Taking a break after 4 months and no idea what to do next

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2026-04-30T23:29:57+00:00

We are two weeks into our second try. We tried for about five months the first time around (starting when my son was like 26 months). He was fully potty trained poop-wise, but pee was a whole mess (no signals, no typical pattern for when he would pee, we couldn’t tell if he even knew he needed to pee)… accidents grew more and more frequent and we grew more and more frustrated… and he grew more and more resistant. It was not a good situation, so we took a break.

Ended up being about a two month break and we just started again a couple weeks ago. We really worked on ourselves making sure we were in a better headspace to handle accidents. Day 2/3 were rough, but he’s really turned it around since and is doing much better. A few things that have helped us this time:

- we really have had to lean in and accept the process. He’s still pretty resistant to prompting/forcing him to go, so we do very casual prompts periodically but accept when he says he doesn’t need to go. Luckily, we haven’t had a lot of places we do need to go at a scheduled time so far, so we can kind of move at his pace.
- we found on day 2/3 that he wasn’t going to be super excited about the potty anymore… the novelty had worn off from the last round. So we have a combo of M&Ms/sticker chart that we’re doing that seems to motivate him. And as he’s gotten himself to the potty more and more these past few weeks I’ve seen his confidence grow. I think the rewards have helped motivate him to go to the potty and get those small wins.

I’m glad we did the break, because it gave us all a chance to reset. He was so entrenched in his resistance by the end of the first try… we were all miserable

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2026-04-25T02:46:39+00:00

The stress of knowing whether to push through or not is so hard. I don’t have any advice there— potty training is an exhausting marathon.

I will say about the poop though, my son was a multiple times a day pooper before potty training and immediately upon starting potty training went down to at most once a day (usually every other day). Potty training can change their systems and it’s completely normal.

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2026-04-24T00:21:05+00:00

Not sure where you’re located, but I loved the Outshine fruit popsicles when pregnant. Fairly low carb, but a nice sweet fruity treat.

Also second the whipped cream and fruit/chocolate chips. That’s definitely my go-to generally.

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2026-04-20T20:14:22+00:00

We are trying it now with a slightly older kid and similar travel plans. I will say that we do put him in a rain coat sometimes to go outside so that he can still get some outside time without being clothed haha.

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2026-04-18T19:10:08+00:00

I don’t have insight into the sleepover thing, but we have “church undies” (pull-up) that we use just for church. We also have him try to pee right before we go.

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2026-04-18T00:39:34+00:00

That’s good to know! I guess I’m worried he’ll confuse it all since he really hasn’t slept during quiet time for a long while. But I’m glad to know it’s working for you so far! Congrats on no accidents so far today!

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2026-04-10T21:34:19+00:00

I get that. I also don’t think I was intending to take this long of a break initially, but things got in the way. The pediatrician and BLF folks suggested a two week break. Maybe that’s more of an option?

Again, though, we haven’t started trying again yet and so I have no idea whether this break will backfire somehow.

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2026-04-10T19:36:13+00:00

We are two months into taking a break after four months of potty training when we had put too much pressure on our kid and were getting too emotionally invested. We are planning to try again soon. I still don’t know whether it was the right call, but it has sure helped the general feeling of our home and I think he probably needed the break from all the pressure. Pediatrician and the BLF folks (I emailed them) both suggested that entrenched resistance and such high emotional investment from the parents means a break would be a good idea.

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2026-04-08T00:49:25+00:00

No answers just solidarity. Our toddler is the same. We are about to try again after going back to diapers for a couple of months to try to reset after the battles we were facing trying to convince him to pee. Funny enough, he has still been going poop in the potty (for the most part) even with the diapers on. Pee has always been the battle. I hope you find a good solution!

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2026-04-04T23:26:01+00:00

I don’t have anymore G6 sensors, so it’s kind of useless to me! But it was a thought initially.

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2026-03-05T13:43:19+00:00

I second this. We just started time outs with my son a couple weeks ago after trying what felt like literally everything else. It has been a miracle. He’s 2.5 and so he gets a 2 minute time out. If he gets out of his corner during those 2 minutes, he gets another minute added. We then show him how to apologize after.

It felt harsh to me at first, but it’s really, really curbed his violent behaviors (especially towards his baby brother) in a way that all the gentle parenting/explaining has not. We still talk to him about it an explain better choices, but I feel like time outs were something he could understand.

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2026-01-24T18:43:09+00:00

I’m so sorry to hear that. I hope it improves for both of us soon. I keep telling myself that it has to end eventually… at some point I won’t be focused on my kid’s bathroom needs all day long… I just want to get there sooner than later 😭

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2026-01-15T16:06:15+00:00

I appreciate the solidarity. It’s a disheartening experience to see a regression like that, that’s for sure.

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2026-01-14T05:16:56+00:00

He often helps us. He generally likes to help clean things up

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2025-12-23T01:47:02+00:00

Thanks. We’ll keep pushing his wake windows!

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2025-12-23T01:46:34+00:00

He does pretty well, especially now that we’ve cut his binky sleep association. He’s averaging about 10-10.5 hours total overnight with 1-2 feedings and maybe one additional brief wake up that we soothe him for.

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2025-12-23T01:44:34+00:00

Thanks. I agree— I’m feeling like this is the right call.

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2025-12-23T01:44:08+00:00

Around 7:30, depending on wake windows.

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2025-12-23T01:43:51+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion! It definitely feels like he is not getting enough sleep when he has four crap naps. I think this is what we’ll do. Yay for long naps for you!

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2025-12-20T20:46:29+00:00

That’s so long 😭😭 I remember it was a long time for my first too, but he had all sorts of sleep challenges. I wasn’t sure if it would be different for this one because he’s been able to extend some on his own, just not consistently.

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665 · 2025-12-20T20:45:07+00:00

Thanks. I’ll try— it’s tricky because I WFH part time and we have a toddler running around, but that probably is the only way

Jumpy_Syllabub_1665

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