For Those Who Are Potty-Training or Have Potty-Trained Your Little Ones...

[audball]

We had a playdate with a little boy here who was potty training. In order to not confuse her son, this mom put him in big boy underwear instead of pull-ups (fine)...I guess they are going the route of cold-turkey training.

Anyway, this child had no less than 3 accidents while visiting for 2 hours. No wonder the mom came with a giant backpack! :)

Seeing as DD is going to be going through this soon and I anticipate maybe this many changes, what tips can you share for:
1. what you put in the bag (extra pants, underwear, plastic bags, paper towels? :))
2. which type of bag was most useful (backpack, messenger?)
3. potty-chair covers? portable seat?
4. actual bags you used?

I guess this is why you don't invest in too many pretty bags! :) - LOL!

[Ami]

I trained my daughter ( I understands that girls are much easier than boys) I never had the experience of 3 accidents in 2 hours. I was always mindful of what she just drank and asked her often about going. Little ones will have accidents because they don't want to miss out on any of the action at a playdate and don't tell you that they have to go. I did always carry plastic bags, ziplocks and wet wipes.) Maybe a small towel. Extra pants, underwear -3 pair, some snacks, and maybe rewards. I use a backpack but that is what I have carried since grade school. I never used pottie covers or a portable seat. The Baby Whisperer recommends "start as you mean to go on" and if you start with those I was wandering how I would ever transition out of them. My DD sat on the adult toilet seat and learned to wash her hands (make bubbles!) real well afterwards. You try and teach them not to grab everything in the bathroom but that is a challenge!

The potty books by William Sears are really good and my DD always read hers at home (I didn't take it on the road or visiting)

HTH,
Ami

[audball]

Thanks for the tips! I posted on another board and a few moms there said maybe the little boy wasn't quite ready...I have to agree because DD doesn't wet that much in 3 hours! But everyone has their own ideas...

None of my bags may be big enough to carry all of that, so I'll have to consider one of my DH's bags when the time is appopriate. Thanks again!

[Phoebe]

So, they were at your house and he was having these accidents? I don't think I took my dd out without a diaper until I was sure she was completely trained. I think I just put extra underwear and clothes in the diaper bag.

Mary
DD 4/01
DS 6/03

[audball]

yeah, I know...;)...my friends and I were talking about this because some of the moms in my playgroup have already potty-trained their kids and from what I've observed, your first few days are pretty tough...and from what I recall, they stayed home! At least until you can go 2 hours without a single incident..

But this boy had been in DD's preschool without training pants, so I thought he had some semblence of "readiness". We got kind of snookered into hosting this date...neither the boy and my DD, nor me and the mom are close...which only adds to the strangeness!

Even so, I have seen my friends carry everything from one extra change of clothes (most common scenario) to disposable/fold-up potty covers...so I was curious what others did here...

[Mama Mia]

Hi, I've never joined a discussion group. WHY does it say in my member profile that I am a MALE??? Got to fig out how to change that. I was looking on here re: diaper bags and read about the potty training thing. I have 5 kiddos: 3 boys, ages 12, 9 & 7, and two little girls, almost 3 in July and 6 mo. I've never had a prob. w/ potty training but I'm pretty laid back w/ everything I do. Lots of kids will do that to you I guess. All my kids have been a piece of cake to potty train. My daughter was THE easiest though I think. She takes verbal instructions well when I explain things the way she can understand them. I see parents trying to force a child to potty train BEFORE the child is ready though and I think it creates a battle w/ the child. I always think it's better to wait til they're PAST ready for something rather than push them too soon. That pricipal goes w/ teaching to read and many other things in my opinion. I think asking often is important and between asking, I think ANNOUNCING, "it's time to go sit on the potty" is good, esp. when you know theyre not going to want to stop what they're doing. The way I've always tried to get them to not pick up germs in a public restroom, and it has worked GREAT for when we're in a store w/ lots of breakables too, is to teach them to put their "hands together" when they're toddlers. Delaney will forget and I catch her real quick before she touches something. She's prompt to put them back together. Now she puts them together w/ out my asking. Also, a bowl of M&M's on the back of the toilet can make sitting on the potty very rewarding. I'd only give them a few when they actually DO something though.

