New to Potty Child and WDW

[lorimc]

Hello all,

I would like to have my 28 month old potty-trained by our trip to WDW (May 19-26) and just wanted to know if there are toddler/new-to-pottying friendly restrooms in the Baby Stations? I am afraid the the regular restrooms would be too crowded and disruptive to her. Right now, we take our time when pottying and I am afraid that in the larger restrooms we would feel rushed.

Thanks for reading this and all your tips!

 

[crisi]

There are in the baby stations, but the baby stations are so far from most of the park that it probably isn't going to be a great choice - if you are on the back end of Animal Kingdom or Epcot - its going to be a twenty minute walk to go potty.

 

[dismom301930]

I used post-it flags to cover the the self-flush sensors becuase my DDs were nervous about the self-flushing toilets. The bathrooms are also very loud, which scared my youngest DD (30 months at the time). Even though she was mostly potty trained at home, I put her in Pull-Ups at Disney since I knew she wouldn't be comfortable in the bathrooms. I would always ask her if she wanted to go when her sisters were, but she never did. I didn't push it. She would always use the toilet at the hotel before and after our day in the parks. I guess I'm not much help for you, but I certainly understand your situation!

 

[KariC]

We had tons of potty issues when we went with "just trained" twins. They were terrified of the "magic flushers"! I had a naked daughter leap into my arms when one flushed on her!! Hadn't yet learned that little trick of hanging a square of potty paper over the eye ...Why, oh why, do they put those little eyes so low? You'd think they could be a foot higher, over the heads of young children....that way the squiggling little ones wouldn't set it off.

Anyway, don't plan on making it back to the Baby Stations...just cover the eye with your hand, sticky note, potty paper. Much easier than your child only going 2x per day (which is what our son tried to do...liked the potty at POFQ). Do the Pull Up thing, unless you think it would set her back. It did with our daughter. There are plenty of potties, and I think...if you're reaching emergency level with her...many ladies in line would let a toddler go ahead (I would anyway).

She'll have so much fun!! Have a good time!

 

[Hannathy]

You have a long time till May. She will be much better with the potty by then and you have a lot of time to acclimate her to different bathrooms. Don't remind her to go every time you leave the house so she needs to use the bathroom at the grocery store, Walmart, the mall, etc. In 3 1/2 mos she will be very used to big bathrooms. I wouldn't put pull ups on a trained child except for possibly the plane because there will be times you CAN NOT get up and use the BR. Just take extra panties with you Disney has lots of bathrooms.

 

[dismom301930]

I wouldn't put pull ups on a trained child

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I did this with my DD2.5 because I knew she would not want to use the Disney bathrooms. I would rather have her in Pull-Ups than have her trying to hold it in all day. When we got back home from WDW she went right back to wearing underpants. Two months later, she still doesn't like going in public (Target, Walmart, etc.) so I try to have her go before we leave the house and I keep a small potty in the back of my car (which I line with a plastic bag and a diaper) for emergencies. I find no reason to push her, or make her uncomfortable. She's only two.

 

[cakesnjammom]

My ds then 4 has a peanut bladder so we put pull-ups on him at Disney! No problems at all...just explained that we were doing this to help him and for him to let us know when he had to go and if we could make it in time great if not he was covered. He has been potty trained since 26 months and we have never had a problem letting him wear pull-ups when we take long trips in the car either. He never regressed or anything! just do whatever your comfortable with...you know what they say about opinions...everybody has one!

 

[MommeeOfAPrnzess]

my daughter was 26 months and she was really good at going to the potty when she had to so, when we took pull ups and used them for the plane and parks and took her to the potty like normal too (I have a tiny bladder so, going all the time wasn't an issue) - I explained to her why and that she still
had to tell me when she had to go - it worked out perfect.
when we got back to the hotel she was in panties and did fine.
don't make a big deal out of using pull ups - just explain why and go from them but also mention that they should tell you like normal.
oh, take some with you - if you like a certain brand - hard to find!!

