Potty Trained and the Mouse

[patchchild]

As overjoyed as I am that 26 month old DS potty trained himself in about two days, I'm terrified about what this means for our September trip. Diapers are a pain because you have to pack them and change them and dispose of them, but now I'm going to be hitting every rest room on property! And poor little man, he's still so young and small, he can't use a full size toilet without taking his pants all the way off, otherwise he can't spread his legs far enough to sit and balance.

Any hints or tips or advice so that I stop dreading this?

 

[Wendybird55]

First of all - what did you or DS son do to potty train himself by 26mos!?!?!
My son will be 3 Sept. 21 (we're going to WDW Sept 6 and he's supposed to start Pre-K 2 days a week Sept 14) and he has no interest in using the potty.
He knows how to use it - he's done #1 & #2 in his Elmo and Froggy potties. He wakes up dry almost every day. He knows how to "push" the pee pees out - he's ready - he just doesn't want to do it...I'm hoping one day it will hit him like a bolt of lightening and he will start using the potty all the time - and hopefuly that bolt will come before we go to Disney.

Now - regarding your concerns. One thought I can offer is a foldable, portable potty seat cover for your son. I have one with Seasme St characters on it. It's plastic, folds up and can fit in an gallon size ziploc bag. When you go to the potty you can just put the foldable seat over the bigger seat and your son should be comfortable uisng it. Plus you know you will have a clean surface for your son to sit on. You may want to bring a travel pack of clorox wipes to wipe it off after use. This is what I was thinking of doing if my son decides to use the potty! I got mine at Toys R Us

Also some people say the the automatic flusing of the toilets at Disney can scare their toddlers - if you think this is the case for your son, people have suggested taking some post its with them to cover the sensor on the toilet so it won't flush while your son is on it.

Good luck and have fun visiting the many restrooms at Disney!

 

[bratmomma]

I share some of your worried because my DD is fully potty trained while awake and only needs pull ups for naps,etc. I was considering putting her in a pull while park touring JUST IN CASE we can't make it to the restroom in time (standing in line for a ride, in the middle of a show, etc), I figured an extra pull takes up less space in my park bag than a few extra outfits. My DD is pretty understanding about wearing pull ups if we are far from a bathroom. Sometimes we make long car trips and she understands the need for them then, so I think she would be okay for wearing them in the parks.

I am still undecided but I also have a folding seat like the PP suggested, that I will be taking along on the trip in case I decide to go that route in the parks. I had also heard the tip about the post its and plan to do that as well.

Good luck! I am sure bathroom breaks, diaper changing and all, it will be a magical vacation for OP and PP!

 

[kalc12345]

My DS potty trained 2 months before we went to Disney last year. I too was worried about how it would all work out. We did have some problems. Like when we were in line to see the characters at Epcot. I smelled something but I saw a baby in line behind us and thought maybe she had a messy diaper. Nope, it was my son, he had pooped in his pants. We ran and got him changed and made it back just in time to see the characters. So do go prepared for accidents.

My son was also too short for the toilets. I went to one of the baby stations hoping they would have kid sized toilets but they didn't. What I did was let him stand on my feet and that helped (he had learned to stand up to pee by then). You can also buy toilet seat covers for times when they need to sit on the potty. Or you can wipe it down with an antibacterial wipe.

He did have a few accidents because he hated and still hates public restrooms. Can't say I blame him I HATE using them too Just take some extra clothes and be prepared for accidents. Have a great trip!!

 

[J3nn78]

I hear you. My 2 year old is fully potty trained. He has been accident free for over a month now.
Anyway, he will only poop on his little potty. He will pee in the big ones. I don't know what we will do if he has to go while we are in the parks. I will bring his little potty to the hotel and hope he goes while we are back for swimming and napping each day.

 

[PrincessMom4]

That sounds good... My now 4 year would NOT train so I didn't push it because that could cause issues. My 6 year old trained when he was 2 so they are all different ages. My 2.5 year old has done it a few times, but I don't want to push the issue before we go away in 2weeks!!!!!!! (<---I am getting excited now)

 

[mjkacmom]

I am confused as to why he has to take his clothes off - boys need to lean forward and push it down for about a year. My ds's could wear pullups and not use them, except for emergencies, for certain situations (long car drive, flying).

