what to do during the potty pause

[anarchamom]

my little one never really had what I would call a potty pause. occasionally he would resist going to the potty, but no extended periods of not wanting to use the potty. He has always worn diapers b/c I was never able to keep up with he frequent peeing, but he has pooped in the potty consistently since 5 months. He has become noticeably more aware in the last few weeks so I've been giving him extended periods of diaper free time. We had a glorious week of him taking himself to the little potty to pee or poop often without us prompting him or even being the room with him. But the next week was the complete opposite. We've had to change at least one, sometimes 2, dirty diapers for the last week or so. So I guess you would call this a potty pause. He is still aware because he will tell us that he pooped in his pants. He has had a lot going on this past month, turning 2, language explosion, starting to sleep in his own bed (5 feet away from our bed) for half the night. I'm guessing all of this has something to do with it.

My question is... do you do anything during the pause? Is this something to work through or does it work itself out in time. Is this considered a regression? I am so ready for him to be totally without diapers. I can't even describe how ready I am. 

[hrsmom]

Just ride it out. Not sure of your kiddos age (if it's in your signature, it doesn't show up on my phone.) Training pants are a nice alternative to diapers if you're tired of diapers.

[riboflavin]

Twenty four months and a few month after can be a difficult time for EC I have noticed! From the experience of my DS and from reading on the boards for years, it seems like there can be a real resistance around this time and then-poof-suddenly they are a little grad by 2.5 years. You can ride it out like hrsmom  said, but that doesn't mean you can't try some techniques that might jump start his interest. We had to be really creative around that time to get him to want to be in the bathroom. I don't know if you have tried these things already, but try putting the potty in different locations (if you use a little potty) or have him go in a different place. Get a little guy urinal that attaches to your potty. Make potty time fun with little games (have him aim pee on the cheerio, ice cube, or shaving cream in the potty), funny potty songs and poems, have him flush and wave bye bye to the pee, etc. Have him close his eyes on the potty, add a little food coloring to the toilet water, get him big boy trainers or underwear, etc. Once Upon a Potty video and book helped my boys too. Good luck! Hope you have a little grad soon! 

Edited by riboflavin - 1/24/12 at 3:38pm

[hrsmom]

Great ideas, riboflavin! (hi!!!)
Age makes such a difference.

And by training pants, I meant eca-pants.