Ways to Deal with Potty Training Regression

Giving a child toilet training, requires the same amount of patience, understanding and hard work on the mother's part, as she perhaps undertook while teaching the child how to walk, talk or eat. There cannot be a single acceptable technique which a mother can follow to potty train a child, as no two children are the same. So parents have to come with their own methods to potty train their child. It may also sometimes happen that when a child is fully toilet-trained, suddenly he may start unlearning whatever he has learned. This problem occurs in many children for a variety of causes. Let us know the common reasons, followed by ways to deal with potty training regression

Causes

Stress
When your potty-trained child regresses, it could be due to some sort of stress that the child may be encountering. A child can be suffering from stress due to a variety of reasons such as divorce between his parents, change in his day care or change in his nanny or teacher.

Learning New Skills
It could be due to the child's curiosity to learn new things, once he has mastered the old skill. Many mothers must have seen that once a toddler learns the skills of how to crawl or roll over, he moves on to learn something new such as walking. The same thing happens when a child potty trains. Once a child has learned this skill in and out, he moves on to the next interesting thing to explore and learn, leading to potty regression.

Illness
A child may refuse to go to toilet if he experiences some illness such as a urinary tract infection, which might be causing him pain when he urinates. Constipation, dietary problems, blockage in small penile openings in boys or any bladder problem, which a child may have, might be instigating him to avoid going to the toilet.

Fear
Another reason could be due to some fear a child may develop regarding the same. Some of the commonly experienced ones are getting his hands dirty when cleaning himself, loud sound of the toilet flush, pain in the stomach, etc.

Solutions

Attention and Positive Affirmations
If the child is under stress, a good way to relax him would be to give him your full attention and to remain positive while teaching him. If the child is showing potty training resistance, do not make your disappointment obvious. Also, do not shout or punish the child as it will make him even more stressful and he will not be able to learn anything.

Discipline
Disciplining is very important when potty training both boys and girls. Maintaining a consistency and forming a routine for toilet visits, will help in disciplining the child. Motivating the child with rewards is another good way to deal with this problem.

Explain and Guide
When the child is busy with other activities or playing, he may not like to go to the toilet as he wouldn't want his activities to get interrupted. If this is the case, the mother should not go by what the child says, instead she should very patiently explain the child the importance of staying clean, dry and hygienic. However, if the child refuses to budge and throws tantrums, then the mother should guide the child to the bathroom at regular intervals.

Support
Sometimes children have a fear that if they go to the bathroom, their toys or games, which they were playing with, wouldn't be there, especially if the child is playing with his friends or his siblings. In such a case, the mother should assure the child that she will take care of his things, while he is in the toilet. In most cases, this will do the trick.

Potty training regression can be easily dealt with, if the parents are supportive and the child is able to trust them. Of course, if some illness is causing it, getting it treated first, will automatically solve the problem. Along with this, assuring the child from time to time, that you love him and will support him irrespective of how may times he fails while learning a particular skill, is equally important.