What do you do when your potty-trained 3-year-old starts peeing her pants on purpose after her sister is born?

Answer 1

First, realize that your 3 year old feels replaced. She has had her parents all to herself for the first 3 years of her life and now a new little baby has come into her life. She needs attention so she is peeing her pants to get attention. Even negative attention is acceptable to her, she will take what she can get. Obviously you couldn't put the newborn baby on the back burner while you devote your time to your 3 year old. What you can do is involve her more in her little sister's life. Have her be the new "helper." Even if diaper changes are slow, let her get things for you and make it a constant thing to keep her involved. When she is busy, she won't have time to be jealous. When she pees her pants, have her take care of her own mess. She must take the dirty underware to the washing machine (or wherever you put them) and she needs to bathe herself with a warm rag, then put her new underware on. If she made a mess, have her do the cleaning. She needs to know there are consequences for her actions. Reward her when she uses the toilet with hugs and kisses. She will grow out of this, it is only temperary. She still needs attention and she's feeling "pushed out". She's doing whatever she can to get attention. Your best option is to make sure you spend time with her doing enjoyable things, and when she has an accident, have her take care of the problem and withdraw a little, but don't punish her or make a big deal over it. After all, she's only 3 and doesn't really know much better. Once she knows how to do it, she'll go back to being potty trained when she's ready. You can help her by refusing to give her the attention she's seeking when she does wrong, but to make it work you have to give her plenty of good attention when she's behaving and helping.