Potty training etiquette when out and about?

[tostaky]

we are 3. days in and yesterday at the playground, DS wet his pants. I went to a corner of the playground, took off his pants and ask him to finish his pee.
At which point a woman stopped to tell me it was disgusting....

I agree it is not clean, but at the same time, three drops of pee are not going to smell....
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so what is the etiquette bc obviously i got it wrong....
if in a busy street?
on a residential street? ( ok to do on a tree?)
at the park?
at the playground?
what if toilets are miles away?

Do i have to show that i also DS2 with me and im on my own to make pee in public more acceptable? ( or is that a very wrong question?)

[Roo83]

If I'm at the park I usually just take ds away from the playground bit to a tree or bush so it's a bit more discreet. When we started if we were out at the shops or somewhere I'd just take him every hour or so whether he needed to go or not. It's not long before they learn to hold it for a few minutes

[abr1de]

Just don't put him on a potty in a restaurant.

[TheLemur]

The woman sounds very rude, I think you are fine as you are... the peeing in public phase passes pretty quickly so don't worry/stress about one horrid remark. My lad has had his bare bum out in the playground plenty of times.

[Orissiah]

Yes, the woman does sound rather rude, however I would try and move my DD away from the playground personally - eg outside the playground behind a tree.

[acebaby]

That woman was rude. I have two "can't wait" boys and regularly have to duck into bushes with them. In the 3 years since DS1 has been out of nappies, I've never had anything more than a sympathetic look from anyone in these sorts of situations!

As long as you are as discreet as possible and move away from where children are playing, I don't see any problem with wees. Poos are another story of course...

[Ewe]

Also, what about when going to someone elses house, especially if they have new carpets?

I have been putting pull up on but it seems to be sending DD mixed signals.

[acebaby]

I put my DS's in very thick tracksuit bottoms, which minimised puddles. And I kept the potty close by. tbh, as much as possible, I avoided visiting people with new carpets and always gave them the option of visiting us or meeting in a neutral locatoin.

However, even with my DS1 (age 5.4 and still having accidents!) the puddles several times a day phase only lasted a couple of weeks.

[Indith]

I think a wee in the park is absolutely fine and my dcs have done it a lot! Otherwise I do hunt out a toilet, I suppose it needs some planning but then it will be years before you can places without some toilet planning! You have to try to get them to go before you leave the house. When I get into town then magically "mummy needs the loo" so we all go and I persuade them to go too and so on.

[sims2fan]

I had that issue when I was at the park with my nephew when he was 2 years 8 months. Suddenly he was telling me 'my wee is coming out' and sitting down on the climbing frame, I assume to let it all out! I whipped him off, ran to the corner of the play park where it was grassed, pulled his trousers down and let him wee. He'd still managed to soak himself first though, and didn't have any clean things so I had to take him back to his mum with wet pants on which I felt awful about! Don't know what else you can do when a little one needs to go there and then! Personally I think as long as the child is very young and you are not actually letting them wee on property then what else can you do? I was once in the town centre when a mum let her toddler wee over a drain. I heard someone comment 'that's disgusting, why couldn't she take him to the toilets?' But the boy was about 2 so probably at the stage when if he needs to go he can't 'wait' for a toilet, and the toilets were a 5 minute walk away, which is too long for a desperate toddler! I don't think some people realise that when toddlers are toilet training if they say they need a wee they literally mean they need one right that second!

[tostaky]

thank you!
i do make him pee before we leave the house and if we are out for a few hours, i do try to find toilet and make him go regularly but still,there are accidents...

[SandyChick]

I used a potette (mothercare sell them)It's a little fold up travel potty with disposable bags. It can also be used as a seat for big toilet. I kept it in the car so if we went anywhere without toilets we were fine. My ds would usually wait until we were getting in the car to tell me he needed the toilet even though I'd only asked him 2 mins earlier.

I don't think there's anything wrong with weeing up a tree etc at that age.

[putthekettleon]

we have a travel potty, haven't had to use it in the playground yet, but I always take it with me, and when we go to friends' houses.

I don't think there's anything wrong with what you did though!

[sarahtigh]

my sisiter was a frog type thing great for boys like a plastic jar with flip up lid can use insdie car too as does not leak great if stuck in traffic jam etc not sure about female alternatives of course!!!!

[TheLemur]

Have you got a link sarahtgh? Sounds good!