Potty trained but mama's nervous!

[Mommy Of A Little Angel]

DD is pretty much potty trained. For the last 2 weeks, there has only been business done in the potty (with the exception of overnight). She wears pull ups when we go out but I let her do the undie thing at home. So, how do I psych myself up for undies when we go out? I honestly think she will be fine but I am a nervous wreck! How do I get over it!?

[Wife_and_mommy]

:ROTFLMAO: It's nerve-wracking, isn't it?

Start out with short trips. The grocery store, park, heck, a walk around the neighborhood. Make sure she goes before you leave and that there will be a potty where you are. We usually go again before we head home.

Hth.

[WatchingThemGrow]

We do the potty-in-the-car thing, which seemed to extinguish some of my anxiety. She's reliable in going in the parking lot while sitting in the back of the CR-V. I offer it before we leave, when we arrive, after our visit, and on any subsequent stops. It just makes my tardiness even worse. Oh well.

We do a diaper on a road trip when she may sleep. Also, a Piddle Pad or something similar has soaked up 2-3 accidents in 3+ months. We've never owned a pull-up.

FWIW, I was certain DD was adding to the baby pool all morning w/playgroup, but I set the car potty over in the corner of the yard(ours) and told her it was there. After hours of playing she had "the look" and ran over to gush on her own prompting. So proud.

[citymama]

This sounds like me! We are also 2 weeks into "all undies, all waking hours." Like the others have said, start with short trips, keep a change of clothes and undies handy, a stash of plastic bags, TP, and a portable potty if you have one. I'm actually impressed by how long DD can hold it in until we get to a potty! We also use cloth training pants, which can absorb more moisture in case of an accident.

Our difficulty (not to hijack your thread, just wondering if you or others have words of advice) is getting DD to ask when she needs to go, when she is at daycare. She is having an accident almost daily at daycare, always on the playground there. She *never* asks to go at school (but always does with us). I've requested the teachers to ask her to sit on the potty every 45 minutes, but sometimes they'll ask, she'll refuse, and then 20 minutes later she has an accident while running around on the playground. Argh! This kid can talk in full sentences and yaks 19 to the dozen, but is also shy to assert herself in school (eg when another kid grabs something she is playing with, or when she wants seconds at lunch). Any advice? I think commando style would help, but unfortunately we can't do that b/c of her tendency to scratch her diaper area w/o the trainers (she has had a series of UTIs as a result).

[Wife_and_mommy]

Our difficulty (not to hijack your thread, just wondering if you or others have words of advice) is getting DD to ask when she needs to go, when she is at daycare. She is having an accident almost daily at daycare, always on the playground there. She *never* asks to go at school (but always does with us). I've requested the teachers to ask her to sit on the potty every 45 minutes, but sometimes they'll ask, she'll refuse, and then 20 minutes later she has an accident while running around on the playground. Argh! This kid can talk in full sentences and yaks 19 to the dozen, but is also shy to assert herself in school (eg when another kid grabs something she is playing with, or when she wants seconds at lunch). Any advice? I think commando style would help, but unfortunately we can't do that b/c of her tendency to scratch her diaper area w/o the trainers (she has had a series of UTIs as a result).

Do they not have a set time to potty? I'd have them take her at certain intervals(for us it was/is 3hrs). Sitting isn't an option, actually going is. I can count on one hand the times she didn't go. If we're out/about, I still do this when we're near a restroom so I don't have to run around looking for one because the whim hits her.

[ellies mom]

Well, luckily for us, I was pregnant when DD1 was at that stage so I dragged her to the bathroom everytime I had to go and that worked out.

Usually, I'd phrase it as coming to keep me company and after I would go, she would usually decide that she need to go as well. Or when she would say she didn't need to go, I would say "I know, but why don't you just let whatever is in there out." and she would usually go along with it. She did have two accidents because she didn't let us know in time but we explained that we needed a little more warning and she was fine after that.

[citymama]

Do they not have a set time to potty? I'd have them take her at certain intervals(for us it was/is 3hrs). Sitting isn't an option, actually going is. I can count on one hand the times she didn't go. If we're out/about, I still do this when we're near a restroom so I don't have to run around looking for one because the whim hits her.

Hah! Our girl of little bladder has to go once an *hour* right now. And they offer her approx once an hour at daycare. With me, it's the same thing - sitting on the pot isn't an option. At school, my guess is they are less firm, given that they have so many other kids to deal with.

But ultimately, potty *training* has to be about the child asking to go and not just going when asked, no? Or am I expecting too much of a 27 month old? Do your kids ask to go or do you do most of the asking? Just curious if I am maybe placing unrealistic expectations on my little tyke!

[Wife_and_mommy]

Hah! Our girl of little bladder has to go once an *hour* right now. And they offer her approx once an hour at daycare. With me, it's the same thing - sitting on the pot isn't an option. At school, my guess is they are less firm, given that they have so many other kids to deal with.

But ultimately, potty *training* has to be about the child asking to go and not just going when asked, no? Or am I expecting too much of a 27 month old? Do your kids ask to go or do you do most of the asking? Just curious if I am maybe placing unrealistic expectations on my little tyke!

That makes sense about daycare. One would think they wouldn't want to be cleaning up accidents all day, though.

Yes, PT'ing is about the child feeling the need to go and acting on it but it doesn't always work out as quickly and easily as we'd like. I had not the patience at 2 to deal with all the accidents so wasn't disappointed to keep her in dipes if she wasn't 100%.

Just FYI, my DD had no interest in Pt'ing at age 2. At 3.25 I started taking her when I went(about 3 hrs). We did that until past 3.5 when she starting acting on the urge. It took her that long and it's just her personality to need to be "pushed" into learning experiences. PT'ing was just the first one. We're working on swimming now and it's working out very similarly.

[LexyLou]

What I did to get over my fear of accidents was that I put her in her underwear and then put a pull up over it so if she did have an accident her underwear would get wet and she knew it was happening but then it didn't get everwhere, just in her underwear.

I did that for a couple of weeks and after consistent no accidents and asking to go I stopped.

I still use the pull up over the undies when we are going on a long car ride or when we are traveling by plane and I'm not 100% sure we can get to a potty on time.

[mecawa]

I use to keep dd in a pull up when we went out until she went for so long (I think it was a few weeks) without any accidents and then just decided to got for it and put her in her big girl underwear and crossed my fingers that she wouldn't have an accident. She never had an accident while out in public and I had to do long (4 hour) road trips with her when we were training. She just got to the point that she would tell me when she had to go and I would find a bathroom for her. I wish they had those little travel potties when she was training to keep in the back of the car, I am definitely getting one for the new one.

[Mommy Of A Little Angel]

Thanks so much everyone! I just needed a little push and to know it would be fine. It was! She has gone diaper free for three days! I am so proud! She was totally ready...I was the one dragging my feet!

Thanks!!

[citymama]

Wow, congrats! That's great.

We're in our 4th week of diaper-free toddler now...except for the daily pee accident at day-care (sigh) we're doing great too.

All the best!