to use a potty in the park?

[garfieldrec]

My 29 month old is a month into potty training. When he tells me 'weewee' I grab the potty from under the pram and let him use it. Is this ok?

I empty into a bush out of sight etc. Whole process takes about 20 seconds probably!

With DD2 I took a potty out on days 4/5/6 of potty training (days 1-3 we stayed at home). After that, she’d cracked it and could hold on till we reached a loo.

Taking a potty out with you for a month after beginning potty training is a bit much, and suggests he isn’t really potty trained, tbh (or that you just cba to dash to a loo).

@Ginfizplease

I just don't see the need for this. I've potty trained two children and I just never needed to even consider bringing a potty!

But you haven’t potty trained in the midst of a pandemic where not all toilets are open for public use.

OP he’s just little. If someone’s offended by that then they need to get a life or a real problem!! Carry on

"There have been lots of mad dashes to the toilet and a few accidents, but I've never needed a public potty."

How on earth is your child wetting themselves better than them sitting on a potty behind a bush somewhere?

If there is a toilet nearby, we will use that. If there isn't (eg because they are all shut due to the pandemic), he can pee behind a tree like plenty of adult men do. Far better that than a 30 min walk of shame home in wet trousers.

Fine if it's in a private area.
Not fine if it's in the middle of the play area or something.
Children that age can't hold it for long.
But what do you do with the used potty afterwards?

for goodness sake competitive potty training!
Every dc is different - they may get toilet control at different times & have "warnings" of needing to go with shorter or longer times - at the moment dear mn you may have to queue or they may have less toilet cubicles in use (distancing! rolls eyes).
Whatever works for you & dc. ignore superior dms - I always reckon many have amnesia - because of course their dc was toilet trained perfectly in a week yeah right!
One of my dc could go over 10 hours without weeing - made for an interesting time potty training & when dc had an accident - it was the Atlantic Ocean
Basically ignore the superior dm -what ever works go for it!

I agree that still needing a potty a whole month later means he's not trained.

@OhCaptain

I agree that still needing a potty a whole month later means he's not trained.

Asking for and using a potty means a child is trained though. Otherwise they'd just piss themselves.

ps empty potty appropriately & use wipes to clean place in carrier bag

I just mean that surely after an entire month, he would have learned the cues of his body and be able to make it to a toilet.

I've genuinely never heard of a child needing a potty after four weeks!

@Ginfizplease

I just don't see the need for this. I've potty trained two children and I just never needed to even consider bringing a potty!
How did you cope if you were in a park with dirty toilets or no toilets at all?

Is it any wonder many Mum's feel like shit when other Mum's come at them with 'I simply would never!' and 'I don't see why you'd have to do that!!' over something as simple as potty training! 'Mine were all using the toilet and flusing by the time they were 8 weeks old and it was so easy!!' - sit down, Momzillas!

You're really not hurting anyone taking a potty around with you, especially outside and especially if your little one isn't a fan of it. You sound sensible and like you're being considerate with it so if it's working for you, great. If it's not, maybe try peeing in a bush, as other's have suggested.

My son wasn't a fan either and it took a while to get him used to it. Whatever works. I once saw a woman give a potty to a little girl in the middle of the cafe in John Lewis in Oxford Street and when the girl had finished she splashed around in her wee then dried her hands on the sofa her Mum was sitting on. Nobody challenged her so there's no need to challenge you.x.

OP stated there were no toilets in the park though. Otherwise I agree with you that they should able to get to a toilet in time.

What's wrong with 29 months? How is it different from saying 17 months when 1.5 would be close enough?

@AdditionalCharacter

Another who never took a potty out for any of my 3 DC.

Plan your trip, make sure you know where the toilets are, go before you leave, when you get to your destination and ask regularly if they need to go.

There are no loos down at the ducks!

'Mine were all using the toilet and flusing by the time they were 8 weeks old and it was so easy!!

Honestly, if you have to use hyperbolic sarcasm you're not doing your point much good really, are you?

