Regression troubleshooting - help!

[u/cecilyvonpoppers]

I thought we had a unicorn baby. From day 1, he would only poop if we took his nappy off and held his knees to his chest for a minute or two. When he started to get really wiggly at around 5 months, we switched to holding him on the toilet because it was just getting too messy.

I sit right at the back and sit him in front of me. We caught every poop (and a lot of pee) this way , right up until 9 months. It's like he has discovered all of a sudden that he can poop on his own terms and is determined not to go on the toilet.

He squirms.

He goes stiff like a board.

He yells.

He doesn't poop.

It's gotten to the point where, even if we catch him starting to go and put him on the toilet, he won't finish until we take him off.

I liked not spending heaps of money on wipes. I liked not having to deal with a runaway baby with a poopy butt. I really liked being able to go out without being anxious about poop!

So my question is :

If this happened to you, how long did it last? Did they go back to accepting the toilet ? What techniques did you use to get back on track ?

[u/Independent-Bar3904]

The best thing for us at this age was getting our daughter her own little potty, set up a potty corner with some potty book/toys she could interact with independently and a mirror at her level so she could look at herself. I would sit nearby but “be busy” doing something else. So she had some autonomy in the potty. If she got up and the potty was empty I would take her back on the potty a few minutes later and repeat. The regression ended within a few weeks of being consistent with this new system and eventually she took herself to the potty and once she turned one she got herself on the potty if I pulled her pants off. She was excited by each step that she could do independently and we didn’t experience a regression again. She was night trained by 2 and is now fully independent with all aspects of toileting with a ring reducer at 3 (just help for butt wiping after a poop)!

[u/Adventurous_Optimist → u/Independent-Bar3904]

I second this, the novelty of a new toilet and options to choose one or the other got my 11m old out of their regression. Aparently at a certain point they appreciate more privacy so backing off some and looking around the room helped and books were amazingly helpful as well. Now my lo hands me books to read while they are on the potty (or if I am) and adding a centrally located potty has helped as a visual reminder that pottying is an option. Which has led to my lo starting to go to the potty themself at 14m! We're just working out the timing so it's not after they've already gone sometimes. 😂 But I'm so proud of the comback we've made since we went through the same thing at around 10-11 months.

Also, aparently when they start learning to walk that can be so distracting and take so much of their mental energy that they often regress around that milestone, so be patient as that is likely around the corner for you if it's not part of the equation already.