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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to get the potty out in public?

57 replies

MrsMagooo · 16/04/2009 13:31

PTd DD about a month ago & all is going well.

I bought one those fold away travel potty to bung under the pram incase DD gets caught short when we're out.

We had gone to the park & were walking home, I had DS (8 months) too, there are no public toilets around & let's face it when a toddler has to go they have to go!

So I parked the pram, got out the travel potty (which has like a large version of a nappy sack inside it so anything that's in it gets tied up neatly & taken home to be put in bin or if one near by goes in a doggy bin) put it behind the cover of the pram & let DD do a wee.

An older couple walked past & the woman had a good old stare & said it was disgusting that I was allowing my child to wee in public.

So, AIBU?

Should I just let her wet herself next time

OP posts:
acebaby · 16/04/2009 19:22

I did this from time to time with DS. Most of the time we made it to the loo with the potty, but a few times we had to nip into the corner somewhere. I put a changing mat under the potty to catch any drips and shielded him as much as possible. I don't think most people noticed, and those that did were sympathetic.

YANBU, the alternative is far more disruptive, unhygienic and smelly!

Acinonyx · 16/04/2009 19:32

Some toilets are so tiny in some places and dd takes so long on her potty that I have had to put the travel potty up in the corridor outside the actual loos . Otherwise there would be the most almighty queue. People have always been fine about it so far....

I have changed her nappy in the park a few times. I try to go behind a tree but one person's behind the tree is usually someone elses full view...

Baisey · 16/04/2009 19:41

YANBU When a toddler has to go they have to go.
If parents ask me if they can get a potty out I usually let them go use the staff toilet (am I THE nicest sales assistant or what lol)

Gentle · 16/04/2009 19:54

YANBU

I once used our foldaway potty behind a weedkiller display in a massive DIY warehouse. Next to weedkiller, a few wee germs seem quite friendly...

Gentle · 16/04/2009 19:56

Incidentally, have you tried using swing bin liners with a cheapo sanitary towel in the bottom? Much cheaper than those replacement folding nappy liners and basically the same thing. Check for perforations first though...

HalfMumHalfBiscuit · 16/04/2009 20:12

YANBU to get a potty out in a park or change a nappy.

Old people can be so rude sometimes.

MuffinBaker · 16/04/2009 20:12

yanbu

bloody hell

kitbit · 16/04/2009 20:21

If a child has to go, they have to go. It takes a while for them to learn timing, and to accomplish knowing they need to go in the first place is huge. Knowing in advance comes with time!

nickytwotimes · 16/04/2009 20:25

Yanbu at all.
In the open it is absolutely fine and far better for the child than letting her pee herself and get upset.

Also fine becasue you used a Potette thingy. I did once see a person let their kid pee ON THE STEPS of Safeway. Yes, it was a while ago. Fair enough behind a hedge, but not on the steps, particularly when there was a reasonable, open public loo in the shop.

EnterStageLeft · 16/04/2009 20:30

church porch and GP waiting room (discreet corner) in the last week alone (wees only).

If they've gotta go they've gotta go. I think it's ideal to try and be discreet about it though.

everGreensleeves · 16/04/2009 20:32

I wonder whether the same old buggers who are pursing their lips at parents doing their best with pottying in public are the SAME old buggers who don't bother cleaning up after their horrible yappy mutts when they crap all over the park/beach/street

EnterStageLeft · 16/04/2009 20:41

Oh and restaurant toilets when she refused to get on the proper one the other day...

onepieceofcremeegg · 16/04/2009 20:44

I think that the woman was being disgusting and nosey and extremely rude. You were being discreet, shielding your dd with the pram. She (the woman) must have been having a right good nose, straining to see and find something to complain about. Nosey cow. Could have been my mil!

YANBU

ChippingIn · 16/04/2009 23:18

YANBU

They'd be the first one to complain seeing a 'child of that age' in nappies still....

When I was little they didn't have travel potties (yes, I'm that old!), but my Mum took my potty everywhere. I must ask her where the funniest/most embarassing place was! I was clean & dry, day & night by 16 months, so I think the potty had a lot of outings!!

Why do people care about seeing a baby having it's nappy changed? I often whip the LO's wet one off and a clean one on, on the tailgate, often with her standing up as she's been a bit funny about lying down on there lately, so I save any oouty lips for 'yucky' nappies - and if it is a yucky nappy I do try to save anyone else having to see it, smell it!!

