Potty Strikes- what they are and how to survive them

Potty Strike is an EC term for a child whose parents are practicing EC to describe a phenomenon where the child will suddenly refuse most if not all attempts to potty them.

Here's how this looks: parents are lovingly offering their little one potty oppertunities regularly through the day, all is going well.. just when it seems their child has really "gotten it" and pees/poops on request and cues when mama and papa have forgotten. then suddenly...


THEY RESIST! they arch their backs when mama tries to potty them.. an offer of the toilet or even moving them towards the receptacle might make them scream, they get off as soon as they're sat on the pot or they "stand" over it instead.. there could be many more examples but you get it.. baby suddenly doesn't want to go potty.

Here's the other thing though- they also don't want to go in their pants. They aren't frightened of the potty though some may think they are. No, usually one of these things has happened and it's totally fixable:

#1 CAUSE- milestones.. it's no coincidence that "potty strikes" most often happen when baby starts rolling, crawling/bum scooting, walking, talking or any other thing that requires skill. 

It's not that they don't want to potty; it's that they don't want to stop their practicing to go potty. So what to do?

HANG IN THERE MAMA AND PAPA!! stay the course! Do NOT change anything except HOW you offer the potty. If they're all interested in what they're doing bring the potty to them or allow them to take the toy they're playing with along to the potty. maybe offer a distraction toy that's a potty only toy. But taking the pot to them is easiest.

Also try using some natural timing to boost your success rate: if they just woke up- potty. If baby's had a drink or a meal wait 5-10 minutes and you guessed it- potty! using generic timing and natural timing will most often work better in this situation because baby is too preoccupied to give you any signals.

#2 CAUSE- making life all potty AKA "hovering"

this is often characterized with a baby who still goes poop on the potty and maybe one or two pees but has begun to withhold pee and then has an accident.

THE REASON: when your baby was a sweet little newborn his/her bladder was smaller than a ping pong ball. But at 6-12 months this is no longer the case!

THE SOLUTION: If you're offering you older baby too many potty ops it can drive them crazy and lead to pee everywhere as your older baby rebels. This is a messy but easy to fix problem- offer the potty less.

here's how and it DOES involve misses, put a pair of well fitting trainers or a fitted nappy on baby without a cover. let them either cue to potty or wet it but don't offer the potty op unless they cue. write down the time they peed and then change them straight away. wait til they either miss or cue again. write down that time, change them immediately and then go back to your times and work out how long they went between pees. This is your new generic timing range.

Don't be tempted to let them be naked as there is then no reason to cue and they'll likely "just go". Be aware that they may be preoccupied and so set a timer on your watch, phone, oven.. whatever and when it goes off offer them a potty op if they haven't signaled yet.

and again use some natural timing such as when they wake, after a feed etc.

#3 CAUSE- Traveling or some other major change (family illness/loss, new baby)

THE REASON: babies are creatures of habit, they thrive on routine and well.. they're out of their routine and they don't like it.

THE SOLUTION: try to be prepared before you go away. Bring your own potty- it's amazing how many babies will happily go on your big toilet but then put them on a public one and they totally lose it.

Make sure you know when and how you are going to offer your baby his/her potty. Lastly use a nappy back-up while your out.

Everything is new and interesting and scary. give your baby a bit of leeway as new places can cause big emotional upsets. A baby can go from sleeping well, pottying well, babbling and eating everything that is offered to constipated and snotty in a matter of minutes when they realize they're not going home to their own beds that night and so be well aware that a potty strike could last the entirety of your trip and then you could come home and it could be all back to normal immediately or within a few days.

#4 CAUSE- Illness. This one is a no brainer, and well all you can do is wait it out. offer your baby the potty if they're happy to go but don't push it.

THE SOLUTION: once they're well go back to your usual routine and let them ease back in. Don't think to much about any misses they have over the next week or so depending on how sick they were it'll have really knocked them around. just go slow and they'll be back to undies in no time.


Of course there ARE more reasons for a potty strike but these four are the most common. And the last thing I want to say is take heart, it happens to everyone and potty strikes do not last forever. Stay the course and they will usually even out again on their own.