Anonymous wrote:OP again. It's so hard to know what the right move is because on the one hand, he can absolutely hold his bladder and, after these few days, always tells us when he has to pee or poop. The problem is that he will not do it -- he's terrified of the potty. So he just holds it and becomes so stressed and sad and uncomfortable. Eventually, after many minutes, he'll either pee in the potty randomly, or will have an accident (where I know he doesn't fully empty his bladder, he stops midway to continue holding it once he realizes), and it will really upset him. It just makes me think he's a bit too young to understand.
We upped the rewards, too. It helped a little, but then stopped working. He's just still so hot and cold with it, at best. But the reason I'm leaning towards calling it off is that he's just not his happy sweet self. He seems stressed, honestly.
I would absolutely not stop. It's the first rule in the oh crap book. You need to commit mentally, no more diapers. Then your kid will believe you.