Grendle · 16/04/2009 23:44

YANBU

My nearly 4 year old ds got caught short in a park recently. I pointed him & dh to a nearby tree in the middle of the huge field we were in (he clearly couldn't wait the long walk to the loo). Just as he was about to go he got this horrified look and said "Aaah I need a poo. NOW". Dh said "Now what?" and I replied "No idea, but sure you'll figure it out!" and picked dd up and kept walking . I glanced back to see dh holding him over a Tesco bag he had discovered in his pocket. It was a runny one too... Probably it was quite bad of me to have a little chuckle at poor dh.

Clary · 16/04/2009 23:53

Mrs Magoo that was fine IMO.

If you have boys it's easier as they can go and do it against a tree.

(or is that just my ds2?)

Concordia · 16/04/2009 23:58

yanbu
when i couldn't get the double buggy through the door of the toilets at my local shopping centre car park last week i had no choice but to put DS on potty that i keep in car and then tip contents (wee only thankfully) down nearest drain.
what do people think we should do?

lunamoon2 · 17/04/2009 01:27

Pmsl- excuse the pun- at Grumpys post. At least she didn't whip off a bit of loo roll from the toilet roll isle and then put the rest back!!!

Oh gawd.

Talking of which my oh would kill me if he knew I had told you but he was once caught short after a night out and the nearest place he could get to was the grass infront of the firestation. As he did the deed (not a wee) a massive light came on and a loudhailer told him to get off the grass!!!

I have never let him live it down.

Original poster
MrsMagooo · 17/04/2009 11:41

Thanks all - glad to hear that many others get the good old potty out too & it's not just me!

Onepiece yes she was literally standing on tip toes peering right over the pram so it's not even like DD was on full display!

OP posts:
YanknCock · 17/04/2009 12:45

YANBU.

I once saw a mum do this with her DD, right out in the open, no shielding, at the London Bridge station bus stops. I was a bit (no kids myself at the time), but then thought about it and figured it was better than the kid weeing/crapping her pants and getting on the bus.

Simplysally · 17/04/2009 12:58

My dd has wee'd by my car wheels on many an occasion as small children can't always hang on. One time we'd gone to the seaside in winter (as you do) and the toilets were locked. So we formed a human shield with dd in the middle by my car.

Re changing nappies in public, I used to try and find somewhere relatively private if there wasn't a changing area only to find some fool people following you to admire the tree or on one occasion, the cannon I was trying to hide behind. Maybe I should have asked them to hold the wipes for me .

feistymum27 · 01/02/2010 21:57

I have to say that the fold up potty has been an absolute saviour.

I dont drive at the moment and if I want to go to town to do some shopping it is a good 15 miles away. Therefore I tend to get the bus everywhere. The portable potty really came into its own a week ago when the bus we were one broke down on a very busy roundabout. There were a lot of children and parents on board. My two year old announced that she needed to wee wee, and as she's potty training at the moment I thought nothing of whipping out the portable potty and sitting her on it whilst she was in her push chair (with her blanket covering her girly bits whilst she went). Whilst I got some disapproving stares from other parents, the ones who had little ones themselves thought it was a bloody good idea - in fact one of them asked to borrow it as her little one needed the loo urgently (of course I wiped it down and changed the bag first!)

Have to say I have no quarms what so ever about my daughter using the potty in public so long as she is shielded from direct view. I've even had her use the potty on the back seat of a friends car before now as there was no where to pull over and we were stuck in the snow. Rather she do it in the potty than all over the back seat of a car. I am not physically strong enough to hold her on my own due to major problems with my back, so sitting her on a potty that I can tuck away is ideal.

Personally I would say if you have constant access to a house, public toilets or bushes then really good for you, however it is not always possible to do so - even grown ups get caught short from time to time and give the grass a good water from time to time!

NeedCoffee · 01/02/2010 22:01

Silly Bit*h, no course YANBU but then I am pt DD2 atm so I am going to say that

scottishmummy · 01/02/2010 22:07

yanbu,travel potty are discreet and bag is disposable.everyone uses them at some point

TidyBush · 01/02/2010 22:26

When DD1 was going through the potty training stage I took her potty everywhere with us (no folding potties then AFAIK). One day we were walking along the high street of our nearest big town when she announced that she was desparate for a wee and couldn't wait. So I whipped out the potty, shoved it up a quiet corner and positioned myself and the pushchair between her and passers by.

Well she did the bigggest wee I've ever seen - it nearly filled the potty to the top..... along with a giant poo that sloshed around in the lake of wee .

I had to slip a carrier bag underneath the potty, tie the handles together and carry it really carefully to the nearest shop with a toilet and tip the lot down the loo .

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