[sophiesmom]

When I trained my daughter, we stayed home for almost a week. Sounds like a drag but you have to do it. We used the Dr. Phil method, and worked great, she had wanted NOTHING to do with potty, but had to for preschool.

I use seat inserts at home, but wanted to recommend disposable toilet seat covers. I am grossed out by public bathrooms, and having a little girl makes it worse! I bought these Sponge Bob Square seat covers at BRU. They stick to the seat, cover the whole thing, and are padded. I even use it after she is done! They're great!!!!!

[Melanie]

1. what you put in the bag (extra pants, underwear, plastic bags, paper towels? )
---extra pants, underwear & socks (then another set in the car...shoes, too!)

2. which type of bag was most useful (backpack, messenger?)
--I used a Kecci Shanghai

3. potty-chair covers? portable seat?
--I took that fold-up one with us forever and never really used it. I found it better to sit Ds on a toilet sideways

4. actual bags you used?
--Kecci!

ETA: I did put him in a diaper the first couple of days, but after that we didn't. He was pretty much a cold-turkey PLer. He did have an outdoor (thank goodness!) accident at a playdate in the first week. I learned pretty quickly that at first, he didn't have a lot of notice when he needed to go (i.e. I had like 60 seconds to get him to the bathroom from when he said he had to go), so I would just take him preventatively every 2 hours or so.

[Mama Mia]

Wow, I never thought of buying toilet seat covers OR putting her on the toilet SIDEWAYS. GREAT ideas! I've been thinking of buying a Kecci Shanghi bag too. Speaking of that beautiful chinese print, does anyone know anything about the Zolowear sling? It's SILK (the chinese brocade)and I think I'm dying for one after needing to replace my lost Maya wrap. The OTHER thing, I TOTALLY agree w/ packing an extra pair of shoes. Delaney had an accident last wk when she was playing at the park w/ another little girl and kept telling me she DIDN't have to go; it saturated into her shoes. I had NOTHING w/ me. I just pinned a cloth diaper on her. I don't use wipes because of the detergent it leaves on a baby's skin, but for anyone's info., I use cloth diapers and keep a spray bottle filled w/ water and a few drops of lavendar essential oil (I keep an empty wipe container w/ a warmer around it filled w/ the same, at home for diaper changes w/ a basket full of clean washcloths handy). I keep one of the diaper bag pockets FULL of washcloths and a dirty duds bag for anything that needs to go in the diaper pail when we get home. I also keep a large freezer bag in case I forget to pack the dirty duds bag back after I wash it w/ a load of diapers. When I need to change a diaper when we're out, I just get out however many washcloths I need and spray them before I start to change her. This spray bottle full of lavendar water is WONDERFUL for freshening up on hot, sticky days. I SWEAR it cools better than plain water, plus I think it must have some kind of antibacterial properties w/ out abrasiveness of detergent. I hate ANYTHING that leaves ANY kind of film like wipes do. It really came in handy to clean Delaney up after her accident. I change the water out about once a wk. Also, I remember reading something recently about someone saying how they'd forgotten how stressful the potty training stage was. I'm NOT a patient person really, but I look back on potty training the 4 kids that I have trained as PRECIOUS, memorable milestones. I LOOOOVE this age!

[Mama Mia]

Oh, I forget to say that for our three sons, our famous (and OH SO CRUEL... it REALLY gave my husband and I something to laugh about at THEIR expense) standby was an empty coke bottle. We'd be on a trip in the car and w/ three small boys, we'd be looking for a clean place to stop and sometimes just get desperate. It was safer than wading thru snake infested weeds on the side of the highway with traffic speeding by. I'd recommend mom or dad do the mechanics though. If you miss the small opening, it would be disasterous in the car. And after asking my 12 yr old son if he was scarred from that experience, he's said "naw, we were small. It would be WIERD if we had to do it now though".