I'm hoping someone has had a similar experience and can offer some advice.
My son will be 3 in February and we've tried potty training a few times since he turned 2. We've recently had another bash and he seemed far more into the idea. We lasted 15 days until it all just became too much for me and I had to put him back into nappies during the day.
I feel quite like a failure and know that it will take time for him to learn but after having a couple of really bad days, combined with being stuck at home because of lockdown and not leaving the house except for a weekly shop I just broke.
We started off bare bum for a week, with regular trips to the toilet (he has steps and a seat which he much preferred). We gradually increased the time between trips but would go earlier if there was an obvious sign he needed to go. It goes without saying there were odd accidents. We put him in 'big boy pants' in week two and he seemed to really like these, plus it meant he wouldn't get carpet burn anymore!!
We managed to get toilet trips down to every hour, but sometimes he'd need to go more. Sometimes when the alarm went off he'd happily stop what he was doing but other times have a proper whinge about going and throw himself on the floor.
He became good at holding his bladder if he started to wee and realised he was doing so, so that we could dash to the toilet for him to finish. It often resulted in just changing pants with no mess so we were hopeful of this sign.
It got to the stage though that if I left him for even 5 minutes to do something he would use that time to pee on the floor and carry on playing. I'd only know if I ether saw the puddle or him. He wouldn't tell me. The final day that broke me he did this about 6 times and i had to change him about 10.. I was even in the room twice when he just either stood or sat and wee'd, and happily watched himself do it. After the early success I just don't understand why he would sit/stand and watch himself??
I've tried so hard to keep my cool and brush it all off as an accident but when he would do it 'on purpose' I did snap at him.
We're going to try again in a couple of weeks time, I'm not mentally ready to try again yet.
I've been told boys are lazy and often take longer than girls, but all the boys in my NCT group are far more ahead and I just don't know how to help my son understand when he needs to go or to tell us he needs help to go.
Please help!