OT: Potty train before our trip?

[Alex2kMommy]

We were originally scheduled for our first Disney trip (last April), and I had planned to postpone pottytraining DS(just-turned)2 until after the trip. However, we had to cancel our trip at the last minute.

We have rescheduled for September. I didn't know whether to potty-train beforehand or not, as waiting would mean he'd be almost 2.5 by the time we start, but I can see how a freshly-trained child would be a major inconvenience at the park, with long lines for just about everything. (I have never been, I'm just basing this on what I've read.)

I have let my indecision be my decision, as I have done nothing yet. However, DS2 recently took the matter into his own hands, and is removing his diaper (or removing his body part from the diaper!) and insisting on sitting on both the training potty and the big potty. OK, I guess we're potty-training NOW.

My older boy (DS5) wasn't potty-trained until his 3rd birthday and had been very reluctant, but one of his daycare teachers was adamant about potty-training at two, so we pushed. DS still has the occasional accident, so I don't really want to be lugging 5 changes of clothes into the park for DS2 (though of course his training experience might go much easier than his brother's.)

MY QUESTION: What do we do at the park in September? Wear pull-ups? Wear diapers? I'm hoping somebody has dealt with this and has some advice.

 

[Ariel8676]

I would say that if your son is traininig himself then go for it. I wouldn't hold him back just because you are going on vacation..jmo. You still have some time to make sure everthing is going good.
I would let him "train" on the big potty so when you go he is comfortable. I would also make sure you bring a change of clothes with you and maybe put a pull up on him to take naps while you are out in the parks.
He may also decide in a week from now that he just wants his diapers back..lol...Good luck it may be a bit harder than if he was in diapers but this is such a big step in him becoming a big boy!!!

 

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

We are kind of in the same place as you, or at least we were. I had put off potty-training our dd 2.5 for personal reasons. When summer started, I decided I wanted to get her trained for our trip in September. I figured that would be cutting it close. We had already been training only when she felt like it for some time. So, I decided to go all out, no excuses and let her have her accidents. She shocked me and trained pretty fast. I think letting them have the accidents and get to know the feeling helps them out (and praise and rewards). We also keep a potty near by to her. I'm not sure how much harder it will be with a son. I've been told training boys is harder. Anyway, she has moved on to underwear, but so far we are keeping pull-ups on at night and when we go out just in case. Not sure if we'll have pull-ups at Disney or not. We also bought a travel potty which we plan to bring with us b/c she is scared of big toilets and way too tiny for them. It sits up off the floor and has a bag and something absorbent inside to catch it. It's by Fisher Price and is only sold at Babies or Toys R Us. It comes with its own travel bag too. Very nice to have in car too. I know it can be a stresser. Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[frndofpooh]

If he is taking matters into his own hands (literally and figuratively ) then I would say go for it. He will probably train faster than his brother because he has a kid sized example in the home to model. The parks are not too crowded in September usually so getting to a bathroom might not be a huge problem. I'd just do the pullups for naps and do the underwear in the parks, provided that he's to that point before you leave. Enjoy!

 

[meglovesbelle]

My DD is also 2.5 and we are working on potty training before our Sept trip. She will poopy and doesn't mind public or large toilets. She will not pee on the potty though and even letting her stay in wet underwear she likes it and she likes the new cool pull ups when they get wet. She does the "no poopy in my pants " dance, but wont use it to pee. Good luck and I hope he trains well a few of her friends being boys have trained early so there is hope. Any suggestions for the wet undies lover here ??????

 

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

"wet undies lover" ... lol

Kids are so funny about what bothers them and what doesn't, aren't they? You could try letting her run around without bottoms since it's warm out. If that doesn't work, try rewards. Let her sit on the potty and read or while she watches a show. If none of this works, wait (until she wants to or take a break from training for a while - worked for us) ...

Funny enough, I couldn't remember for the life of me how I actually got my first dd going on the potty. I remembered silly dances and charts and rewards we did, but not how we actually got her trained. lol So for 2nd dd, I just tried different stuff until something worked.

Oh, 1 other thing, once we threw out the diapers and got consistent and did potty training all day everyday, dds learned that was how it was going to be. I think it was easier with 2nd b/c she wanted to copy big sis a little bit.

