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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

So.... I am clueless. How do you go out and about whn potty training?

87 replies

meandjoe · 08/08/2009 15:01

Also posted in potty training section

DS is 2 and seems to be quite happy using the potty around the house. Runs to it himself saying 'POTTY!!!!' and all is going well. He's loving the praise!

My main question is how the heck do you manage to go anywhere, even a trip to the park or to grandparents house etc? Do you have to take the potty with you?? Or do you just use nappies and hope they don't need to go?? Or just use normal toilet (I have a feeling ds would find this a bit daunting as he's only ever used a potty).

My friend just used to put her ds is nappies whenever she went anywhere but surelythis sends mixed mssages with regards to using potty and telling people when they need to go etc. I really have no idea so please share your experiences! Ta

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Original poster

meandjoe · 09/08/2009 20:42

OK there seems to be so many conflicting opinions, arrrgh!!! Thank you for all your suggestions though.

I have to say I think a lkot of it comes down to personal opinion. For example, seeing a toddler using a potty in public would not make me boak, I would just think 'oh they're potty training' and not give it a second thought. However, I witnessed a woman holding her toddler in a squat position in a corner at the bus station last week while she peed and I did think 'urrrgh, surely you'd use a potty!!!!' Having said that when I've been out an about I have peed behing bushes etc when out in the country side s oI suppose location is key!

We have realised that ds can not pee on command so he won't go just because we ask him to if we are going somewhere, he seems to really need to feel he is 'full' before he will go but maybe that will come in time???? Basically we have just been keeping him in pants and just not going very far. Earlier we went out in the car (took wipes, extra pants and clothes!)but ds was fine til we got back anyway. Not sure how reliable this will be in future.

If anyone has any other potty training survival tips please let me know!!! Thanks everyone!

OP posts:

whomovedmychocolate · 09/08/2009 20:46

I just take extra trousers and pants and encourage DD to use the loo wherever there is one. Get a folding trainer seat so it's less irksome.

Lizzzombie · 09/08/2009 21:33

Someone suggested to me that for car journeys keep your child in pants, but put a nappy over the top. So they will have the feel of the fabric next to them, but the nappy will catch any leaks just in case.
It worked for us recently, and the car journey was only about 30-40 mins!

Lizzzombie · 09/08/2009 21:38

Can I just ask though, my DS is 2.7 and is not interested in using the potty properly.
We use it before bathtime & I ask him if he wants to use it alot during the day, but he always says no, and doesn't want to use it.

Whats the oldest that you think children (sons in particular) should be before they are potty trained?
I don't want to push him if he's not ready, but I don't want to not 'encourage' him to move on from nappies.

Sheeta · 09/08/2009 21:44

damn, typed a response and I lost it.

Just marking my place as DS is almost 2 and starting to show signs. Think I'll wait until he can actually say 'i need the toilet mummy'

Lizzzombie - he may be ready any time, but IMO (purely fuelled by MN posts) there's not much point 'encouraging' him if he's not showing the signs?

Sure SuperNanny would disagree with me though

herbgarden · 09/08/2009 21:48

DS would use the potty at bed/bathtime and at nursery but otherwise was in pull ups for about 5 months from around 2 years 3 months. I didn't go for the complete training as I was pregnant....Anyway,whilst on mat leave and when DD was coming up to 3 months so she was getting easier we were all at home together for a week not doing much. He'd had 2 days at nursery in pants (I then would revert to pull ups on days at home) and I decided to go for it. In 4 months we've had 1 accident and I only took a potty around with me for about a week.

I think the key is to do it when they are ready. I've got friends who were pushing disinterested toddlers into it - they all do it eventually some are just a bit slower. I've got mates whose (mostly girls) were fully trained by 2. I was rubbish as I could see DS heading that way but with sleepless nights and a newborn I couldn't face it - then when it all got a bit easier with DD I went for it - he was clearly ready then - if he'd not been I think I would have given up until he wsa.

