Do you really have to spend DAYS at home to potty train?? <horrified face - mum of boisterous boy, we go out every day. Usually twice!)

[BotBotticelli]

Just that really.

Ds1 is 2.5 and I think he is ready to try potty/toilet training. He is very verbal - think he is aware of when he is pooing and weeing. Suddenly hates having his nappy changed.

But the idea of spending several days at home in the house with him horrifies me!! He is a very full-on boisterous little boy who needs lots of entertaining and stimulating. We go out every morning and every afternoon! (Home for lunch and nap in between).

Has anyone potty trained their child without being a housebound prisoner for days?!?

Also, as an aside (this is perhaps a whole other thread) he goes to nursery 4 days per week...so what do j need to do? Take him out of nursery for a week and try to get it sorted?

Gaaaah. No idea what to do.

Well nursery will be a huge help with potty training and they will have lots of experience so just let them know when you pick the day to go for it and make sure you send a bag with LOTS of spare clothes in it as he is likely to have many accidents for a little while.

Oh and some potty train quickly and others ( yes you ds!) take months so be prepared that it could go either way! And no I didn't stay in housebound for months with him

Since it's summer you can certainly go out for walks and things, just take some clean shorts with you!
Depends on the child. My eldest took about 5 days before I could go to shops or other people's houses. I think if it takes any longer than that he's not ready. My middle child was clean and dry in 24 hours, he was more than ready.
Put a disposable changing mat in the car seat, and be prepared for some al fresco weeing :)

We carried on going out pretty much as normal after the first day. We did have one epic poo accident on a slide though! You need lots of spare clothes, lots of wipes and to plan to go out to places you know there will be toilets (parks with public ones, soft play etc)

No, you don't have to stay at home!
Well, I never did with mine anyway, but only potty trained them closer to 3 yo - DS1 'got it' literally in 1 day, DS2 took a bit longer, DS3 was quick again, DS4 was hit and miss for months.

I just had them in 'big boy paints' that they got to chose, joggles for ease of pulling down (and up) and would go out with lots of spare pants and a couple sets of spare trousers. At worst they were wet until we got home - in half an hour

I never had any poo disasters, mind…..

You could always try one weekend and see how you go?
Nursery will be a great help - no need to take him out while he learns. Hand in some changes of clothes for him.

I used a reward chart (gold stars for every successful wee in the potty or toilet) and chocolate buttons (1 for No1, 2 for No2 ). Worked really well.

Give it a go, and if he turns out not to be ready yet, leave it a months and try again. It should be an exciting achievement, not a stressful anxiety-laden process.

Good luck!

Thanks all that's very reassuring! I was dreading having to stay in with him. Perhaps I could stay in on day 1 and then on day 2 do a couple of short trips out to the local park and local shop (5 mins walk away each).
What's the reaction like if your kid wees all over the floor in, say, tesco?!

What do you do? Tell someone so they can clean it up? Or do the best you can with wipes before hurrying off tk the loos to clean up DS??

Sorry if this is a daft question! Never really seen a kid have an accident in a public place like a shop or a shopping mall...

Ds1 only ever did a bit before managing to hold it and tell me so we could run to the nearest toilet so we never had any full scale accidents out, just wet underpants

Tesco (other supermarkets are available ) were brilliant the one time we had an accident there - mop person appeared immediately, we were ushered to a back room (toilets were miles away at the other end of the superstore), I changed DS3 there AND they gave him a lolly!
It actually helped him realise that all sorts of people were wishing him well on this endeavour.

Most accidents were mini-pees that were well contained in pants and trousers (another advantage of jersey jogging bottoms - very absorbent). If they are ready for going without nappies, they'll feel the wet feeling and stop oh to have that pelvic floor.

You don't have to stay in, but you will have to cart loads of spare clothes around with you. And DS was nervous of new toilets for ages so he wouldn't go on one. We had a full on puddle incident on a plastic seat in McDonald's. In fact I seem to recall that we just mopped it up with the clothes we'd taken off him and scarpered

Apparently most kids stop when they wet themselves and hold on for a few more seconds, but DS never has, he just keeps going. Nightmare!! Luckily all other accidents he's had have been at home.