My 3.5-year-old has been going through a "thing" for the last four months now where she seems to just hate using the potty. I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced the same thing.
She learned how to use the potty and stopped wearing diapers almost a year ago, and had even started going by herself. Then we made a big move--changed states, houses, and daycare places this past February. The daycare wasn't a good place, and she started pooping/peeing in her undies pretty regularly, which makes total sense to me. It was a difficult transition, and this was one of the ways she manifested feeling stressed by it.
But we got her out of the old daycare, found another place which she loves, and by all other indications, she seems pretty happy. She's eating really well (which is always a big indicator of her emotional well-being), sleeping well, seems generally happy.
So it no longer seems to be a "transition" issue. She really just seems to hate using the potty. I will see her doing "the pee-pee dance" or clenching up like she needs to poop, and I'll ask her to come to the bathroom with me. No dice. She SWEARS she doesn't need to go, refuses to make a step toward the bathroom, etc. It seems like the only time she ends up going in the toilet is when I physically carry her to it and place her on it.
And I can't always be right next to her to make that happen, of course. So for months now, I (or my dh) have been cleaning up poop and pee. We've tried to be so low-key about it--"accidents happen," or "oh well, next time we'll use the potty, right?--but we're not making any progress. I'm getting so sick of the smell of poop! We're at the point where she's generally wearing diapers again, and regularly soiling them, which she seems fine with.
When I ask her why she won't use the toilet, she says she doesn't want to. She doesn't seem particularly afraid of it or anything, so I don't understand why.
Has anyone gone through something like this? Is there an approach we could be taking that would be more productive or healthy? The last thing I want to do is make her feel bad, or pressured, but my frustration level is really starting to build.
She learned how to use the potty and stopped wearing diapers almost a year ago, and had even started going by herself. Then we made a big move--changed states, houses, and daycare places this past February. The daycare wasn't a good place, and she started pooping/peeing in her undies pretty regularly, which makes total sense to me. It was a difficult transition, and this was one of the ways she manifested feeling stressed by it.
But we got her out of the old daycare, found another place which she loves, and by all other indications, she seems pretty happy. She's eating really well (which is always a big indicator of her emotional well-being), sleeping well, seems generally happy.
So it no longer seems to be a "transition" issue. She really just seems to hate using the potty. I will see her doing "the pee-pee dance" or clenching up like she needs to poop, and I'll ask her to come to the bathroom with me. No dice. She SWEARS she doesn't need to go, refuses to make a step toward the bathroom, etc. It seems like the only time she ends up going in the toilet is when I physically carry her to it and place her on it.
And I can't always be right next to her to make that happen, of course. So for months now, I (or my dh) have been cleaning up poop and pee. We've tried to be so low-key about it--"accidents happen," or "oh well, next time we'll use the potty, right?--but we're not making any progress. I'm getting so sick of the smell of poop! We're at the point where she's generally wearing diapers again, and regularly soiling them, which she seems fine with.
When I ask her why she won't use the toilet, she says she doesn't want to. She doesn't seem particularly afraid of it or anything, so I don't understand why.
Has anyone gone through something like this? Is there an approach we could be taking that would be more productive or healthy? The last thing I want to do is make her feel bad, or pressured, but my frustration level is really starting to build.
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