Trainer pants or pull-ups - for wedding and holiday? Decide for me....

[Bozza]

We have been potty training DS (2y3m) since Easter and he is doing reasonably well with more dry days than wet.

We are going on holiday on Monday and this will involve a 3 hour drive. Also my sister is getting married in early July and while I am being a bridesmaid DS is going to be helping DH as an usher. So I have been wondering about buying either a packet of pull-ups or some of those trainer pants (with a waterproof layer) for these occasions.

Which do you think would be best? Currently in ordinary underpants or Huggies nappy for bed/nap. In a way I feel as though pull-ups would be a backward step although DS will ask to take his nappy off if, for instance, he needs to do a wee during bedtime story.

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Bozza - for long car journey I would say pull ups. I would recommend the Tommee Tippee Portable Pottee for other times (assuming they still make them). Basically a fold up potty with a disposable liner (a nappy bag lined with what looks like a sanitary towel). We took ds to Florida when he was 2yrs 4 months (used Pullups for the journey) and it was great for those inconvenient can't find a loo moments (like in the queue for Peter Pan ride), have also used it in the back of a car whilst in a jam etc. etc.
Re. the wedding - see how he is in July - if he is still a little accident prone pullups durng the ceremony wouldn't hurt - or have a potty at the back of the church and ask someone less involved in the wedding than you to keep an eye on him.

Depends on your anxiety levels!

When he was very recently trained, and in ordinary pants ,our ds managed to "hold" it in the car from Milton Keynes to Nottingham so may be it is worth your giving it a try on the journey. You could try pants and a care mat on the carseat if you don't want to go back into nappies or pull ups. We had a pair of Kooshies trainer pants for really long journeys, for example when ds was worried about using the toilet on the plane and especially when I flew with him alone, pregnant - too much worry and hassle. Ironically he was usually fine when he wore them.

We did have an accident in the middle of a christening once which we did manage to deal with discreetly but if you are both going to be occupied elsewhere at the wedding it might be less stressful all round to use a form of trainer pants. Mind you July is a little way off yet and he might be 100 o/o reliable by then. The difficulty might come if he needs to ask for help to go (is someone he knows well going to be keeping an eye on him for you) or if he is unfamiliar with where the toilet is.

BTW found the Kooshies better than the towelling lined/rubber outer ones - less sweaty and could hold a mishap better. Found Pull ups less successful because ds found them difficult to get up and down , especially if he had "trickled", so never really used them properly as it was often too late.

hth

Agree with you jaybee about wait and see for July. For the wedding its only the ceremony I'm bothered about. Once the photos are taken who cares...

LizS my anxiety levels are fairly low - its DH's that are more of an issue. Personally I think we could probably manage with a care mat in the car seat if I can persuade him to use the potty before we set off. I have already taken him to my Mums and back (1.5 hour journey) with no problem. But DH worries about if he falls asleep - despite having a dry nappy after all four naps this weekend (Fri-Mon). I hadn't thought about care mats before.

SB34 thanks for the tip on trainer pants being less useful. I just thought they were more hassle for me - ie wash them rather than throw away.

I'd go the care mat and a potty in the car for the journey. The amount of times we stop mid journey for my girls to do wees in the gutter is amazing, but I have never had accidents and I don't find that they wee if they sleep either. By the wedding he could be totally dry, so again I wouldn't worry, however I would ask someone else (DH or whoever) to be responsible. If he is asking for a wee, then it shouldn't be too difficult to stash a potty somewhere, or make sure you know where the nearest loo is.