 

[crisi]

Give it a shot, you can always use pull ups for the trip itself.

With my son, he probably was ready the week before our Disney trip, but we had him in pullups at Disney anyway and he trained when he came home. For me, it wasn't worth the bother of extra changes and extra potty stops.

My kids showed an eighteen month delay between "showing interest" and "dependably trained to the point where we could leave the house." I remember it being a very long and exhausting three years (my kids are a year apart.....) of false hopes, backsliding and frustration. But eventually, they trained......

 

[LighteningMcQueen]

I think if he's showing signs, he'll train fast, and it won't (I hope) be an issue for you. Yes, you'll make frequent stops, but think of the incentive! To tell Mickey you learned to use the potty! Wow!

We just trained our DD, w/autism, at 4.5, and we're ~80% pee-trained and I'm hoping for 100% pee & hopefully some #2 trained by the time we go next February. Yes, we'll have accidents and I'll be carrying extra clothes....but...other kids there will be having them too.

Also, if you do train, take some post-its with you in your fanny pack or pocket to put over the IR sensor on the toilets so it won't flush while he's on.

Good luck!

 

[JennyW]

If he's ready, then go for it, but find out where all the bathrooms are! If he's only wishy washy, don't push it. You can't teach a kid who isn't ready to be taught. All else being equal, I'd prefer my kid in diapers for a Disney trip (our boy is about 2 years and 2 months and fortunately has no interest yet in the potty, and we're going in a month).

jenny

 

[UtahMama]

Wow good question....I just realized we're in the exact same boat (ok our figurative "boat" is a little smidge different) for our WDW vacation coming up this Sept. Ok, they DO have the cutest teeny tiny itty pottys which could be fun and pull ups have Disney characters on them. Has any one noticed Pull ups arent as good as they used to be? Hmmm, I kind of use them as a diaper in a way so maybe they arent suposed to absorb too much?? That gel goop gets all over the little bum and they dont contain poop at all. I have potty trained three kids the same way...So we've used our share of pull ups in my day. Cant buy the Pamper's Easy Ups because Dorah bugs me and the Princesses are wayyyy too cute! "OK sweetie pie, DONT go pee pee on Cinderella, she doesn't like it" (Ariel maybe because she's in the water) So just relax and take your beautiful toddling into the mini toliets and see what happens, no biggie either way.

 

[glass slipper girl]

Both of my sons had no interest untill after 2.5. I'd try occasionally and they'd resist so I'd give it a rest. When they started showing interest they pee trained really fast though and I really think it's b/c we let them take the lead on it. .

We visited over Christmas week when DS #1 was newly trained. He was a kid who flat out refused to wear a pullup during the day once he was trained...naps and bedtime only. What I did was make sure that we had the pullups with the velcro on the sides and kept a few in the diaper bag. He was (and as a matter of fact...still is) a kid who you can ask "do you have to go?" and he says no but then 10 minutes later once you are in the car on the interstate or, in this case, having just gotten on to the TTA ride OR standing in line for Pirates and are in the middle of the queue with no quick way out, says "I GOTTA GO BAD!" You know when a newly trained 3 year old says to you I GOTTA GO BAD, you have approximately a minute and a half to be standing in front of the nearest potty or you have an accident on your hands. In those situations, where desperate times call for desperate measures, I would get out the velcro pullup, our family would sort of circle around him and I'd open up the pullup, pull down his shorts and underpants, quickly put the pullup on and do up the sides and pull up the undies and shorts over it. A father in line for Pirates behind us who witnessed this laughed and said to me once we were done with the rapid pullup procedure "I've seen Nascar pit crews that don't work that fast!" DS would always ask "you promise it won't be an accident?" and we were assured him it would not count because he did tell us, there just isn't a potty on TTA and the ride takes too long for a freshly trained toddler to hold it! Fortunately we only had to resort to this method 3 times on a 9 day trip but it was worth it to have those pullups in the bag. When we needed them, they worked and we'd just get to a bathroom as soon as we could and remove the wet pullup leaving him with dry undies and shorts.

