Just started -what do we do when we are out & about?

[yawningbear]

Hello there, we just started potty training yesterday, DD is 2.5 and has been showing signs of being ready but I had another baby 3 months ago so we put any training on hold although we have had a potty in the house and she has used it a couple of times. Yesterday she refused to put a nappy on and said she wanted to use the potty instead. She did one wee in it and went to nursery today in big girl pants, apparently happy to sit on the potty but didn't do any more wees in it. My main question is what do folk do when you go out? We tend to be quite busy and go out usually to a group or nursery in the mornings and then to the park or similiar in the afternoons. She usually does a poo mid afternoon. I already feel like a pack horse with the amount of child related items I have to carry, do I need to add a potty as well?! I am thinking I do, especially given the mid afternoon poo? Also what is best to do at nighttime. She was very reluctant to put a nappy on last night but we had no protector sheets so we eventually managed to get her to wear on. It seems to me to make sense to just concentrate on being dry during the day first? TIA

[girlywhirly]

Well, you could take DD's own potty with you, assuming it's not an enormous one, but might not be so practical around town or at the park where there may be nowhere to empty it. Also size is an issue because you'll need to take lots of spare clothes in the early stages of training, so I'd suggest getting a travel potty, especially for poos! Holding her over the ground for a wee is generally more acceptable, although best done discreetly and away from other park users.

I can recommend the potette, a folding plastic frame which holds a plastic liner,, incorporating an absorbent pad for liquids. You just dispose of the used bag afterwards. The bags tend to be expensive, so many people use inexpensive pedal bin liners with a cheap sanitary pad inside which is more economical, or just a pad of folded kitchen roll would do at a pinch. I wouldn't dispose of each bag after every wee if your DD goes little and often, only when the pad is soaked. The advantage of the potette is it is light and small when folded, but you can leave it set up while at the park and fold it when you go home. Don't forget to take loo roll and wet wipes as well.

For nights, waterproof the mattress. Unless you know for certain DD can stay dry while asleep (dry nappy for a few nights together,) I'd say keep putting the nappy on. Some DC are dry simultaneously at night as well as day, but they are a minority. Night dryness is only achieved when the brain makes a hormone to regulate the kidney's output and this is a purely developmental thing that you can't train.

[yawningbear]

Oh thanks girlywhirly, much appreciated. Very informative, I had heard of the potette but had no idea re:sanitary pads, what a good idea, just what I needed to know. Have ordered a travel potty, gave the park a miss this afternoon as DD's potty comes in form of a large pink duck and would need its own suitcase. Stayed home and cleaned up puddles of wee instead.

[NoseyNooNoo]

I'd second the potette. I'd also say don't stress about public accidents. I did with DD but am not stressing with DS - makes all the difference.

[paddypoopants]

I took ds's potty with me for a week or two - it was a pain but it saved me having to buy a special potty. I also made him wear those potty training pant things you can buy when we were out. It only lasted a week or so before we had progressed to a foldable loo seat that fitted in my handbag. We practised with this at home before we went.

[yawningbear]

Blimey, the things you end up with in your handbag eh?! Love it, thanks for the advice folk, much appreciated.

[jasper1980]

I agree with the potette!..DD is 22 months and trained a few weeks ago. Its easy to take with you. The liners etc are quite expensive. We found nappy bags fit in ours and are so cheap. Yes there is no absorbant pad but you can put in some loo roll in the bottom and it does the same job! We also stop and ask dd at every available toilet if she needs to go...but she has no issues sitting on a big toilet seat. Goodluck!