Babies are driven to practice all their newfound skills, and many parents find themselves with a newly standing, cruising, or walking toddler who will sit on the potty but pee only when standing after getting off the potty. They become fascinated with the standing they are practicing and begin to get used to the feeling of peeing while standing. This is just a temporary phase, but with persistent creativity you can encourage your child to start using the toilet or potty regularly again.

If your child is sitting on a potty or toilet without eliminating, even though you sense she has to pee, try switching to another position or location (like in-arms over a toilet, or a potty on the ground, outdoors). Try to figure out if the issue is that the potty is too cold, uncomfortable in some way, or just not what your baby wants to use right then. If your child doesn't eliminate within a few minutes, cue her when she stands up (into a cloth diaper, flexible container, or the potty itself or another container if pottying a boy). Your baby won't always want to stand, but your cueing her while standing will help her to keep on practicing releasing at will and retaining her bodily awareness, which is the most important thing. She will be able to transfer this skill to peeing while sitting again in the future. You can help your baby to remember what it is like to sit and pee by offering pottytunities right after waking up, when most babies will pee very readily.