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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Toddler pooing in car park

28 replies

MissHoollie · 23/10/2023 23:15

So no one else was batting an eyelid but there was a toddler sitting on what at first glance looked like a potty next to a car in a supermarket car park doing a poo.
They also did a wee .
Reason I know is because i was sat in the car next to them and it wasn't a potty it was like a little chair with a hole in it for the bodily functions to merrily land on the ground.
The dad was standing watching her and had placed the little chair on the raised diamond area to separate parts of the car park.
This wasn't in a quiet corner this was in a prominent position.
So Really am I being unreasonable to be gobsmacked.

OP posts:
Lovemychair · 23/10/2023 23:16

Did they clean up after themselves?

TryAgainWithFeeling · 23/10/2023 23:19

Did they clean it up? If no, that’s unacceptable, clearly they were next to a shop where they could get stuff to clean up with.

But if it’s just the fact of a toddler pooing in public that you’re gobsmacked by, sorry, that’s the reality of the urgent stage of potty training. I had to do the same with my child in a hospital car park once (but had a carrier bag attached to said potty seat, so we didn’t leave any mess).

bathrobeandpie · 23/10/2023 23:21

hopefully he just ran out of potette bags, did the best he could at the time, and cleaned up after.

marmaladeandpeanutbutter · 23/10/2023 23:24

YABU.

AlwaysPrettyOnTheInside · 23/10/2023 23:26

Yabu to be surprised at the level of feral a lot of people display on a daily basis.

Original poster
MissHoollie · 23/10/2023 23:26

I think you probably had to be there.
I've done similar myself with a toddler but taken them to a secluded area or a quiet area this was right near the door of the supermarket.

OP posts:
user1477391263 · 23/10/2023 23:26

Well, Dad has a potty training toddler who probably needed to go urgently. Maybe you shouldn't have stood there watching? The fact that you know exactly what the kid did there is a bit concerning.

I don't think kids peeing/pooing in public places is ideal, but sometimes needs must, and the dad presumably cleared away afterwards. Do you think we should ban dogs from public place too? They are always relieving themselves hither and thither and it's a lot more likely to leave traces all over the places where we have to walk.

angelikacpickles · 23/10/2023 23:28

I mean, little chairs that let children pee and poo on the ground aren't a thing, AFAIK. It was probably a Potette that is supposed to have a bag in it to catch the emissions. Are you sure it didn't have a bag in it? If he let her poo on the ground, that is disgusting. Other than that, when a toddler needs to go, they need to go. I don't think a car park is the worst place for it.

Goodornot · 23/10/2023 23:30

I can beat that. Parents did that on the door step of my office in the City of London. Right next to the revolving door entrance was a toddler having a crap on a folding potty. There were many cafes they could have gone into to use a toilet

I was too shocked to say anything

BungleandGeorge · 23/10/2023 23:31

Grim and unacceptable. There’s usually toilets in supermarkets too, or put the potty in the car

bathrobeandpie · 23/10/2023 23:35

BungleandGeorge · 23/10/2023 23:31

Grim and unacceptable. There’s usually toilets in supermarkets too, or put the potty in the car

you clearly never had a toddler.

angelikacpickles · 23/10/2023 23:35

Have these people entirely misunderstood how the Potette potties are supposed to be used??

Dotcheck · 23/10/2023 23:36

user1477391263 · 23/10/2023 23:26

Well, Dad has a potty training toddler who probably needed to go urgently. Maybe you shouldn't have stood there watching? The fact that you know exactly what the kid did there is a bit concerning.

I don't think kids peeing/pooing in public places is ideal, but sometimes needs must, and the dad presumably cleared away afterwards. Do you think we should ban dogs from public place too? They are always relieving themselves hither and thither and it's a lot more likely to leave traces all over the places where we have to walk.

Really? You genuinely think it’s ok for a child to shit on the ground right in the car park?
Here’s a small list of better options:

  1. poo in shop toilets
  2. They either just finished shopping or we’re about to go shopping- they would have had some sort of bag for the mess to land in
  3. do it on grass
  4. literally anything else
bathrobeandpie · 23/10/2023 23:36

angelikacpickles · 23/10/2023 23:35

Have these people entirely misunderstood how the Potette potties are supposed to be used??

I know they can be used 2 ways, but I can't see how anyone can misunderstand 😂

Cakeorchocolate · 23/10/2023 23:36

I can't believe how many votes there are for yabu!
It was a supermarket car park, surely there was a toilet inside they could gave used. Especially if he was missing the bags for the potette thing that might just have made it acceptable at a push if he had been using them.

And before anyone jumps down my throat that I must not have potty trained a toddler, I have. Only once do I remember using a potty outside and that was in a park with no facilities anywhere. And I still disposed of the contents appropriately.

MaggieMayNotBe · 23/10/2023 23:42

Only on MN do I read of this. Small children pooping in public everywhere. I never see it. Where do you peeps live? 😀😁

Ilikeyourdecor · 23/10/2023 23:57

My toddler pooed right outside a public building once. I had about 1 second of warning that it was coming so all I could do (other than let them soil themselves) was whip their trousers down and plonk them on a tiny bit of grass. Very embarrassing. Didn't even have time to get to our portapotty, which was about 20m away up two flights of stairs, let alone an actual loo.

A very kind lady helped fetch my things and I certainly cleaned everything up!

Toddlers don't have much control or give much warning. Assuming he cleaned up, yabu.

Livelovebehappy · 23/10/2023 23:58

I’m assuming from your post that there was no bag in it and toddler just pooed onto the ground beneath the potty? If so, that’s really grim, and absolutely not acceptable.

Brilliantlydone · 24/10/2023 00:00

I was once in a cafe and someone put a potty on the floor and their toddler shat in it

cadburyegg · 24/10/2023 00:02

If the child genuinely took a shit on the floor of a car park and the parent drove off leaving the little shit behind (the turd, not the toddler) then YANBU.
If the child was using one of the pottete things and no shit touched the ground, YABU

Bananananananananana · 24/10/2023 00:02

BungleandGeorge · 23/10/2023 23:31

Grim and unacceptable. There’s usually toilets in supermarkets too, or put the potty in the car

Didn't you see that the potty had a hole for a seat, they're not using that in the car😂😂😂😂

Bananananananananana · 24/10/2023 00:04

YANBU op anyway, that is yuck and antisocial to leave shit on the floor

BannedfromChristmas · 24/10/2023 00:04

Weeing outdoors is one thing but pooing is something else. In all the years of toddlers I've cared for, never have I needed to have them poo outdoors. Fucking skanks

Waitingfortheconferencehosttojoin · 24/10/2023 00:05

Absolutely fucking grim and unnecessary. And yes, I have potty trained a toddler before. 4 of them. If they’re so unreliable you need to let them shit in car parks, they’re not ready to potty train. (And three of my four were potty trained before 2 1/4, so it’s not like I’m into late potty training. Bloody hell.

bathrobeandpie · 24/10/2023 00:06

BannedfromChristmas · 24/10/2023 00:04

Weeing outdoors is one thing but pooing is something else. In all the years of toddlers I've cared for, never have I needed to have them poo outdoors. Fucking skanks

wow

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