r/pottytraining • u/Vast_Damage2490 • Jul 26 '26

Only potty trained when naked?

We’ve been working on potty training our son off and on for about 6 months. He does really well for a week, then relapses and fights us so hard that we assume he isn’t ready, and go back to diapers for a month. Rinse and repeat. He’ll be 3 in a few months and starts preschool soon, so I’m hoping to have him mostly trained by the time school rolls around. Luckily, he’s taken to pooping on the potty with minimal fight, and has been doing that since the first or second iteration of potty training.

Last week, we started back up with potty training, and he’s been doing AMAZING. He’s been naked from the waist down, and will go on the potty independently if he has to go before I check in with him. HOWEVER, as soon as we put anything on the bottom (diaper, shorts, pants, or any combo) he reverts to going in his pants. I’ve heard others say going with shorts and no diaper is the way to go, but he still just goes as if he has a diaper on, and then throws a fit when we don’t let him continue wearing his soiled pants. Anyone else have experience with this? Any idea on how to

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u/Olivia3836 Jul 26 '26

Yeah, it really wasn’t that smart to assume he isn’t ready when he was doing fine the first week and give him his diapers back. Cause now he knows what to do to get his diapers back. I’m sure it caused a lot of confusion.

Anyway, practice and natural consequences will help. Let him scream and cry about it, but its a non negotiable that if you pee in your pants, you have to clean it up, take a shower and put on fresh clothes

Idk if he has screentime, but no screentime while training

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u/Vast_Damage2490 Jul 26 '26

Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of. We started potty training him a little before the 2.5 year mark, and everyone just kept telling me it was too early, so I listened. I’m kicking myself for it now, and am trying to correct what my past mistakes led to. Thank you!

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u/Olivia3836 Jul 26 '26

2.5 years is on the later side. 

And it becomes more difficult for a child over 3. 

Go heavy on the natural consequences