Can use a potty but refuses to.

[sarah33]

My 3 year old son has been using the potty/toilet quite happily for the last 3 months but now for some reason has decided to wee & poo in his pants at least 4 times a day, so we are having to revert back to nappies & pull up pants. Any suggestions on what to do???

[honeycombe]

Whatever you do don't make too much of a reaction to it. Try and get him to sit on the potty at certain times of the day - like first thing and before meals and read to him or whatever you think might keep his interest for a little while and do the big fuss over him thing again like at the beginning - to increase his chances of actually doing something. Praise the good and try and ignore at least some of the bad! Maybe a star chart might help!

[LIZS]

Any change to routine or other "stress" ? Otherwise could he just be too engrossed in whatever he is doing to make the effort to go.

ds was similar - he regressed at 3 after about 3/4 months of being dry but it coincided with my being pregnant dh working away and then us moving to be with him, the arrival of dd, starting new preschool... Good news is it did stop with time, at around 3 3/4.

If you can , take a big breath and ignore the accidents, praise any successes in an OTT way, perhaps using stickers. We didn't revert to pullups as that seemed to just send the message that it was ok to do it but can well understand you doing so if only to limit the washing and stress. Does he no longer wish to use the potty perhaps , could you use a toilet like a big boy instead (decorate with stickers etc if needs be to make it more inviting) . dd is a small 3.2 yr old and won't use a potty any more but she somehow manages to use the toilet instead.

Good luck