 

[princesspwrhr]

Avoid using the potty at Conservation Station in Rafiki's Planet Watch in Animal Kingdom. A louder bathroom has never been designed!!! There are animal sounds piped in to the entrance of Conservation Station, and subsequently into the bathroom - which echos! As if the louder than loud turbo toilets weren't bad enough, lol. My 3 yo was ok as long as she knew the potty wasn't going to auto flush on her (or that her sister wasn't going to flush it on purpose!), but my 2 yo refused to use them.

Use the potties in Harambe before taking the train out to Rafki's.

It's funny, after being to Disney, both of my girls now have to flush the potty first to see if it's 'loud' or 'quiet'.

 

[lclark0621]

We put DS (32 months) in a pull up when we were there last year. He had been potty trained for almost a year at that point. But I knew with all the excitment, long lines, lines for the bathrooms, etc, a pull up would not only save clothes in the case of an accident, but it would save my DS embarassment in WDW, and the embarassment was my big concern.

So we explained the pull ups were for "if there is an emergency". He understood & was much more comfortable through the park knowing he would not wet himself if he had an accident.

I would say 95% of the times he made it to the bathroom, no problem. But there was a very few times, there was just to much excitment, and he had an accident. He was saved from embarasment, and I was saved from having to carry to many extra clothes, and wet clothes if he did have an accident, all day.

When we got back home, he went right back into underwear with no problems what so ever!

 

[tbrenk]

Hello all,

I would like to have my 28 month old potty-trained by our trip to WDW (May 19-26) and just wanted to know if there are toddler/new-to-pottying friendly restrooms in the Baby Stations? I am afraid the the regular restrooms would be too crowded and disruptive to her. Right now, we take our time when pottying and I am afraid that in the larger restrooms we would feel rushed.

Thanks for reading this and all your tips!

Why not just wait until you come back from your vacation to train her? This was no worries.

 

[jessica52877]

My son had just been trained when we went to disney and I too put him in a diaper (we never used pullups). I wasn't sure how he would do but after the first 3 days of never going in the diaper and hounding from my mother I just put him back in his underwear. He never had an accident and always went when I asked him too, but he was easy to train, completely trained in two days and never an accident, I think all kids are different.

 

[seashoreCM]

Not counting the noise from the toilet, you should not feel rushed once you are in the stall with the child and with the door closed.

Stop off at restrooms even when the child does not need to go yet. Especially since waits in line can get long, it is OK and desirable to empty a half bladder full.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[lorimc]

Why not just wait until you come back from your vacation to train her? This was no worries.

I prefer not to hold off because she is very interested in pottying right now and I would like her to go to preschool this fall and it is a requirement for kids to be trained. I don't have a problem with using pull-ups at WDW, I just wanted to hear experiences from other families and decide if this was a reasonable idea. I will plan on taking pull-ups and panties (Disney Princess, of course!!) just to make it easier on us all.

Also, thanks for the post-it note tip! DD can be sensitive to loud sounds and since this is my first trip as a mommy, I had forgotten about the "turbo toilets" and how a toddler might react!

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[crisi]

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I did this with my DD2.5 because I knew she would not want to use the Disney bathrooms. I would rather have her in Pull-Ups than have her trying to hold it in all day. When we got back home from WDW she went right back to wearing underpants. Two months later, she still doesn't like going in public (Target, Walmart, etc.) so I try to have her go before we leave the house and I keep a small potty in the back of my car (which I line with a plastic bag and a diaper) for emergencies. I find no reason to push her, or make her uncomfortable. She's only two.

My kids were both late trainers. My son decided he was ready the week before we left for Disneyworld - he was three and a half. And we kept him in pull-ups at Disney. He got back and went straight to underwear. He didn't have accidents at Disney, but I didn't want to deal with wet clothes.

There are stages to potty training - from "showing interest" to "grown up trained" (you have to be sick to have an accident). But the continuum in between is large. Some kids will go from showing interest to grown up trained in a day at eighteen months (lucky parents), and others will have a first grader who keeps a spare change of clothes at school because she gets distracted and forgets - and that same first grader was "showing interest" at fifteen months.

