now he is peeing and dodo in his pants
It happens. He's not quite ready. Put him back in pullups and give him some time. He will be ready. He's just not ready, yet.
My guess is that he was never fully potty trained. At 2-1/2, he just got lucky or was taken with the novelty at the time. But then the novelty wore off. I doubt he even knows he's going. He's awfully young.
Put the diapers back on and wait for his body to develop enough that he knows what's going on. You cannot force this.
did something happen right before he stopped telling you? were you having him go at regular times?
you can approach potty differently, you can stop trying and start again later, you can try the naked bottom at home and have the child size potty within arms reach so the child can get to it quicker, you can put a pullup on him and let him work thru the potty training setback on his own pace. or you can keep trying to get him to potty on the potty at regular intervals till he picks back up telling you hes gotta go.
I think he was potty trained in the sense that you were trained to get him to a potty in time when he needed to go.
Now he's older, perhaps more distracted when he's playing, and doesn't notice when he's run out of time to get to a potty.
Our son was trained at 3 1/2 yrs old.
He could dress/undress himself and rarely had accidents.
You can try taking him to a potty at regular intervals to have him at least try to go - every hour or two.
If he starts rebelling and refuses to cooperate I'd put him in pullups and try again in a few months.
He'll get it eventually - he won't be going off to college and still not be potty trained.
It's just aggravating to get through especially when you thought potty training was behind you.
Try to be patient with him.
This is normal. He's really young to be potty trained at all.
Imagine the brain as this big ball with windows all over it. Some are closed, some are open a crack, some are open all the way, and some are half way open. And they're moving up and down too. Opening and closing randomly.
You can see information going in and out of the windows like wind and curtains.
The open windows with massive movement are the stages your child is learning right now. The ones that are half way and lower are things like potty training, foods they like, behaviors, and the rest of their brain function.
Some windows are open and that skill is prominent and they're learning by leaps and bounds. The windows that are less are things they have learned but that have been put on the back burner, so to speak, while that new skill is going strong. Then when that new skill window starts lowering the others might open back up a little bit.
The brain is in constant fluctuation and skills that have been learned can seem to be lost. They're still there but not open so much right now.
So it's normal for kids to have a skill then it go away some then come back and go away and come back
He is still young and maybe was not quit ready. Go back to pull ups and wait until he is peeing on the potty most of the time before going back to undies.
My son was the same way. We thought he was fully potty trained and then he started with the accidents. He's not ready. My son was closer to 4 before he would use a bathroom other than ours. He wouldn't even go in his grandparents who he sees daily. Give him time. Hes a boy. I think boys are slower with this.
Addition: Please don't expect your child to be the same as some other mom's kids who trained early. Your child is having trouble. Just because she tells you that her kids were "done" early on, ESPECIALLY at night, doesn't mean that you should expect your child to be like hers, and is totally unfair to your own child.
I trust the pediatrician. The ped will tell you that not all children can be expected to potty train early. And night time is TOTALLY different. If you don't believe, talk to your ped.
Original:
Who says dodo? Please don't teach your son that word.
He wasn't ready to potty train. It's that simple. Now he has regressed.
Take a step back. Put him back in diapers and let him be. Wait a few months and then try again. Don't push him.
Children can only control two things in their little lives - eating and toileting. Using a toilet has to be their own decision. Try to do the controlling, and you'll just have a mess on your hands and a very unhappy child.
Don't wait for him to tell you. Go back to sitting him on the potty every couple hours. He isn't going to tell you because he's little and gets involved in whatever he's doing. The thought to stopping and running to the potty doesn't spring into his head until its too late.
Oh, yes, the regression. It happened with all three of my kids. Just stay calm, gently remind him where pee and poop goes, and be empathetic: "Opps, did you go pee in your pants? That must not feel very good. Pee goes in the potty. Let's go to the bathroom and get you cleaned up."
And fyi he is not too young. Prior to pampers, kids trained by 2. This isn't a myth. My kids fully trained around 18-19 months -including night at 21. They did have a brief regression at 2.5, but then we were done.
Kids frequently regress before fully mastering a skill. Just hang in there and be gentle and supportive.
