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Potty training

Is your child ready for potty training at nursery? Here's the place for all your toilet training questions.

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Original poster

Please help me and DP resolve our disagreement about car journey

12 replies

fleacircus · 12/04/2010 10:14

DD started potty training at the end of Feb, was out of nappies and into pants very quickly although did have a brief 'relapse', (but I think this was really an emotional response related to her baby sister). She does have the odd accident and still wears nappies at night, but is pretty reliably dry during the day, is happy using either a potty or a loo with trainer seat, and definitely is able to wait for at least 10mins from first needing a wee to reaching a loo.

We are going on a longish car journey (London to Leicester, so a couple of hours) in a fortnight. DP wants to put her in a nappy, I think that's a bad idea. What do/would you do?

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thisisyesterday · 12/04/2010 10:15

i wouldn't put her in a nappy but i would line the car seat with something just in case

my worry would be that although she can hold on for a bit, if you're on a motorway it could take a while to get to an exit and find somewhere suitable to take her

anonMum2 · 12/04/2010 10:40

Without a nappy, if services are too far away or if there's traffic jam, then it's handy to have little potty or travel potty, so you could park at a safe stopping point and just let DD sit on it in the car, boot, or road side blocked by your car or any object. We've done all that before as DS is 22 months and when he does says wee, it's 3 minutes notice MAX!

Few weeks ago when DS was badly contipated and struggled to control his bladder, we put a pull-up on top of his pants so he'd still know pants got wet but car seat would be protected. He never did wet his pants on those occassions though so guess they've got better control than we give them credit for.

Poledra · 12/04/2010 10:49

I took DD1 from London to Scotland in the car when she was a few months into potty training. I did put her in a pull-up, and explained it was because I might not be able to find a toilet for her when she needed to go, and sitting in a wet car seat would be uncomfortable. She was fine with this, and didn't wet the pull-up at all. We took it off as soon as we arrived at my parents' house, and put her knickers back on.

PandaG · 12/04/2010 10:59

when at this stage we did put pull-ups on DC if there was any chance they would fall asleep, as they were not dry at night. DC both undestood that pull ups were just for them in case they fell asleep, and did not seem confused by it.

an alternative might be getting a piddle pad, or those disposable bed protectors to line the car seat with?

seeker · 12/04/2010 11:05

Use a pull up. Who wants a wet car seat, a distessed child trying to hold on or a distracted driver frantically looking for a place to stop. Honestly, this is no big deal.

CarGirl · 12/04/2010 11:08

We put a disposable nappy or pamper type pad in the car seat and sat them on top and a change of clothes just in case. Never had an accident in the car or had to pull over in an emergency. The travel pottete potty thing is great though because even if you get to the service station it can take 15 mins to park and get to the toilets whereas if desperate potty can be produced in a couple of minutes and the contents dealt with easily.

GrimmaTheNome · 12/04/2010 11:09

You can often be way longer than 10 mins from a loo on the motorway, and its illegal (not to mention very dangerous) to stop on the hard shoulder. And kids do tend to fall asleep in cars. Really it does make sense to use a pullup in the car till they are totally reliable. If you don't, then do use a piddle pad and make sure you've dry clothes accessible.

GoldenGreen · 12/04/2010 11:11

We still use pull ups for long journeys even though ds has been toilet trained day and night for 8 months now (we regularly do a 3.5 hour trip in the car). DS is not confused by it at all & accepts that when he tells us we need a toilet we may not be able to find one and stop in time - he likes to go back in his pants as soon as we arrive though.

He has wet the pull up three times I think - twice when asleep and once when we didn't get into a service station in time. It's well worth putting one on imo.

paisleyleaf · 12/04/2010 11:13

I also use to put a carrier bag under a prefold nappy on the car seat, have a potty in the car and a change of clothes.

girlywhirly · 12/04/2010 13:42

Use a pull-up, it will be far less stressful for everyone. You just emphasise that it is in case of falling asleep and wetting, or if you can't get to a toilet or safe potty place quickly, I'm thinking roadworks, motor accidents tailbacks etc. You will need to have breaks anyway on the journey, so can still take advantage of loos at services then.

DreamTeamGirl · 13/04/2010 00:26

As a one off I would def use a pull up and explain it to her
I cant see it would be at all confusing

Original poster

fleacircus · 16/04/2010 20:59

Thanks. Will capitulate.

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