Oh Crap! Potty Training

has to wear baby diapers. I bet she’ll be happy when she can pee on
the pot. Let’s show her how you do it, so she can learn from you.”
Beware: this is to get you through the regression phase. You don’t
want to foster constant competition between siblings. You do want
your child to know he’s appreciated for his big-kid skills and give him
a one up on this new, cute intruder. Pride goes a long way in potty
training.
Remember: It’s not just the new baby and the attention thing that
can cause a regression. The whole family dynamic has been usurped.
There used to be three people and now there are four. Schedules are
mixed up. Everything in your toddler’s world has changed, even if
outwardly it looks the same (which is highly unlikely).
I maintain that kids are like gas tanks. They run on empty
sometimes. And when there’s a new baby in the house, just about
everyone is running on empty. But here’s the thing: it really doesn’t
take much to fill them up again. I’m constantly amazed at this in my
own parenting. Over a few days, Pascal will start nudging toward “off”
behavior—a little needy, a little whiny, a little cranky—just . . .
blech. And then I’ll realize I haven’t really sat down and played with
him or given him one-on-one time recently. When I do, the behavior
goes away. Like instantly. Our kids don’t need a bunch of our
attention, but they do need it focused. Playing Candy Land or Uno or
even giving all your focus to building the damn Thomas track. Again.
Everything we do as parents, we do for our children. Our daily lives
revolve around them, literally. So we think, How much more attention
could I possibly give this child? I also think that it sometimes feels as
though if we give them a little, they’re gonna glom onto us and never