Do we need a travel potty?

[wishIwasonholiday10]

I’m hoping we will be able to crack potty training with my DD who is just turned 3 in the next month or so. I’m just wondering what we should do for out and about if we ever get confident enough to leave the house without nappies. We have a ‘My Travel Potty’ but it’s way too low for DD (she is tall) and she can’t even sit on it comfortably. Are there any travel pottys suitable for taller kids? I have seen some people get away without one but most of the places we go (playground, local forest, National Trust place) the toilets are pretty spaced out and we won’t be able to get there in time.

We bought one and never used it. Just take a spare pare of socks and crocs.

Tbh a three year old - especially a tall one - is going to struggle to sit on any potty. They’re aimed at toddlers so are small and low. I’d use a toilet seat and a step home as preschoolers have the physical skills to hold themselves on the loo / climb up etc. Out and about, you may find that she’s ok with you holding her on the loo seat in a public toilet but you can get folding kiddy loo seats for taking out and about if it helps her feel safer. I absolutely wouldn’t bother with a travel potty (even for younger toddlers) - they’re a pain to carry round and if a child can’t wait long enough to find a loo, they’re not really ready for toilet training.

Thanks for the advice. At home we have the Nuby toilet shaped potty which is a bit taller than normal pottys. We definitely need one at home as our toilet is upstairs and she is not at the point where she can hold on long enough to get upstairs (and also takes quite awhile to get upstairs as she can’t walk up yet). We do have a loo seat at home although she can’t climb up by herself. She has a gross motor delay and probably has the physical abilities of an 18 month old (but good levels of understanding) but I don’t feel we can wait much longer potty training with a new sibling arriving over winter and then starting school next September.

I’m fine to use a loo seat when out and about, I’m just worried about when the loo is too far away. We are going to try a solid week or two at home and see if we can get to the point where she can hold on for longer.

I'd get the my carry potty if you think she can't hold it in between toilets. My very tall seven year old has been known to use it in the back of the car if desperate - so can't be too small!

Get a potette, they fold up small, and double as a seat you can put on public toilets out and about to save dc from gripping the sides of a dirty loo so they don’t fall in. They are low, but fine for a child. It’s still kept in the car boot for long journeys if stuck

We bought a carry potty for my dd and it was a game changer. She picked it out in the shop and loved carrying it around places which seemed to make her want to use it more. It was easier to store underneath the buggy on days out and if you happened to be somewhere where you couldn’t empty it immediately then you can just snap the lid shut (still keep it upright though, I learnt that the hard way).

So yes for us it was definitely useful but different things work for different kids.

My tall 4 yr old used the my carry potty yesterday in the car! It may not be ideal, but surely for a quick wee when you are out it will be ok?

Thanks all for the advice! I’ll have a look at the potette ones as well. We tried the My Carry Potty at home several times but DD finds it hard to sit down on it and doesn’t seem comfortable enough to wee once she is sitting on it.

We never used ours. We took it to national trust places for a bit because like you we worried that the loos were often quite far away. But it never got used.

We bought a My Carry Potty but only used it a handful of times. They’re handy when you’re somewhere with no toilets but otherwise I’d just take a seat to go on the toilet. We went on a day out a few days into training and I put her in a pull up after much worry about it confusing her but she was fine and went straight back to using the potty. My friend on the other hand used carry potty everywhere they went so it depends I guess.

We’ve got a Potette combined travel potty/toddler toilet seat which lives in the car. We have used it about 3 times since potty training 2-3 months ago. Our daughter decided she was only going to use a toilet very early on and then decided pretty quickly she was also too grown up to use a training seat.

The only time we’ve REALLY needed it as a travel potty has been driving through the New Forest when she announced she needed a wee. She’s pretty good at wild wees now.

I really didn’t want to carry around a lidded potty. I saw a family once carting a buggy, scooter, helmet and carry potty around a NT place and just decided I didn’t want to do that.

I wouldn't be without ours. We got an awful lot of use out of ours in the young toddler years and even at 4, it comes on big days out/ long car journeys with us. We always prefer to use a toilet it possible.

It's been especially helpful these last couple of months where I am heavily pregnant and can't do the nature wees as well and she's not great at squatting and missing her shoes yet.

I also have other friends who have bought one and barely used it or not bothered with one at all and been fine. A lot of those friends generally go places where there are lots of toilets available or they are not far from home/ short journeys. So it very much depends on how your family spends their time.

I’m not sure why you’d need a travel potty at national trust type places where there are loos. When they’re little and newly trained you just need to make a point of finding the loo and taking them every 1-2 hours (depending on your child’s frequency). If you spend a lot of time in more rural places where there aren’t any loos at all maybe they come in handy but we never had one and twas fine.

With the National Trust place I was just thinking since it’s a 15 min walk at least from the playground to the toilets. I am pregnant and struggled myself to walk there and back and allow time for DD to play without being desperate for a wee. I guess there is nothing wrong with a wild wee in these circumstances but I think my DD will struggle to squat in a controlled way with her current physical abilities.

I have one of each of these potty bottles that stay in the cupholders of the car for emergencies, we’ve been using the girl one since dd was 2 she’s now 6 and still has problems with urgency.

Just make sure she goes at every toilet you pass while out. If you are in the middle of nowhere a discreet patch of grass for a wild wee is perfectly acceptable. Just carry tissues and spare socks/shoes just in case.