Potty training when you don't want to just stay at home while its done

[Firawla]

I just started with potty training my ds yesterday (2.8) and seemed to go quite well, only one accident at first then he was able to wee on the potty and seemed to be able to go for quite a while staying dry not needing to use the potty, put in nappy for night and tried again this morning and only half an accident (started weeing then quickly realised and ran to the potty) but in order to go out the house i thought i'd better put a pull up on him, however he considers them as nappies really cos we use them interchangably with the other pampers ones (since he was under 1 yrs, cos he used to be active sometimes putting pull up on was easier) so because of having that on he just happily went on weeing in it as normal, he doesn't get bothered with it being wet or anything.

Not sure what to do considering he seems to be doing quite well at home without the nappies on, but he is scared of toilets (never agreed to even sit on it with the baby seat, so no progress made til i bought him a potty) also doesn't give much notice if he needs a wee so would worry taking him out with just pants and no pull up or nappy or anything, but we are out a lot so not sure whether doing it a half attempt with just using the potty at home is going to confuse him or gonna be a bad idea overall?

I think if i stayed in for a week and just focused on it at home he would probably click with it totally but I will go mad if I don't get out the house daily (as would my dc)

So what's the best thing to do, or has anyone just done it like this part time while at home and did it work?

thanks for advice and sorry so long

I should have thought staying in for a whole week would drive both of you mad! Have you got a travel potty? I just took a bag out with at least a couple of changes of clothes, a pack of wipes and a travel potty in it. If you did that, you could then just offer your ds the travel potty every time you thought he might need to go, and not worry about it all too much. (btw the potty doubles as a loo seat too, which might help ease the transition to using the big loo?)

You can do it only when at home until he gets more reliable, definitely.

As Aranea says a travel potty is the next step to this. Then you just need to find a quiet corner and you can do it anywhere, almost.

Also, there is a difference between pull ups and potty training pants. I'd buy washable ones, then they are more like pants than nappies. Bright Bots ones are good. They will hold a small wee so if he starts and realises straight away then his clothes will be saved.

When I first tried potty training DS I was all gung ho about staying home for it, took a couple of days off work and was going to do it Friday to Monday.

As it turned out I cracked with boredom after half a day, tried to go out with DS and ended up with wet trousers.

I had some health issues so didn't go back full tilt with it but just increased nappy free time at home and showed DS big boy pants, until a few weeks later he announced that he wanted to stop wearing nappies.

So I wouldn't beat yourself up and stay in all the time, he will get it sooner or later and I don't think they get confused about doing one thing inside and another when they go out. It does make the process longer but less boring.

hi thanks for reply

no i dont have a travel potty, maybe should get one although i have never actually seen mums getting these out for their dc so would feel a bit to do so (maybe silly i know) i suppose can just bring child + potty into the toilet area so wouldnt be too bad??

i just worry about him having any accident in stay and plays or anything, like some mums may feel really upset with it if he accidently weed next to their child?! cos i've also never noticed many toddlers having accidents out and about so that's why im thinking do most people just keep them at home until reliably trained, or else in pull ups when out?

i may be worrying too much, but have been really dreading the whole toilet training thing as i feel totally clueless, just felt had better make a start as he is getting older.

oh more replies while i was posting, thanks everyone

perhaps will just get the training pants then and the travel potty, and keep on with it at home only for another week or something then see if i can brave it with getting rid of the nappies outside.

if he would say himself that he doesnt want the nappies anymore to go out that would make it easier in a way, as i would have to do it then

I really wouldn't worry too much about having accidents at toddler groups. I expect you've just not noticed toddlers having accidents as it really isn't that big a deal. It certainly wouldn't occur to me to mind if someone's child peed near mine. I think my only reaction would be to help mop up.

I do think though that using pull-ups part of the time will probably make the whole process more drawn-out. This obviously doesn't matter if you're happy with that, but you'd probably find you were able to get the whole thing over and done with a lot faster if you just go for it with the pants.

I found the 'potette plus' travel potty (it uses liners but also can be used as a child's seat on a big loo) was a life saver. It packs up small, comes in a thick plastic bag and fits in a backpack easily. After two days at home my DS and I ventured out and have had very few accidents because of it. I also found that DS was so curious/nosey to see inside 'big boys loos' that he'd go and try to do a wee just for fun... Good luck!

that's really good after 2 days going out with it and hardly any accidents! i hope it will go as well for ds when i do take him out without nappy
i feel a bit tempted today as only going out for 1 hour but not got the travel potty yet so better order it so it's here when i do get up the courage to go for it.
what's peoples experience of the training pants i've had a look and some reviews were generally not that good so wondering to go for them or not, although i suppose might aswel just give them a try. i would want to get him the thomas ones from mothercare (thomas seems to encourage him so he is in thomas pants and thomas potty) but all the reviews on mothercare is 1* for it

aranea i think a lot of the places i go to my ds is the oldest or one of the oldest(cos i go with my 1 yr old too) which is why i think some of the parents may be a bit about accidents. im sure you can imagine the pfb type of parent of a younger baby having the my child would never ever wee on the floor! type attitude? but i suppose i will have to face it eventually

thanks everyone, he is still doing pretty well at home so will see how it goes

Hi again - I should have said, my DS was 2.9 when we started and I waited until he told me he didn't want to wear nappies any more, so he was driving the whole process really.

We are now two months in and he is still doing well. Only the occasional accident. I found the 'piddle pad' seat protector very helpful too... www.thebabycatalogue.com/The-Piddle-Pad---Seat-Protection/productinfo/BW2006/

I use it in the car seat or buggy. Only needed it once so far but it just goes into the washing machine and means you don't have to scrub out the car seat or whatever.

Re training pants, DS wears a pull up nappy for his afternoon nap (because he sleeps 2 hrs plus) but I have found that a pull up does not contain all the wee for a full night so he still wears a proper nappy for that. We decided to keep it as simple as possible for him so it's 'big boy pants' - Thomas for us too! - all the time, unless he is having a sleep. Also re going out, I've seen a potette potty in use in the corner of a toddler group now - the Mum had a toddler and a baby so couldn't get to the loos in time. No one batted an eyelid. Good luck - hope you had a good weekend!

thanks, will get the piddle pads i think just incase my buggy needs protecting. have still not braved the no nappies outside, feeling a bit bad about it as some of his same age friends seem to be going out without theirs but then he is not too bothered at all if he wears them so i suppose would be easier if he was bothered and did drive the process himself
& good to know the travel potties have been seen in action!

i did part time potty training cause i started quite young (2.1yrs) and he was fully potty trained 3months later!

he was fully independent at home and i use cloth nappies so put a thin insert in when we went out. i got a couple of pairs of training pants as well. i found a potty that was small enough to take out with us so spent a few months with it in a plastic bag everywhere we went! i would always ask him when i knew he needed to go when we were out and it took a while for him to agree to sit on the potty. once we were getting home with a dry nappy then i took the plunge and put him in pants.

we had a couple of accidents - mainly when i got distracted and forgot to reming him to use the potty. i had a cotton cloth for instant mop ups, in the bag with the potty. i've never noticed other toddlers have accidents either but i don't see how you can potty train without them!
we can now leave the potty at home and he's happy to use public toilets a few months down the line. i just took everything really slowly and if we were really busy then i put him in a nappy - like if we were out for the day somewhere unfamiliar.