Advice on next steps with potty training when out and about

[DearDog96]

Hi everyone,

posted about a month ago about my just turned 4 year old who I was struggling to train. After trying consistently since then we’ve managed to get her to remain dry at home. She’s still struggling to notice when she needs a wee though and so out and about is a struggle since sometimes a toilet isn’t close enough! Because of this, DH and I have decided to put her in pull ups, while still reminding her that she should be using the toilet all the time. It seems to be working and besides the odd accident she’s doing well. The trouble is I don’t know where to go from here. I know I can’t keep her in pull ups forever, but also she can’t keep having accidents in the car or when out the house! Any advice would be much appreciated x

Do you have a car/leaving the house routine? Might help. Before we go out anywhere we say "we're going in the car / we're going to the park! It's time for toilet, socks and shoes" and then sort of chant "toilet, socks and shoes" as we go up the stairs to the bathroom, while tapping legs. Sounds a bit odd but it works. BSL sign for nappy is sort of tapping the hips so it started from there. And sometimes now she taps her hips when she needs the toilet. And then when it's time to come home we do the same thing. If we're out for a long time she tends to signal but that took maybe a couple of months. So we just did short outings until then (up to 2hrs max).

Also recommend getting a car seat protector and just going for it. Find a crash tested one like the axkid one ideally, just use it until you all have a bit more confidence.

Thanks for the suggestions, will think about a little routine we can do and definitely look into getting some sort of protector x

I really think wearing pull ups when out and about is confusing and counter intuitive. We have a my carry potty.

Stop with the pull ups out and about. That's a backwards step and you'll never learn.

A routine before leaving should include a toilet opportunity.

Most places have a toilet (or bush) in a 5 minute radius. Make sure you go as soon as you get somewhere if the journey was more than 30 minutes. Then same as at home, prompt every hour or so.

Put puppy pads on the car seat and take plenty of changes of clothes out. Leave most of the changes in the car and only have one in the bag.

Thank you, I’ll perhaps look into getting one of them