 

[justwinnie]

We were recently in the same situation for our trip in May. DD was 2.5 at the time and we used the trip as an incentive for being potty trained. We told her that Princesses used the potty so she should too. She was not reliably using the potty until 2 days before the trip. While we were at Disney, we had her in pull-ups just in case. She only had one "accident" in her pull up-- and that was only b/c we were next in line to get on Dumbo and couldn't get to the bathroom.

We also asked her before each ride if she wanted to go potty.

Using the toilet on the airplane took some coaxing, but she did it. We were amazed at her progress and were so proud. As a reward, we bought her a set of Princess underwear at Disney and she's so happy to wear them now.

Now that we're home, after using the potty in public restrooms, she "I used the potty! Can we go to Disney?"

So... since your son is showing interest, I'd say go for it. You can keep him in pull ups as "insurance" if you're weary of accidents. It really wasn't so bad and restrooms are plentiful-- just know where they are or ask a Castmember.

The post-it note tip from Lightening is awesome! I usually try to use TP to cover the IR sensor, as the sudden flushing usually scares DD.

Have fun!

 

[brat5063]

There is a lot of us with 2.5 year olds going to Disney in Sept. We are also in the same boat. I have been debating this in my head for the last two months. Our son is showing some signs he is ready, but isn't quite there yet. We have a toddler potty in our bathroom and every time I go, he sits on his potty with his clothes on. (There's no privacy in my house.) He pretends to wipe, puts the tp in the real toilet and loves to flush the toilet. Every time he goes, I ask him if he wants me to take his diaper off and he always says no. We have been reading him potty books and got 'The Bear in the Big Blue House - Potty' video from our library and watched that. But just doesn't want to sit on the toilet cloths-less.

You have two months to train, so I would probably start if he is taking his diaper off. I would carry pull-ups around the park as well. I love the persons idea who would put pull-ups on if the kid had to go. I have read other posts on here who said they have put there older toddlers back in diapers while at Disney.

I can't decide which would be easier. Have to run to the bathroom or lug diapers around.

Good Luck!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Couldn't be more excited about this post. We are totally in the same situation. However, I do have to say CONGRATS to all you parents who are having luck training your 2 yr olds. DD will be 3 a couple of weeks after our Sept WDW trip. We too have been using the trip as a motivator to getting her trained...with no success. I have been debating non-stop about how hard I should be pushing the potty training thing before we go. We will be on vacation for two weeks this summer (day care closed) and I planned on trying the cold turkey method of just throwing her into underwear but my kid is so odd...she doesn't seem to mind being wet!!! I need a whole thread of people who can give me advice for training a stubborn child!!! (we've tried prizes, charts, putting her in underwear, having her sit right after meals, having her dolls "use the potty", etc, etc already!)

 

[Alex2kMommy]

WOW, so many helpful posts, thank you all!

DS2 also likes to make a show of it, not actually produce anything into the potty, but we've just started, so I'll give him some more time. Yesterday he was standing right in front of me, grunting! So I said, "Are you pooping?" He stopped pushing and got a look of surprise, so I grabbed him, yanked down his pants, threw off the diaper and sat him on the little potty. Unfortunately he was already done, but fortunately it was a small, fairly neat one, whew!

So I'm still trying to catch him so he can go in the potty and get lots of praise for it. I know he's going to be so excited once he finally does it!

DS5, at age 2, was very resistent to potty training, but had a very strict, insistent teacher at his daycare/school. She said she'd been teaching toddlers for over 20 years, blah blah blah, so I caved and pushed him to train like she said. THAT was a big mistake. He hated it and cried, I hated it and was angry (with him though that's not fair, with her for pushing me to push him, and especially with myself for not following my own gut.) And he was NOT potty-trained by the time he left her classroom (though I suspect she would think that was my fault, not hers!)

So for those of you who are still struggling with a 3yo: Age two really is the ideal time for potty-training most kids. Biologically/physiologically they can control their muscles enough to hold their 'output' for periods of time. By age 3, if they are refusing to potty-train, it's a control issue for them, not that they're not physically ready.

