Hey parents! Dad of a 2.5 year old girl and having some struggles with potty training and curious to know if others have experienced this issue and what tricks/tips helped.
We started potty training in January and it was going well, we made it part of her nightly routine to go #1 on the potty before bed and would get a sticker reward (some tracker chart that pampers/huggies offers). She even started to say she wanted to go on the potty during the day and even made a couple #2’s, which we were excited for and told her how great it was she did this.
Then suddenly overnight she became incredibly afraid of the potty and is now actively trying to hold it in. We know she needs to go because she strains, yells “No” repeatedly and holds her bum as if she is trying to keep it in. We try to encourage her and tell her it’s ok and that she can go in her diaper if she needs to but the act of going #2 seems to really scare her and we are concerned of any side effects of her constantly trying to hold it in.
She seems to go at daycare with no issue (in her diaper, they aren’t actively trying to potty train her yet).
I understand people might not know the cause but curious to know if you went through this and what helped your toddler?
She could just be learning about autonomy and figuring out ways to express that. My kid (4, just as stubborn as his papa) still does this from time to time, and it’s frustrating - I just remind him that holding it in can make things hurt, and that we want to avoid accidents. Forming the habit of going potty before bedtime is paramount, don’t let that go.
Alternatively, I wonder if she had a particularly bad/painful experience and is now scared something like that might happen again. If this sounds plausible, and you and your partner haven’t seen it, maybe try asking the daycare if she has tried using the potty and if there were negative experiences.