Set Backs

I expected Brenden to regress on his potty training when Lauren was born. I was warned that he would be jealous of all the attention she was getting, that he would want to "be the baby" again. I've been trying to convince myself that I'm mentally prepared to deal with that on top of having an infant. (HAHAHA! I'm insane, I know) But what I didn't expect was that one day, out of nowhere, he would stop telling us that he had to go and would have accident after accident, long before Lauren has made her arrival.

For a month he was practically perfect. Nighttime still had a few kinks but we eventually worked those out. I stopped worrying about it 24/7, which probably should have been my first clue to expect something. We were making pizza and, out of nowhere, he informs us "I'm peeing." Um...ok? Why didn't you tell us like you've been telling me for weeks? Why are you suddenly standing in a puddle in the kitchen? I thought he had just gotten distracted, which I knew could happen, and had, but not to that extent. I tried to brush it off as no big deal. Then, not 2 hours later, he said the same thing and once again he was standing in a huge puddle in his playroom.

The next few days were horrible. He stopped telling me completely, except at naptime and bedtime when it worked in his favor to tell us. He didn't even tell us "I'm peeing" so that we would know to rush him towards the bathroom. He would even laugh and exclaim "I peed in my underwear!" like it was fun. Maybe he thinks it is, I'm still not sure.

I tried taking away his rewards but that just angered him and seemed to make him even more reluctant to tell me. I was nervous about leaving the house by myself since I don't move as quickly as I need to right now. When we finally did take him out he surprised me by telling me he needed to go, no problem. What in the world is going on?

I'm still not completely sure, but I have some ideas. Part of his problem was the fact that he got in trouble when he started doing it all the time. He is much more responsive to positive reinforcement than he is to being punished. I should have known that since he's more likely to eat well when we clap for him when he takes a bite instead of sending him to time out for being a screaming mess. I also think that the novelty of using the potty wore off; he got bored with it. Besides, when there are 18 other fun things to be doing, why would he take time out of his day to use the potty? I eventually had to start recognizing when he needed to go (his very own potty dance) and then explain to him that if he had to go potty that we would come right back and continue whatever we were doing.

He's still not back to 100% but we're slowly seeing some progress. Maybe, when Lauren finally gets here and that lovely period of regression comes again, we'll be better prepared because we've dealt with it before. I would say I hope that he has all this out of his system and that from here on out it will only get better...but I'm pregnant, not CRAZY.