull ups for the first week and journeys out etc. I definitely wouldn't stop and go back to nappies, but a slow approach may be the best thing. I bought stickers from amazon and made a chart and made a big thing of it. We watched a potty training clip on YouTube where a toddler called Alleke uses the potty and DD loved watching this and clearly wanted to be like her. Potty training is a pretty miserable business and I nearly gave up, but I stuck with it and I'm so glad I did - after my worst day came the breakthrough the next morning when DD suddenly told us she needed a wee.

Perhaps you could also let your son choose his own big boy pants? I went along the 'we mustn't get Peppa wet' with Peppa pig pants route which also seemed to work!

Good luck, hang in there....never thought we'd get there in the beginning but I think it's a lot to do with forming a habit and after a while it clicks. It's just just hard going until that point.

[Poppet45]

We did. Training had started well but accidents crept in once the initial excitement wote off. We knocked it on the head for about two months or so til ds was sbout 2.8. Second time round he got it in a couple of days. Was amazing. If potty training is really stressful and difficult lo is prob just not ready.

[tobysmum77]

I've just put my lo back in nappies. She is 2.3, desperate to wear pants. In some ways it went well but she keeps on having little accidents rather than doing a big wee in one go.

It's a nightmare now so I intend to leave it until after our summer holiday in 4 months time. I reckon the little accidents are because she isn't physically ready.

[AnotherMonkey]

Same as poppet, we went back to nappies with DS, tried it again a couple of months later, and it was completely painless. Exactly the same age, too.

[LittleMilla]

I think it's really common for them to 'relapse', I know ds did.

We didn't use pull ups because ds would just wee and not even realise so I stuck at it with pants. Utility room smelt like an old people's home (ie piss!) but he got through it! Thankfully he's been great with poos from day 1 so not accidents there.

Personally I'd see what he wants to do when better. Their will power also seems to go ballistic around this age and so it's unlikely to be your choice anyway x

[ItStillLooksLikeRainDear]

DS was similar. We found that when we were at home and sometimes when we were out he preferred to be naked so let him & he had less accidents.

[Picklemom]

We followed a method that advises parents to keep children naked from the waste down at home for at least three months after first training them, and to have them wear only loose fitting trousers outside--no knickers, and certainly no diapers. The theory is that anything tight fitting in that area stimulates them to wee.

I don't know how well backed by science that is, but I can anecdotally report that this method worked beautifully for us. We had very few accidents at home after the first few days, and only a handful of accidents while out. Mind you, we seriously limited our outings to the nearby playground for awhile, and always took the potty with us.

Here's a summary of the approach we took:

www.babycenter.com/0_potty-training-in-three-days-or-less_10310078.bc?page=1