Flying long-haul with a toddler who refuses to use a big toilet. Help!

[monstertufts]

DD (30 months) has been potty trained for ages - we did EC and she was out of nappies in the daytime at 15 months. Accidents are extremely rare, and she happily takes herself to the potty and deals with pulling her clothes down/up etc. However, she will only do her business either on the potty, or outside (with me dangling her in the air). She refuses to sit on a normal toilet, despite several months of pleas and bribes. It is even very difficult to get her to do a wee indoors at all unless it's at home and on her potty. She attends a playgroup twice a week for 2.5 hours, and she rarely wees whilst there: in the 6 months she's been going, she's used a potty once and wet herself twice. Usually she just holds it in. When she does have an accident, she is extremely upset about it, and it's usually because she's got stuck with pulling her clothes down or is somewhere unfamiliar - or (as happened last week at playgroup) because her dad allowed her to drink gallons of squash beforehand :D

So, how do I deal with taking her on a 7.5 hour flight, plus a few hours inside the airport beforehand? Would it be insane to take a potty on the flight (has anyone done this)? DH has suggested putting her in a nappy, but this just seems so wrong for a child who has been potty trained for so long, and so capable of dealing with her own toilet needs. Any suggestions?

portable potty?

take a potty
ime trying to rush them is counterproductive.

Thanks ... I'm happy to take a potty, but my worry is whether there would be space to use it. Airline toilet cubicles are very small, and I'm not sure how other people would react to having DD use it in the main part of the plane. Has anyone got any experience of this?

They won't let you use it outside the toilet
There will be at least one loo on the plane that is bigger for disabled use - you'd be ok in that on

Try taking the baby change table down, which can be found in most cubicles, and use that for the potty instead. Also, depends on the aircraft size. If there is a disabled toilet onboard, some are quite roomy. I'm planning on coming back from Oz, for a holiday soon, and thought this would be the best idea for our potty escapade as dd (2y.8mo) is rather particular. If all else fails, nappies will have to do, as it'll be stressful enough on my own with a 1yr old too x

Could you take something like a potette? That way you won't have to worry about emptying/rinsing the potty in a small space and they fold fairly flat.

Sit the potty on the toilet - it has a lid.
And maybe consider putting her in nappy pants - DS was toilet trained (and to use the big toilet) when I took him home to the UK in March but I still couldn't trust that we'd get him to the toilet on time, so he wore nappy pants the whole way just in case. He didn't even dampen them, but it saved a lot of anxiety.

Why on earth would people be ok with a child using a potty in main cabin area?.she is not really potty trained though is she. Why is she so bothered about these things.

I don't think staff or other passengers would be ok with you using it in the main part of the plane!!

I am cabin crew and using a potty in the cabin would be a no no, I am in the middle of potty training and we are flying over to the uk, and my plan was to just put the potty on the baby changing tray or if I can get her to use the seat reducer in this week, taking that (though so far has refused).

I am not seriously planning to use a potty in the cabin :o

I think taking a potty will be the way to go. I emailed the airline to ask about it, presumably they must regularly fly small passengers who need to use a potty, and it's in their interest not to be obstructive and possibly end up with a leak on their hands! I'll post back here with the reply in case anyone is interested ...

Here's the response from British Airways:

As you have already mentioned, we would not be able to permit your daughter to use her potty in any of the public areas of the aircraft, however on longhaul flights we do have toilets on board that have baby changing facilities which means the cubicle should have more room for you both. Alternatively, within the other cubicles, you could possibly put the toilet lid down and place her potty on the top of it, lifting her onto it?
Once on board your flight our cabin crew will be able to direct you to the baby changing toilet(s), although they are clearly marked visually.

I've flown a lot recently and I would say there's definitely enough room on top of the toilet with the lid down for a potty. Sounds like the ideal situation in your case but I'd seriously consider those disposable pottee liners because it will be hard to deal with anything else on the plane.