Question
We started potty training our 20 month old son 14 days ago. We thought he was ready because for the previous week or so, he had been coming to us and pointing to his diaper to tell us of an impending poop or pee. He was also interested when we took him to the bathroom with us. We read and re- read Toilet Training Without Tantrums, and we jumped in with both feet. For the first 5 days we had lots of accidents, but he made steady progress. By day 5 he pooped in the potty independently! A few days later, we had a major regression after a family member over reacted to a poop accident. Now he is resistant. He comes to us and points to his bottom to tell us he needs to poop or pee (he is not very verbal at this point), we tell him to go sit on the potty, and he either runs away, or goes and sits, but doesn't produce anything. He eventually spreads his legs while standing, and poops or pees on the floor. The only successes we've had for the last week have been when we catch him mid-pee/poop, and put him on the potty. He is very proud when this happens, and happy to flush everything down the big potty. He is already gated in our main living area, we have tried the potty bell and the "doctor", but that makes him resist more. He sees any form of us telling him to sit as a chance to resist. Do we need to go back to diapers for awhile, or stay the course?