My DS moved up to the next classroom near his 3rd birthday, and was potty-trained in that first week! WHY? Because that teacher had an entirely different approach. She, who had never potty trained anyone before, was used to slightly older kids who were already potty trained. So when DS had an accident, she commiserated with him, handed him some wipes and clean clothes, and told him to clean himself up! He didn't like dealing with all the mess, so after doing this several times for a couple days, he was very motivated to potty-train! And he did just great!!! Not perfect, still had the occasional accident (in fact, still does!), but from that point on, no more diapers.

Here's hoping DS2's potty training will go much easier, especially now that I am a SAHM and no teachers to help or hinder this time!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

He was (and as a matter of fact...still is) a kid who you can ask "do you have to go?" and he says no but then 10 minutes later once you are in the car on the interstate or, in this case, having just gotten on to the TTA ride OR standing in line for Pirates and are in the middle of the queue with no quick way out, says "I GOTTA GO BAD!" You know when a newly trained 3 year old says to you I GOTTA GO BAD, you have approximately a minute and a half to be standing in front of the nearest potty or you have an accident on your hands.

This is so like my DS5! We're always asking him to go potty before we leave the house (and he indignantly states that he doesn't have to go), then 10 minutes down the freeway he's got to go NOW! So we'll have to be extra vigilant with him at DL, too! I can see it now, before getting into every line, we're asking them, "Do you have to go potty? Or do YOU have to go potty?" Though I imagine everyone has to do this with the little ones (and make the mad dashes out of line with them.) Here's hoping the bathroom lines aren't long in September...!

 

[jessica52877]

My son was trained right around 2 1/2 also, one month past. We were going to disney one month later. He showed interest though and I just took his lead. No need to postpone something because of a trip.

Now we drive 9 hours to disney so I chose to put him in diapers. I let him know to tell me and we would stop if need be, he did and we stopped. I also put diapers on him at disney (we don't use pull ups) the first three days, he never wet them and I just said forget it. We went with underwear the rest of the trip. My mom thought I was crazy for even putting a diaper back on him. But he understood and so I felt more comfortable. It was of no inconvenience though as to standing in lines, etc. I Just would take him when I wanted to and he would go, I knew he would be good to go then for about 4-5 hours.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Since I've never looked...do people change diapers in the bathrooms or use the child centers in the parks? I'm assuming that Disney of all places should have diaper changing facilities in the restrooms??

 

[PrincessV]

I was in the same situation last Dec. with S3 (now 4). Mine showed little interest at all, so I didn't bother pushing it, knowing it would just be a hassle at WDW. He only recently took interest and - just like everyone told me - he was trained within a couple months. Only problem now is he sits to potty - and he insists on taking pants and underwear completely off. THIS oughta be fun at WDW...

Since I've never looked...do people change diapers in the bathrooms or use the child centers in the parks? I'm assuming that Disney of all places should have diaper changing facilities in the restrooms??

I never bothered with the child care cneters. Every restroom I saw had a place to change, some better situated than others. Frankly, when DS was an infant, it was easier to just change him in the stroller.

 

[meglovesbelle]

Couldn't be more excited about this post. We are totally in the same situation. However, I do have to say CONGRATS to all you parents who are having luck training your 2 yr olds. DD will be 3 a couple of weeks after our Sept WDW trip. We too have been using the trip as a motivator to getting her trained...with no success. I have been debating non-stop about how hard I should be pushing the potty training thing before we go. We will be on vacation for two weeks this summer (day care closed) and I planned on trying the cold turkey method of just throwing her into underwear but my kid is so odd...she doesn't seem to mind being wet!!! I need a whole thread of people who can give me advice for training a stubborn child!!! (we've tried prizes, charts, putting her in underwear, having her sit right after meals, having her dolls "use the potty", etc, etc already!)

I feel for you, my DD(2) does not mind being wet either I left her in her pull up form overnight until noon, she didn't care. I let her run around naked, then she peed on the carpet and didn't care it was running down her legs. I keep telling her Cinderella does not allow diapers, but she still doesn't care, candy doesn't help. Today I am trying no movies or her TV until she pees on the potty, she will poopy if I put her on and she thinks that is considered the potty and I keep telling her no she has to pee pee too. She is very stubborn and independent !!! I wish she didn't take after me in that way