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Potty training

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How I was treated by Tesco for putting my son on the potty!

289 replies

bubble30 · 10/07/2012 20:34

My son turned 2 in May and we are mid potty training. Been in to places like Boots and M&S and got fold away potty out in store for my son to have a wee. I've also used it in Tesco with no complaints from them. This morning I went in and my son was crying 'wee wee'. Got him out of the buggy and put him on the potty - I wasn't in the middle of an aisle and went t clothes section where we'd be more hidden away as that section was close by to us. My son did a wee but come to get him back in the buggy and he had the most hideous tantrum. Once I got himm back in the buggy, I stood up to find 2 members of managerial staff stood over me. They told me that there was a toilet in the store where I should have taken my son to. I explained that he's just started potty training and when he needs a wee it has to be then and there and I don't have time to get him to a toilet. They told me they undestood that but that there was a toilet I should really have used. So again I explained that I don't have time to get him to the toilet. The woman then said 'it's not nice for our customers to see, it's not nice for your son and now you've just caused a big scene in the store'. I said 'well now you've made me feel absolutely rubbish' and they both walked off. I walked out of the store but thought 'no I'm not having that' and I went back and gave it to them both barrels that I was disgusted with the way I'd been treated, I'd been talked to very rudely and spoken to like I was a child myself. The senior manager came down and was very apologetic and I asked her of Tescos policy was that if there's a mother with a tantrumming child, do you train your staff to go over and tell the mother she's created a big scene in the store. She was very apologetic about the way I'd been treated. I'm still fuming. I've used the portable potty in other shops without complaints and I've seen other mums do the same in shops too - that's the whole purpose of the portable potty being invented. I just wanted people to know how badly Tesco have acted in this instance towards a mother potty training her 2 year old. Can anyone else recommend best places to post to make sure Tesco know I'm letting people know about this? Thanks.

OP posts:
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Dawndonna · 10/07/2012 22:21

It's a food shop.
People have managed for thousands of years without portable potties and for quite a few hundred without their children having accidents in shops.
ffs, stay at home for a week. A portable potty is not so your kid can poo or pee in a food shop.

hmc · 10/07/2012 22:26

Good on you bubble!

BettySuarez · 10/07/2012 22:28

Good for you bubble Smile why not come and join us on some of the other threads?

SugarBatty · 10/07/2012 22:28

How do you empty this potty thing?! Do you have to carry it somewhere to empty it? It sounds like one of those pointless fad products aimed at anxious parents like those baby wipe warming machines! I agree with tesco. Next time drop your basket or abanndon your trolly and run to the loo. As a shopper I'd rather push an abandoned trolley out the way to get to a clothes rail than a potty of wee.

EnjoyResponsibly · 10/07/2012 22:33

A couple at the table next to me, DS and DH did exactly this in a restaurant.

I'm a gobby mare, but it rendered me utterly speechless.

YABVU OP.

BarbaraWoodlouseAspiringHooker · 10/07/2012 22:35

Great stuff bubble, very graciously handled Smile

sugarbatty the, erm, emissions, are soaked up into a pad and then tied up in a bag. Stupidly expensive for what they are but for emergency, no toilet, situations they are great. Not faddy at all IME though definitely not essential.

Hopefully you haven't ditched it completely, just removed it from your shopping trolley Grin

EnjoyResponsibly · 10/07/2012 22:36

Apols OP, good on ya for ditching the portapot and good luck with the training. Hope you can go back to Tesco head high Smile

GrassIsntGreener · 10/07/2012 22:44

Don't ditch it totally. Absolutely fab for car trips and beach days!

SugarBatty · 10/07/2012 22:47

Thanks barbara, I had visions of op marching through tesco to the toilets carrying a potty of wee! And good on you op! Grin

VivaLeBeaver · 10/07/2012 22:49

Bubble, I think we all do things without thinking at times, especially when stressed about potty training.

I confess when dd was just about trained I walked through town to the park with a normal potty in a carrier bag for park emergencies. Saw a nice top in TopShop window so thought I'd pop in and try it on. I'm half naked in the changing room when dd announces she wants a wee. In blind panic I put her on the potty. And then equally panicked I pulled her off again! I have no idea what I'd have done with the wee if she had done anything in it! I think we made it to a nearby loo in the end.

bubble30 · 10/07/2012 22:52

Feeling a bit less embarassed and ashamed now - just about! Going to go to bed and stick my head into fifty shades of grey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OP posts:
CotedePablo · 10/07/2012 22:55

Well done bubble for taking criticism so gracefully! And well done for taking on board some of the suggestions made on this thread.

Mumsnet at its best.

TheEnthusiasticTroll · 10/07/2012 22:55

and now im judging you op for reading that pile of pish Grin

pumpkinsweetie · 10/07/2012 22:58

Well done for coming back op, have a Wine and don't stress, we have all done silly thingsSmile
I have whipped the potty out at various outdoor locations but defo not in a shop!
I am never one to agree with tescos, this is an absolute 1stGrin.

MyDogShitsMoney · 10/07/2012 23:02

Just read this in one go.

Hands down, the funniest I've read in a good while Grin

Good on you for taking it on the chin op. You've got balls i'll give you that.

Welcome to MN, I've a feeling you'll fit right in!

iceandsliceplease · 10/07/2012 23:04

An enormous Wine for bubble30 - not many people get such a flaming and are so good about it!

I'll be honest and say that I was massively lazy about potty training - DS didn't wee on the potty until his third birthday and DD potty trained herself before she was 2 - I said to her 'If you do need a wee, you know you can use the potty if you want to' and that was it. She has the bladder of a camel, I swear.

EmpressOfTheSevenOceans · 10/07/2012 23:11

I'm almost tempted to nominate this for Classics as a shining example of how to come through a baptism of fire.

And it's not even in AIBU!

LeeCoakley · 10/07/2012 23:20

Now an apologetic email to the store and everything will be all right with the world.

hhhhhhh · 10/07/2012 23:28

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

jellybeans · 10/07/2012 23:33

I wouldn't have done it with my 5 DC. I put then in pull ups for outings until they were able to hold it in for a minute while we found a loo. We also went to the loo at the start of a shopping trip. I think most people would find it abit grim and what if the wee or poo gets spilled etc.

PenguinFeet1 · 10/07/2012 23:50

How were you planning to wash your hands? Or is that not part of potty training?

mumnosbest · 10/07/2012 23:55

Well done bubble for coming back :)

I love the porta potty. When our builders ripped our bathroom out both me and ds used dds (not at same time and i hovered). They are super absorbent!

pourmeanotherglass · 11/07/2012 00:06

I don't think portapotties were invented when I trained mine - I can't imagine using one in a shop, I'd have been too embarrased - However, we did have one or 2 accidents in shops - I potty trained late (they didn't seem ready, but I needed them out of nappies to start pre-school at age 3) and it wasn't a quick process. Pull-ups don't really help - they just wee in them and don't care and it gives mixed messages about whether they need to rush to a loo or not. Some people on this thread seem to have perfect children that 'got it' within a week, but it isn't like that for everyone.

PorkyandBess · 11/07/2012 00:11

Haven't read whole thread, but I think they were in the right.

You can't just piss in the middle of the shop!

Part of potty training is learning to hold on.

EmpressOfTheSevenOceans · 11/07/2012 00:18

For all the recent critics who haven't read the thread:

Bubble30 had a thorough flaming and accepted it with immense grace & good humour. She took all the comments on board, has apologised and stated that she will never use a portapotty in a shop again.

So be nice to her. Coming back & responding must have taken a lot of guts.

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