OhCaptain How do you work that one out? DS3 has been trained for almost a year, and dry at night since Christmas. No accidents whatsoever in that time. We still take a potette toilet seat out with us, because we aren't always near any open public toilets, and it's not fair to ask a three year old who needs a wee to hold on for a couple of hours until we get to one. That doesn't mean he isn't toilet trained, it means there aren't enough public toilets in the UK.

@DancingInDespair

Fine if it's in a private area. Not fine if it's in the middle of the play area or something. Children that age can't hold it for long. But what do you do with the used potty afterwards?

I have an old bottle of water and some dettol wipes, takes a second to sort

YANBU! We regularly visit a local beach with no facilities so we’ve used a potette in the past. One of my DC has had UTIs in the past so I’d definitely never ask them to hold on

Exactly there are limited public toilets available right now. It's not just a case of waiting 5 mins for a toilet if there are none open

@OhCaptain

I agree that still needing a potty a whole month later means he's not trained.

How so? People are suggesting a wee in the bush at 4/5/6 years old, are they not trained either?! Toddlers can't hold for hours and hours.. so I take a potty out. He's used it out and about maybe 5 times in the whole month. He can hold his bladder for 2/3 hours depending on water intake.

Also, if you need a public loo when out and about, are you not trained either!

News flash, people need a wee when they're not at home!

Ffs mumsnet irritates me sometimes.

@OhCaptain

I just mean that surely after an entire month, he would have learned the cues of his body and be able to make it to a toilet.

I've genuinely never heard of a child needing a potty after four weeks!

You're deluded. AND THERE ARE NO LOOS AT THE PARKS AND DUCK POND!!! Please read.

@ChristmasCarcass

OhCaptain How do you work that one out? DS3 has been trained for almost a year, and dry at night since Christmas. No accidents whatsoever in that time. We still take a potette toilet seat out with us, because we aren't always near any open public toilets, and it's not fair to ask a three year old who needs a wee to hold on for a couple of hours until we get to one. That doesn't mean he isn't toilet trained, it means there aren't enough public toilets in the UK.

PREACH SISTER!

Oh dear, some of the replies on here: don't say 29 months, small child should be about to walk home from the park every time he needs to wee and so on and so on.

It really won't impact on his ability to pee in the correct place if you let him wee in a potty in the park. It will not harm him, nor stop him controlling his bladder if he's allowed to pee in a potty when he needs to rather than walking to the nearest open loo, wherever that might be at the moment.

Thirty eight years ago, or thereabouts, when I potty trained my son I used to let him stand to wee and sometimes that would be round a convenient corner; he learn very quickly that once he could control himself we had to find the nearest loo. At the age of 40 I know for a fact that he doesn't stand in the middle of a park and pee.

Just continue what you are doing OP and ignore all the competitive potty training posters.

If it works for you for him to use a potty in the park, use it, perhaps behind a bush though.

@pigsDOfly

Oh dear, some of the replies on here: don't say 29 months, small child should be about to walk home from the park every time he needs to wee and so on and so on.

It really won't impact on his ability to pee in the correct place if you let him wee in a potty in the park. It will not harm him, nor stop him controlling his bladder if he's allowed to pee in a potty when he needs to rather than walking to the nearest open loo, wherever that might be at the moment.

Thirty eight years ago, or thereabouts, when I potty trained my son I used to let him stand to wee and sometimes that would be round a convenient corner; he learn very quickly that once he could control himself we had to find the nearest loo. At the age of 40 I know for a fact that he doesn't stand in the middle of a park and pee.

Just continue what you are doing OP and ignore all the competitive potty training posters.

If it works for you for him to use a potty in the park, use it, perhaps behind a bush though.

Thank you xx

Firstly, I was agreeing with someone who'd said it. Why not pick up that poster's post?

Secondly, I've said repeatedly that you should do what suits you.

Thirdly, yes people need to use the toilet when they're home. And adults and trained children that I know can wait until they find a public one.

That's not a comment on your parenting. It's saying that in my experience, children who are fully trained can wait until they're near a toilet.

Or, I suppose, their parents don't take them places were the nearest toilet is two hours away as a PP mentioned.