Sheeta · 09/08/2009 21:48

oh, and I think 6 months before school is the latest - teachers don't seem too impressed at the idea of potty training

I actually remember a girl at school with (5yo) that couldn't go to the toilet when she needed to, I do remember feeling sorry for her. Mind you, my Mother was the kind to potty train at 9mo

oneopinionatedmother · 09/08/2009 21:49

after a few weeks, she was ok to go out without one for a few hours so long as she weed before we went out. For a longer journey, pop a potty in the car/ bottom of pushchair (ok, my pushchairs are quite big and still have room for potty + shopping). As Tescos do them for £3 all the houses we visit have one anyway.

for a journey she is likely to fall asleep on, i still use nappies. Though we don't do that very often.

although i took mine to the toilets whilst we were camping, with the potty.

gingerbunny · 09/08/2009 21:49

you can get foldable potty's from mothercare/boots. which can also fold out flat to fit on top of a toilet seat as well as folding into a potty. you just buy the special bags to go in them. as you're only using it out and about you don't need too many.
i always used to sit ds on his in the car park before we got back in the car to come home!
you can also buy washable piddle pads that go in your car seat/buggy in case of accidents.

herbgarden · 09/08/2009 21:52

Oh and I had one of those porta potty things that folds up so that it can pop over the toilet seat if you're out - now he holds on to the seat itself but it was really useful. I also used a pull up when we went on a flight recently just in case the seatbelt sign went on for too long or if there was a queue. We still went to the loo as he would prefer to do it that way but just in case - probably would do the same for car journeys if your lo isn't used to asking to go.

herbgarden · 09/08/2009 21:52

x-posted gingerbunny!

marytuda · 09/08/2009 21:56

I'm wondering about timing too. My son is two next week, enjoys discussing poo and wee wee, and playing with potty fully dressed, but any suggestion he might like to sit on it for the purpose intended is greeted with a firm "no". I'm not worried cos he's still young but if we've made no progress by 2010 I might start to wonder.

RortyDogOfTheRemove · 09/08/2009 21:57

I don't agree about waiting until they 'tell' you that they're ready. I think most children of just two are 'ready'; some, of course, are more obstinate than others and so it's more tricky. However, I think you just have to commit yourself to being close to home for a week or so; after that, you are likely to have sorted it out completely. I did this with DS at just two, and it worked wonders. It was just after DD was born, so I was in no hurry to leave the kitchen anyway.

Following this, I decided I was v clever at potty training and did the same with DD at the same age. When she'd been dry for Day One at home, I ventured to the library, full of my cleverness. She duly did a poo in the children's section .

So I'd say: if you're happy to stay at home (which really isn't that bad) and concentrate solely on potty training, there's a v good chance of it working for the vast majority of children - whereupon you can resume your normal life. But I don't think you can do both things simultaneously!

BTW, I never put them back in nappies after switching over to pants. In the car, I used to sit them on a towel with a Sainsbos bag underneath just in case. We did have a pottette, and it was quite handy in emergencies (I used it on occasion myself!)

Ditto at night. Two dry nights = nappies off for good. Ooh, I am so mean I think I am going to retrain as a supernanny.

RortyDogOfTheRemove · 09/08/2009 21:58

Oh... I've just remembered that Gina F's book on potty training was good. I didn't do the preparation bit, but the rest was very useful.

slowreadingprogress · 09/08/2009 22:09

I think it is a very personal decision but with DS at 2.7 I made sure we had a clear week with no plans at all and hunkered down to spend the time at home. Luckily for me DS was ready and there wasn't actually any 'training' to do, he just used the loo from that day on. But I would have given it a whole week if necessary. Longer than that and it would have been back in nappies.

I personally think that as soon as you can get them off the potty and onto the loo then that's got to help because then you don't have that thing of having to lug along portable potties and using them in public.

