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Original poster

Handling toilet training whilst out and about?

30 replies

accessorizequeen · 19/08/2006 20:15

Hullo, just seeking some advice on what the options are when out & about with DS now that I think toilet training is actually going to go the distance! There are no toilets down the street I normally take him (nearby shops) and we're gone for a few hours at least. Yesterday I took him & put a nappy on him as I knew I couldn't fit potty in the pushchair & buy anything as well! Also if just going for a trip in the car, do I have to stop by the side of the road & do the business & what happens when it gets to winter? Will he be able to give me more warning in the future so it's not such an issue? He's 2.8 & this is our 3rd go, we've been doing it for a week & only one accident today.
He doesn't want to wear nappies during the day at all, and I can see that I'm confusing him if I insist on it esp as we can be gone for much of the day. Do you take a potty with you, and then where do you hide the evidence? Is there a special travel potty I could get? I read about some sort of special bag that absorbs wee, are they a good idea or just a waste of money?
Help, finding training quite easy when we're at home coz he's clearly ready but starting to dread going anywhere particularly as DP insisting on nappies & then DS getting upset about it. Thanks!

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Pinotmum · 19/08/2006 20:20

Tommee Tippee do a travel potty and liners - I gor mine in tesco.

phatcat · 19/08/2006 20:31

I used pull-ups during the early stages of out and about - just for my own peace of mind really. It didn't affect things and I called them big boy pants, not nappies. After this stage we just found a quiet spot if there were no public loos. I also carry a Tomme Tippee travel potty in the car in case of being caught short on the number 2 front. Also these car seat liners are worth the money imo : www.urchin.co.uk/catalog/kids-travel-and-holiday/kids-travel-accessories/p_40020.html

Tommy · 19/08/2006 20:37

I have the Tommee Tippee portable potty which I've found really useful. I didn't use it for DS1 but he trained around Christmas so we weren't out much but DS2 is just about there now and we've taken the potty on lots of picnics and days out! It all folds up small enough to go in your nappy bag so it doesn't take up any more space.
I would recommend it. (and not just because of the name )

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noonar · 19/08/2006 20:40

i remember the best piece of pooty training advice i got was from my SIL. she said that you just have to ditch the nappies one day, when you know they're ready, and never go back on that decision. it is a pain in the neck, we took areal potty around for a while, and could often be seen squatting in the gutter, if i'm honest.don't have a problem with it myself, as long as i'm discreet-ish.( not me, dd!) just do it, and stick with it. i remember being on a plane during the early days , and as a one off, tried to make dd, 2.8, wee in a pull up , but she wouldnt have any of it!

threebob · 19/08/2006 20:41

I put ds in a pull up when out and about until he was coming home with it dry. He always has a wee before we leave and one when we come home and doesn't have accidents - he must have a bladder of steel. We must have more toilets here because I have never not been near one.

LadyTophamHatt · 19/08/2006 20:45

you need one of these

Don't use pullups...there are just nappies that don't undo after all!

I've just potty trains our ds3 (in 6days I might add......blowing my own trumpet) and we went completely cold trukey on nappies during the day. I took a pottu out in a bag if we were out(bought the fold up thing yesterday)

LadyTophamHatt · 19/08/2006 20:47

oh and BTW you can get blues ones

noonar · 19/08/2006 21:05

LTH, isn't the resulting bag of wee hard to dispose of!!?? my friend carried one round the park with her for half an hour. never did find out what she did with it!

gladbag · 19/08/2006 21:12

We're about 3 weeks into potty training, and I use a Tommy Tippee portable potty thing that I got at an NCT sale for 50p . It fits into ds' little back pack so he carries it himself. I just use normal nappy bags, and bulk buy the cheapest sanitory pads I can find to go in the bottom. That soaks up everything, and you can bag it or bin it like a used nappy. I do put him in a nappy for his nap, which is usually a couple of hours in the afternoon, and if his nappy is dry, which it often now is, I cut that up into 3 strips and use them in the bottom of his portable potty bag (is that awful ? just seems a waste otherwise). He's also good at weeing on an adult loo, so if we're out and about and I see one, then we go for a wee, whether he says he wants one or not. I was really nervous to start with, but he's getting really good, and if we do have accidents it's not the end of the world (except for today, when he was wearing wellies in an adventure playground, got too involved in his play, and filled his wellies with wee.... ah the joy of it!).

Toothyboy · 19/08/2006 21:36

This probably sounds weird, but ds1 actually preferred to sit on the Tommee Tippee portable potty without the bag!! He thought it was really funny to watch the wee trickle away (outdoors of course!). And it meant I didn't have a bag to dispose of either. Never had a poo situation, as he's an after breakfast boy (just like his dad )

Original poster

accessorizequeen · 19/08/2006 22:05

All good advice, thanks, will have to go shopping for portable potty I think. I haven't actually had to deal with poo on the loose yet, he either does them at home or not at all, I never know when one or 3 are coming! The thing I had seen somewhere was special bags that turn the wee into crystals (kind of like disposable nappies I guess)? DS has to be encouraged to 'go' in a nappy now, so I think I agree with the principle all or nothing although obviously easier for me if I used pullups some of the time. Not using them for naps, just put a bed mat underneath the sheet & hope for the best!

