Child using potty in public

[Moominfan]

I'm pretty easy going, bordering on complacent to mumsnet standards. Went to a fair today. Kid and dad in queue. Dad whips out Potty and the kid does their business there and then. Is this what I have to look forward to? Mines not potty trained yet. Would most people atleast go hide behind a bush or something? There were loads of people around. Place was heaving.

We watch dogs shit any and everywhere but draw the lines at humans?

I waited until the summer to potty train DS and we stayed at home for 2/3 days and suddenly he just got it! I am not sure I could have carried a potty around with me - I would have felt too self-conscious, and what a faff...

Dinosaurs that is absolutely grim

To be fair elephant dogs are really endearing and likeable. Toddlers are an acquired taste

@Copperandtod you don't need to wipe out the potty's that have lids. They wee in it and the lid closes. Goes under the buggy to the toilet. They are called "My Carry Potty".

Just use a toilet surely.

I have never heard the likes of this. Still a joke in my view I’m afraid

Agree entirely with lovely dream while it lasted

Both my DDs have worked in a local up market pub/restaurant that is popular with families. They have both been confronted by parents sitting a small child on a potty in the middle of the dining area. They were both too shocked to say anything.
If any parent does this while I am sitting at the next table they can expect to be blasted.

When dd1 was potty training, I used to carry the potty under the buggy and she would use it in emergencies. We spent a lot of time outside. On one occasion, she whipped the potty out in the middle of John Lewis and did a wee before I could stop her..I must have been looking on the opposite direction for all of 10 seconds and she just got on with it. I was absolutely mortified but there wasn't much I could do about it. To their credit, no-one (staff or customers) said anything.

@HarryElephante don't think I've ever seen a dog shit in John Lewis - you wouldn't let you dog piss in the middle of the floor so why should it be ok for a child 🤔

Nope, never done it. I've potty trained three boys and never ever taken a potty out with us. If they can't wait a couple of minutes to get to a loo, or behind a bush if absolutely no toilets around, I don't think they're ready.

My DS uses the potty in public wherever he needed to - middle of John Lewis once I recall.

Fucking gross.

I went to a parade about 2 weeks ago. Some woman took her child’s nappy off in the middle of the crowd and let him pee on the floor!

To be fair elephant dogs are really endearing and likeable. Toddlers are an acquired taste

Not sure about this, moonie. Both are an acquired taste, as dogs - like toddlers - often reflect the moron they're attached to.

No loos here either. Live rurally in a cluster of small villages, the only loo is at the doctors who openly admonish people using without having an appointment. Next nearest public loo is eight miles away.

Yet more bollocks performance parenting . 'Oh look at me being such an AMAZING parent - potty training DC where ever we roam' 'He's SUCH An amazing child - you MUST also want to gather round and applaud how he managed to use the potty and don't forget a pat on the back for me for being such a FOCUSED, child centred, parent ' ...

I have 7 children. Who all managed to learn to use the toilet without the need for taking a shit in public. Nor did we enter purdah during such periods . We just aren't namby-pamby over thinkers , planned a head and sometimes they had accidents but as they all wore pull-ups until they had sussed it - not anything that the rest of the world needed to be involved in.

Have to say I am more and more grossed out by this. When did it become acceptable?

Genuine question though- does this not undermine the whole point of toilet training? They're supposed to be learning impulse control, to hold in a wee until you are in a toilet (granted I can see how in rural areas, car journeys that is less practical in the early days) so isn't whipping out a potty wherever, whenever they say 'I need the toilet' completely counterproductive?

I think this is a problem when parents have “potty trained” but actually they have simply taken the nappies away before the child is actually ready.

If you can’t get to a toilet you at least make sure you hide away somewhere discrete.

don't think I've ever seen a dog shit in John Lewis - you wouldn't let you dog piss in the middle of the floor so why should it be ok for a child

I've never seen a child shit in the middle of John Lewis. How many have you seen?

For me with extremely poor mobility, when DS1 was out and about with just me, I would have to a potty..there is no way I could rush to a toilet! A one year old is way faster than me! But it would be discreet if he did need the toilet. I would use the potty in the car. I have never been to a park or anything like that without my DH. So he take my little one to the toilet. I would never use a potty in front of people for all eyes to see though!

I like to think humans have a little bit more intelligence than dogs. In fact I will admit, it never really occurred to me to compare the two as equals 🤔

I’m sorry but letting your child take a shit in John Lewis is disgusting.

A few weeks ago we went to a cafe and sat outside as the weather was nice. About halfway through the little boy near us sat down on his potty and proceeded to give everyone a running commentary on his shite. I don’t blame the child, I blame the parents who didn’t bat an eyelid that god forbid people may not have wanted to see that when they were eating.

I think this is a problem when parents have “potty trained” but actually they have simply taken the nappies away before the child is actually ready.

This. I think lots of parents want to say "they're potty trained" so start way before the child is ready. If the child can't wait a minute to get to a toilet or behind a bush they're simply not ready to be trained.

I heard a call bell go off at work at row 3 when I popped along a woman on row 2 had twins sat on potties on the seats one had already done a number 2.

GRIM

What a shitty person. Yuck

I know someone who used to carry around a cup for her child to piss in, even after he was toilet trained. She doesn't like public toilets so she would whip the cup out wherever she was - park, museum, library etc - and then empty it down the nearest sink when he was done. She never understood why people said that was grim...