3 year old not making it to the toilet - advice?

[Squashinthepinkcup]

Hello all! Looking for some veteran advice on how to encourage my characterful little preschooler to make it to the loo in time!!

She has been out of nappies for about 8 months. She elected to go into pants without much encouragement and had very few accidents at the start. However in the month or so she has taken to delaying to the point that she's having accidents. She'll come over to me/DH to tell us she needs a wee rather than going to the bathroom, then gets distracted on the stairs, or stops to say to us again 'okay I'm just going to the toilet mummy' or something like that and then by the time she gets there she needs a a change of clothes. It's actually rather funny (though I don't let her see me laughing as don't want to encourage it) as she moves with such urgency/acts like she's rushing but somehow still manages to take an age to actually get anywhere! I don't even know how she manages it 😂

She's against using the potty so the only option we have is upstairs. We haven't had any big changes in the house/family so nothing actively causing a regression or something like that. As soon as we see her 'rushing' we're straight on it encouraging her to get upstairs, reminding her not to delay etc, we keep the seat and stool on the loo so it's all ready for her but these haven't seemed to do the trick thus far.

Any ideas on how we can help her to be a bit more mindful/have more urgency about making it to the bathroom? Going through 4+ changes of clothes a day is a killer on the laundry!!!

No advice, but my daughter went through the same thing.

Everything was far more interesting, and she was delaying and fancying around until it was too late. It was just a phase in the end, but it's hard when it seems like they've been dry for months, and it all goes backwards. Did the same as you in encouraging her to go when we saw/we were told she needed the loo. We went slightly back to basics in asking her every two hours or so if she needed the toilet as well. Not as frequently as when we potty trained ofc.

Anyway, as I said, it was all a phase, and she grew out of it in the end. She nearly 5 now and hasn't had an accident in well over a year. Now if only I could convince her hormones to do their job already so that she's dry at night too, that would be wonderful.

😂 keeping fingers crossed for you that happens soon!!!

Thanks for the reply