challenges

Some stages of the EC journey can seem more difficult and you may feel as though you are going backwards...

Rest assured that these challenges are temporary - sometimes known as potty pauses - and when your little one gets back to it, you'll be doing better than before.

There are times when more misses are likely:

Developmental milestones - rolling, teething, crawling, walking
Being extra tired or having more people around - if you are extra tired that can also translate in more misses too
Reactions to food or other environmental things (chemicals or pollens)
Getting sick
Family disruptions - eg moving, people coming to stay, travel, etc

If you can identify likely reasons for the pause, then just roll with it and try again.
Some times it may be only after the fact that you will be able to look back and understand why your baby wasn't responding to potty opps like before.
At times like this when your baby protests sitting on the potty or refuses to go on the toilet and then makes a mess on the floor seconds later, you may like to use the "Three Strikes and You're Out" Rule.
Give your little one three chances and then step back. If you are using training pants and get tired of repeated negative reactions to your offers, you might retreat to using a diaper or nappy and offering less until you again have the energy or mind space to go back to a more frequent potty offers.
Becoming stressed about the situation will only make things worse.

When dealing with life stresses:

Cut back to offering just on waking and before bed, if that is all you can manage.
Add in other offers when and as you can.
Talk about wee and poo when you change her nappies.
Take care of yourself and nap when LO does. Subscribe to Daily Groove http://www.enjoyparenting.com/dailygroove and read the emails every week day.
Practise postponing or refusing non-essential requests from people outside your immediate family (and especially difficult extended family members).