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Gingeme · 19/08/2006 22:17

Oh am I glad I found this thread Im going through exactly the same with ds 29 months. He does briliant at home with pants on and asks 9 times out of 10 for his potty and wears a nappy for his naps which can be up to two hours long. Hes been to our local shop and back with pants on and no accidents but any longer journey we put a nappy on him. Will try a Tommy Tippee fold up potty. They sound brill. Thanks

Reece · 19/08/2006 23:24

You can buy the 'potette' in Mothercare. They sell the liners as well.

LadyTophamHatt · 20/08/2006 07:16

it has an absorbant pad in it, noonar.
We were out all day the other day with ours, ds3 wee'd in it about 3-4 times and although there was a small puddle that the pad couldn't soak up most of it was.

I just tied it up, like a normal nappy bag for adirty nappy and put it in the bin....I would have bought it home if there wasn't a bin near by.

FrannyandZooey · 20/08/2006 07:28

I just took a potty and lined it with a nappy if we were in a place where I couldn't empty it. I usually poured it down a drain or something if we were in the park - I don't know if anyone was offended It was only for a short while in our case, as ds learnt to wee standing up (daddy power) and is now to be seen watering trees all round the town.

Original poster

accessorizequeen · 20/08/2006 09:05

Think I am far more squeamish than many of you, I still wee & poo bit disgusting to deal with which is why I can't decide on cloth nappies for the new baby! LOL at Franny's ds watering trees!

OP posts:

noonar · 20/08/2006 10:51

oh! i guess my friend forgot the pad!

threebob · 21/08/2006 02:50

Do you not have public loos in the UK? I have only ever seen 1 person in NZ with a potty in a buggy (and she was british).

Original poster

accessorizequeen · 21/08/2006 09:46

Doesn't seem like it threebob! I'm an aussie, I've just got used to it now. I've heard France is much worse There are some where I live of course, just in town rather than the little shopping areas I frequent. It's a PITA for me as well, I'm pg and starting to need to go the loo every half hour! Going off to buy portable potty this morning tho.

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elliott · 21/08/2006 09:51

Am I the only person who finds those portable potties a complete PITA? I think by the time I'd got it set up it would be too late anyway And they are so small...
Bought one for ds1 and never used it. For some reason bought another one for ds2 and have never used it....

We take the big potty, but tbh usually just do it wherever (park, trees etc). If going to town, then just incorporate regular trips to toilets and hope for the best....

LAck of public toilets is a problem though. Ds1 still often needs to go when we out and about (he is hopeless at holding on) and I am aware that at some stage we are going to have to stop watering the trees... (he's nearly 5).

princessmel · 21/08/2006 10:10

I hate them too elliott! We just used to take the real potty ( I had about 10 at home!)in a carrier bag on the handle of the buggy. He used to wee in bushes if we were in the park etc but otherwise in the potty wherever we were. In carparks, on planes, in shops if we couldn't get out quick enough!. Once we were in toys r us and had left the potty in the car so we just grabbed one of the shelf and used that! ds couldn't wait long at the beginning. We bought it of course after cleaning it in the loo(that made 11 poyyys) .If there was no loo then I put the contents in a nappy sack and wiped out the potty with wipes. If it was a wee in the potty and there was nowhere to tip it out i just soaked up the wee with tissue etc and used a sack. Its yuk but worth it.
I aggree that once you make the decision to do it 100% you don't go back to nappies or pull ups. If its cold then you just have to be very quick.
If going in the car or anywhere actually, I just asked if he needed a wee lots and did one before we got in the car ,one when we parked etc. Good luck.

Original poster

accessorizequeen · 21/08/2006 20:00

I think I just take far too much out with me to have a full size potty as well, & I often do the fruit & veg shopping down the street that kind of thing so the basket full & I can't carry anything on the handles. So went & bought a potette this morning, yet to use it but it seems fine. DS is making it easy at the moment, can't believe how stress-free it is this time round! Was actually quite taken with the potty chairs as the potty we have seems quite small, but managed to resist . It's reallly useful to see exactly how other people deal with stuff like this, it's the little things that matter! Thanks.

OP posts:

drosophila · 21/08/2006 20:10

Can I hijack?

We have friends that are toilet training there 3yr old and have been for about a year. She still pees and poos in her pants. Recently they came to visit and she was wearing pants not pull ups. Well DP is hyper squeamish about things like this and sure enough she pooed in her pants but luckily in the Garden. DP thinks they should put her in pull ups when visiting and is adamant that is what we did ( I can't remember) but I'm not sure they could or should.

It's go tot the point where DP doesn't wan tot invite them around until she is fully potty trained or wearing Pull Ups. IS he reasonable or are our friends remiss not to use Pull Ups?

drosophila · 21/08/2006 20:12

sorry for all the typos and 'there' IF Sister Isadore could see that......

fluffymum · 21/08/2006 22:57

Top tip for boys: I carried a little plastic bucket (you knw what I mean, a toy beach bucket) on my buggy when my ds was just learning. I now have discovered something even better... A LIQUID DETERGENT BALL! My ds 2.11 loves using it to pee in if he is in bath and now I will always have one handy in my bag! By the way, I too am with ditch the pull ups and go for it. From experience just ends in confusion. Be brave, go for it! My ds never got on with portable potties either.

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