At Disney, I think the thing to do is weigh whether you are the type of parent who will carry extra clothes or use a pullup. And if your child will understand moving back to a pullup for a special trip or if they will resent it. Parents know themselves and their children better than strangers on the internet do. I wasn't really interested in carrying spare clothes and plastic bags or doing laundry at the resort, and my son was a rational three year old who completely understood the idea of "pullup as insurance." But other parents may be more motivated and other children more prone to backsliding.

 

[WantToGoNow]

I think since you have some time before your trip, your child might be more comfortable with public restrooms. Personally, unless I thought there would be an issue with accidents, I wouldn't put the pull-ups back on. That leaves the message that you are being a little lax with the training and almost giving permission to use her pants.

I would suggest a small pack of post-its for the self-flushing toilets and also a bottle of sanitizer. My dd carries one in her purse to spray on the seats -- little ones when the new to the potty seem to need to put their hands on the seat to steady themselves. My dd3 has been trained for over a year but I notice that she still does this. Instead of panicking at the thought of her touching those seats, I spray them down first and then wash her hands well afterwards. My dd isn't afraid of the self-flushing -- she actually thinks it's comical and laughs like crazy when her bottom gets splashed. My ds5 on the other hand is still terrified. We were at a children's museum and it took him 5 trips to the bathroom before I finally went in and covered the sensor with my hand so he could do his business.

 

[mcgrawfan]

I think since you have some time before your trip, your child might be more comfortable with public restrooms. Personally, unless I thought there would be an issue with accidents, I wouldn't put the pull-ups back on. That leaves the message that you are being a little lax with the training and almost giving permission to use her pants.

I would suggest a small pack of post-its for the self-flushing toilets and also a bottle of sanitizer. My dd carries one in her purse to spray on the seats -- little ones when the new to the potty seem to need to put their hands on the seat to steady themselves. My dd3 has been trained for over a year but I notice that she still does this. Instead of panicking at the thought of her touching those seats, I spray them down first and then wash her hands well afterwards. My dd isn't afraid of the self-flushing -- she actually thinks it's comical and laughs like crazy when her bottom gets splashed. My ds5 on the other hand is still terrified. We were at a children's museum and it took him 5 trips to the bathroom before I finally went in and covered the sensor with my hand so he could do his business.

What do you use to spray on the toilets?

 

[karenTX]

I would suggest a small pack of post-its for the self-flushing toilets and also a bottle of sanitizer. My dd carries one in her purse to spray on the seats -- little ones when the new to the potty seem to need to put their hands on the seat to steady themselves. My dd3 has been trained for over a year but I notice that she still does this. Instead of panicking at the thought of her touching those seats, I spray them down first and then wash her hands well afterwards. My dd isn't afraid of the self-flushing -- she actually thinks it's comical and laughs like crazy when her bottom gets splashed. My ds5 on the other hand is still terrified. We were at a children's museum and it took him 5 trips to the bathroom before I finally went in and covered the sensor with my hand so he could do his business.

What about using one of those portable folding toilet seats for the little ones? I was thinking about getting one for my dd to take with us if she is at that point. She's so petite, I'm afraid she'll fall through a regular toilet seat. And we're such germaphobs since she was a preemie that the idea of her touching a public toilet freaks me out. I know, I have issues

 

[stacy6552]

BRING A CHANGE OF CLOTHES to the parks everyday. Accidents can happen more easily at WDW, even with potty vets. We got stuck on a ride once, and well you can guess how that turned out. Replacing clothes at the park will run you about $40 for undies and shorts, $60 if you need a new shirt as well.....

 

[Blueyed Girl]

I found some disposable toilet seat covers with "stick-em" on the back so they won't slide around. I tried the portable fold up potty seat but it didn't cover all of the seat, and the rim hurt his legs so it was pointless and a waste of money.

Anyway the sticky potty seat covers I found are here: http://www.onestepahead.com/product/86184/123761/117.html
I bought 2 packs of 10 for our trip.