Stuck in a Potty Training Rut

Fredula

My son has been using the potty at home and at his Nanny's house for about 2 - 3 months now, and is really good at it - he pulls his shorts and pants down and goes, pulls them back up again, etc. Tells us when he needs to go.

I'm just a bit worried about how to progress on from just doing it around the home. When we take him out, we put a nappy on him, as do my parents who look after him 3 days per week and my mother in law who looks after him 2 days per week.

How do you manage, like if you take him to the park and he needs to go? Or if you're in the middle of tesco with a trolley full of shopping and suddenly he needs to go? What happens? He's able to wait a bit but I'm not sure he could wait too long. How do I progress on from this half way stage? It's difficult because we only really have him for 2 days per week where we can take him out and then it's up to the grandparents - my parents worry and are old and they get in a bit of a faff with things like that, so I think they will struggle with it too. MIL I'm not too worried about. But I feel that as we're his parents we should be able to do it and I'm just not sure what to do!

Walk_Me_Home_Cheddar

Tesco - Take your trolley over to the security guard by the entrance (there's usually someone manning a CCTV screen) and tell them your child needs to go to the toilet. They're normally fine with you leaving the trolley there with them while you go. Smiling and looking slightly harassed usually helps.

The best thing is to encourage them to 'have a try' on the toilet before you go out anywhere (or the toilets in Tesco before you start your shopping). The only time we went back to pull ups or nappies in the day was when we were on a plane and we really didn't want to risk it. Accidents will happen, so always keep a couple of changes of underpants / trousers handy.

Alikay

If he's starting to go an hour or so between wees at home, you should be able to predict if he'll need one when you're out. Tell him to have a wee before you leave the house and an hour or so later, while you're at the park, Tesco or wherever, take him to use the public ones. To start with you need to ask if he needs to go (or tell him) when you're out, as you know where they nearest loo is - he doesn't, and is used to hopping on his potty a few feet away, so won't be able to hold on for long.

whitewing

You can also take them to the toilet before you go out and while you are out, build in the loo breaks even if they say they don't need it. I used to say to my dd that mummy needs to go, then she would want to go too.

Along with the spare underpants, maybe also a spare top - we sometimes found with DD that longer tops or vest could sometimes get damp at the bottom. Make sure spares don't clash too badly with the clothes. And socks too (don't know if boys are different). Once they get the hang of it they don't soak themselves - quite quickly it is just a tiny dribble.

Wet wipes can be useful for wiping down the child to freshen. And a plastic bag for the wet clothes.

We found it helped to train in the summer because its warm.

I believe you can buy fold up potties now but we've never used one.

Amanda65

You just need to pick a week, tell him that he's not going to wear nappies any more and go for it, making sure you always have a change of clothes to hand.

I had a collapsible travel potty (I think it was called a potette?) when mine were little - a very long time ago so not sure if you can still get them - it folded flat and had a bag like a nappy sack with absorbent tissue at the bottom.

If he's that good round the house I am sure he'll be fine out and would think that the nappy is just confusing him!

chris_n_tj

We have our Granddaughter now aged 3. We kept, well we still keep a potty in the boot for emergencies. We found if we went shopping with her as soon as we hit the shops we went to the loo before shopping. Lol it saved a dash from the other end of the shop. Now she just tells us and she can usually hold it until we get where we are going.
Try to ask Grandparents to try without nappies if they can. Everyone needs to be singing from the same sheet for it to work I think. And lets face it, a few pairs of wet pants never harmed anyone, and little one will soon realise wet pants are not nice.
Good luck with it x

somethingcorporate

Amanda65 wrote: »

I had a collapsible travel potty (I think it was called a potette?) when mine were little - a very long time ago so not sure if you can still get them - it folded flat and had a bag like a nappy sack with absorbent tissue at the bottom.

They do exist, we bought one a week or two back from JoJo. Very useful things to have to hand.

Sounds like the design has not changed at all.

tyllwyd

Amanda65 wrote: »

... If he's that good round the house I am sure he'll be fine out and would think that the nappy is just confusing him!

I'd agree with the idea that it might end up confusing him - also, if he has good control and can wait a long time between wees, you will soon find that if he does wee in the nappy he will flood it, so he will end up with wet clothes anyway.


I think you are probably worrying too much - he might have some accidents and you might have a few dashes to the loo, but probably less than you think. I can appreciate that it is more difficult when he is with his grandparents, but it's a stage they will have to cope with - can they both go together when they take him out at the moment, so that one can dash off with him if needs be while the other sorts out the shopping or whatever?