Is This Regression?

[sahm2three]

I have a 3.5 year old dcb who is all the sudden having lots of accidents. Well, actually, I am only giving him one chance a day, because then we put a pullup on. He won't tell us when he needs to go, when he did before. We ask off and on, and have just made him go. And when he has the accident he doesn't tell us, we just find out. Last week he peed while sitting on my couch. I have talked to mom, but she isn't much help. The dad was just deployed, and that may have some to do with it, although mom and dad weren't together and they didn't see dad that often, so I don't know if this has anything to do with it or not. It's just becoming a nightmare. Any ideas? Only thing I can think of is potty breaks for him every hour on the hour. We ask him quite a few times. Ugh. Just don't know.

[Heidi]

put the pullup on over the regular underwear. Your space is protected, but he will at least still feel wet.

When he does have an accident, be matter-of-fact. "oh, I see you had an accident. Lets get some clean clothes". Then hand him the clothes and let HIM handle it. Do not give him attention for it, and do not do it for him. If he asks for help, do only the minimum. It's his job, not yours, to fix it at this point, but no need to make him feel bad about it. We all make mistakes, but when we do, we have to fix them.

Tell him to bring the wet stuff when he is done, put it in a plastic bag (tied off for safety), have him put it in his cubby , and send it home for cleaning.

I assume they are pee accidents. If poop, I still only do the absolute minimum, and I DO NOT wash poopy clothes here. They are dumped (if possible), bagged, and sent home.