I hate potties anyway and didn't see the point, I think if you have a downstairs loo and can get to it within a few seconds then just use the loo from day 1. Much easier all round.

slowreadingprogress · 09/08/2009 22:10

oh and on the going out in the car thing - I put a towel on ds' car seat for probably the first couple of weeks - never used. Good old ds was a genius where potty training was concerned but don't think me smug, I have had my challenges in other ways!

newlark · 09/08/2009 22:12

Another vote for the potette - we have the "plus" version that folds out to fit over a toilet seat as well as being a potty. dd very happy using it. I've only had to get it out a couple of times as we have normally been within dashing distance of a toilet but generally find a quiet outdoor corner - not too public.

We first tried potty training at 2.5 as she was showing all the signs of readiness in the GF book but it was a disaster - she didn't recognise the signs until it was too late and every wee was an accident. She went back into nappies and I left it until a couple of weeks ago when out of the blue she started saying "I need a wee" and would then do one if I took her nappy off to sit on the potty. We've been going 10 days and have only had 6 accidents in total - comletely dry the last 3 days. Has made it a lot easier to go out than last time when I was basically stuck at home cleaning wee off the floor...

diddlediddledumpling · 09/08/2009 22:37

I carried something like this in a changing bag and took ds1 to any public toilets we encountered. He was quite happy to sit on it as long as I reassured him I was holding on tight. Ours has hippos on it, and he's still quite taken with it.

muffinmum · 09/08/2009 22:52

I got 2 potties, one for upstairs and one for downstairs a good 3 mths before was thinking about training,also got loads of diff books from amazon about potties.when she was always using potty at home for a poo then bought a potette, stayed at home for 3 days apart from dog walks then ventured out armed with potette, had to use it everywhere from discrete corner of waterstones to corner of the park.tbh never thought wd be a huge deal for other people as you dont see anthing other than a toddler sitting down, i dont show off the contents proudly.

Absolutely mortified tho when at the bank in little village where we live had taken in pushchair and dog and DD, noticed people in the large queue looking aound amused, thought they were looking at dog and then saw DD had taken out potette and proudly placed it on the leather sofa and was sat on it. raced over and said do you need a wee or a poo, she def said a wee so i put potette on floor behind sofa and then she proceeded to do a very noisy poo, was so !

FrameyMcFrame · 09/08/2009 22:56

just to say I never bothered with the potty at all. Yucky smelly things imo. just teach your child to use the loo straight away as they have to do that in the end anyway. saves lots of hassle with washing potty and means they can be put on a toilet anywhere you are out.
Also using pull ups when out and about never bothered mine,they still ended up toilet trained by a respectable age

FrameyMcFrame · 09/08/2009 23:00

Also, toilet training is easier in the summer!

NoseyHelen · 10/08/2009 10:16

I use a potette and apologise if this makes anyone 'boak'. If I had 1 child I would take that child to the toilet when we are out but with a baby in tow too I can't really hold baby (who won't go in a sling), and hold toddler on the toilet, and hold my bag etc. The potette has been a Godsend.

tryingtobemarypoppins · 10/08/2009 10:38

Great thread! But how old were your LO's when you started training???

giveloveachance · 10/08/2009 10:56

been trying with my dd, she doesn't want to wear nappies and when wearing knickers can hold a wee for ages, but wont use the potty or the toilet, she either wets herself or goes as soon as I put a nappy back on.

like the idea of the pottette as it fits over a normal toilet - would use it in the car i think in an emergency but cant see myself encouraging dd to use it in public places. I'd rather stop often at the loos to try I think.

can we fast forward to when they are a bit older - can we talk about do they sit or do they hover over a public toilet!!!!????

I can see myself using lots of anti bac wipes before letting her sit! Am I being a clean freak?

Mums with older kids - what do you get them to do?

PuppyMonkey · 10/08/2009 11:01

Mary, my dd is 2.4 at the mo. She seems ready - esp as she takes her nappy off if I put one on her now.

What I'm a bit stuck on after a week or so of mixed success is should I keep nagging her to go on the potty?? She is getting fed up of me always asking her and keeps saying !"No!" Or should I just leave her to it and if she wees herself, she learns a lesson?

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