2.5yr old, major potty regression....what now?

[BeantownBaby9]

We went full into undies the week of Thanksgiving.  He would wake from naps dry, sometimes even night time.  He did really really well, and the week before Xmas was accident free.  Now he just turned 2.5 and for pee only, he flat out REFUSES to tell me when and can have up to 6 accidents a day!  He will scream and kick about the potty, even with GFCF chocolate chip bribery (something I swore I would never do!).  I asked him if he wanted diapers back and he said yes.  In the interest of being fair to his school, who still takes him potty hourly, and to my parents who watch him while I WAH FT, he's now in pullups.  I just don't know where to go from here! Help! How do I get him back on track?

[lisavark]

Not sure I have any advice, but just wanted to reassure you that my DD did the EXACT same thing. She was staying dry all day by 13 months, was out of trainers completely by 18 months, and then at age two all of a sudden started refusing ALL potty reminders. Bribery got us through that one (sorry it's not working for you! And yeah, I swore I would never do that too!), and now she's almost 3 and has started having misses again. Breastfeeding is the only thing that works for us right now...lol...I offer her mama milk while she sits on the potty, and that works every time. It's a pain in the boob, but whatever. :D Don't know if your LO is still nursing so that might not help you at all either. 

Could be that he wants more independence instead of being reminded? I think if I were you I would let him be nakey-bum as much as possible when you're watching him, and make sure that you have a really good potty set up so he can take himself without help. He might prefer the big toilet at this age, and he might also prefer standing up--have you tried teaching him to stand while peeing? They're all about new skills and self-care at that age, so maybe a new method (like standing instead of sitting) would rekindle his interest. And then just drop reminders entirely. And make sure there's a stack of prefolds and a laundry basket where he can reach them, and encourage him to clean up the mess himself when he has a miss. And just clean it up yourself, not making any kind of deal about it, if he doesn't want to. With just a casual mention that it's uncomfortable to pee on yourself and pee goes in the potty. 

Don't worry, everything is really hard at this age! Things get easier when you get closer to the third birthday! (Although I hear 3.5 is even tougher...haha.) 

[lisavark]

Oh, something else that worked for us sometimes was giving DD a bribe WHILE she went on the potty. When I knew she needed to go, I'd say, "Would you like to use the potty now?" "NOOOOOOO" DD would scream. "Would you like to have a yogurt raisin while you sit on the potty?" "Yes," DD would say, and I'd give her the raisin as I put her on the potty. Don't know if you've tried that already though. :)