Sudden bath\bed routine resistance

[PottyTrainingNewbie]

Any advice is welcome.

My DD is 3y 3m and we have been potty training for a week now during the day and that’s going great.

But for the last 3 nights she has really fought/screamed as soon as we start to go upstairs to go to have a bath. She doesn’t like any pyjamas we pick... and she can’t make up her mind on which ones she wants. We have to fight to get her pull up and pyjamas on to the point we’re she is so worked up and my ears are ringing from the screaming.

We had a fantastic routine before this, have dinner around 5:15, chill on the sofa afterwards and then go up at 7 for bath/story and normally in bed to go to sleep at 7:30ish give or take. No dramas and would normally be giggling as I got her into her pyjamas.

That feels like a distant memory... I am right to assume that this may be linked to the recent change to being dry during the day? As she isn’t upset or stroppy during the day. Very happy child, playing and everything. We haven’t ventured outside this week due to potty training but plan to over the weekend now that we have a travel potty. So don’t know if this could be a bit of cabin fever?

Any advice or thoughts?? I’m desperate for her to not be this upset to go to bed as she has always been a super sleeper and fine going to bed other up until now.

How was she last night @PottyTrainingNewbie? Was there any improvement?

Have you thought of dropping the pull ups? It may mean a lot of bed changing but would give you some guidance on if that is the issue. Otherwise hopefully just a phase (cliche, I know).

Does she perhaps want to give nighttime dryness a go and doesn't know how to tell you? I would explain that she can leave pullups off but that might mean she wakes up wet and uncomfy. A couple of nights of this and I'll bet she either cracks night dryness or makes her own mind up that pullups are not so bad... ITO PJ's I would just give her 2 pairs to choose and give her a couple of minutes to decide and if she won't decide then you decide for her. It sounds like she's just trying to exert her free will which is perfectly respectable at her age but you need to try and empower her to do this without exhausting you both so give her a bit of freedom but with firm boundaries and expectations of what you expect ITO her behaviour too if that makes sense xx

Another thing that might work is letting her have a nappy at night or if you don't fancy that, put a night light on and a potty by her bed.

@Jannt86

I think you have hit the nail on the head... I think now she has some free will with potty training she is applying it to everything else. She was much better last night but all day today she has fought everything today and had full on tantrums... she isn’t ready for nighttime training yet but maybe soon as we have had 1 or 2 dry pull ups in the morning, we try letting her sleep in underwear and she was soaked in wee and it didn’t seem to wake her up, we think she did this in the early hours of the morning.

When I said it was time to go brush our teeth she went into one... then decided she needed to use the potty so sat on it for like 10 minutes and was upset about not wanting to brush her teeth. Then when she got off the potty I asked her to pull her underwear and trousers up and she wouldn’t so I said she had to stay in the bathroom until she pulled her trousers and underwear up, that was another 5 minutes.

Then we go upstairs she picked her toothbrush as she has a shark and tiger one. So she picked the tiger one, I put tooth paste on it, she started to use it and then wanted the shark one. I told her she had to use the one she started to use and she had protest for 2 minutes .

Then similar with getting dressed, thankfully much shorter protest. Then we just had protest for her nap as she does still nap during the day but we are trying to shorten it as I think her nap is to long and if she goes without one she is over tired so we are trying an hour afternoon nap instead of 2 hours.

It’s all trial and error and hopefully this just a phase when she is testing the boundaries but my god this like physiological war fair!!

@Jannt86 also what is ITO?