 

[livie1205]

my dd3 started potty training in feb this year and we went to wdw in march..I was worried it would set her back but she wore big girl panties to the park and to sleep with no accidents at all! Before this she had NO intrest in the potty so I thought she would never get potty trained.To this day she has not had a accident in her pants and no accidents at night....she did not like the pull ups at all so I think letting her wear real panties helped a lot.

 

[brandylouwho]

If he'll wear them, I'd use pull-ups. We had a somewhat newly potty trained kid a few years back at WDW and she only had one accident--on the bus of all places. I had nothing to change her into and no real way to clean it up Thankfully, there was another mommy nearby who helped me out.

But, some kids won't wear pull ups or some think it is license to pee their pants again, so it depends on your child. If he will wear them and not go in them, you'd only need one or two for the day.

And plan for a lot of potty stops. In a way that will be nice, forced you to take things a bit slower. We'll have 4 girls age 5 & under in our group on this trip and I have been preparing my hubby for the looong & frequent potty stops we'll be taking.

Oh, and I still use post its on the "magic flushers" for my 5 year old. The loud noise of flushing makes her jump off every darn time. But the 2 year old could care less.


And lucky you for your 26 mo old training himself!!! My 24 month old did great for about a week, now at 26 months she could care less--unless we are in public, then she always wants to "go potty."

 

[daleswife]

I am confused as to why he has to take his clothes off - boys need to lean forward and push it down for about a year. My ds's could wear pullups and not use them, except for emergencies, for certain situations (long car drive, flying).

My guess is he takes his clothes off because he cannot balance on the potty because he cant spread his legs far enough. I have the same problem with my 2 yr old. He takes his pants off to sit on the potty at home, but I just help him when we are out. show him how to "push it down" when he goes and he's gotten the hang of it now. But he is by no means potty trained.....he just goes when he wants too and will NOT do #2 in the potty!!! im not pushing it though....He'll go when he's ready.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

DS and Dneph (both fully PTd) are heading to WDW in Sept with my parents. I'm sending pull ups for just in case. Both boys know not to get their diapers dirty when they wear them, so I'm hoping for little or no accidents, but I'm also hoping Dparents won't be spending all day in the can! I'm also packing emergency clothes. Found mesh shorts and tees at Kmart for $1.50/ea!

Best of luck with your little one. I'd pack a small pack of pull ups for the trip just in case.

Have you considered teaching him to stand when going?? DS loves to play dunk the cheerios!

 

[waltskids]

We are dealing with this issue too, as we leave in 2 weeks for the world DS is 2 and 1/2 (32 months) and is wearing big boy underwear and will keep them dry most of the time (only an occasional accident). At night we will use a pull up and if we are on a long car ride, we put the pull up over the underwear so he knows to keep the underwear dry (he got confused by pullups and would often wet in them). When we go out, we use the white thick trainer underwear and that helps alot if he has an accident. DS stands to pee, so if the toilet it too high, we have a portable potty seat that goes on top of the regular seat and he can sit down. Maybe pack some pullups just in case but still use the underwear too. Best of luck and have a wonderful trip!

 

[mjkacmom]

My guess is he takes his clothes off because he cannot balance on the potty because he cant spread his legs far enough. I have the same problem with my 2 yr old. He takes his pants off to sit on the potty at home, but I just help him when we are out. show him how to "push it down" when he goes and he's gotten the hang of it now. But he is by no means potty trained.....he just goes when he wants too and will NOT do #2 in the potty!!! im not pushing it though....He'll go when he's ready.

I never thought to have my boys pull their pants off - they were just told to always hold it down. And BTW, lots of my kids poop trained months after being fully pee trained - it's normal.

 

[tinkmom2]

For my daughter I have a potty insert that fits into bigger potty's because she is so afraid of falling in. It will be our first time to the parks with her underwear. So the plan is for the plane to have the pull ups with just-in-case and then switch to underwear when we get to the resort. I plan on having her go potty before we leave the resort and when we get to the park and taking her frequently. I am also packing a change of clothes in my day bag for accidents.

 

[patchchild]

Wow, so many ideas already!

I do have a travel,folding potty seat, somehow I'd forgotten about it. DS would rather use a large toilet, but he's fine if I put down the small seat and then he does.

As for the pants off, I think it was because he learned to use the toilet while only wearing a shirt, now other things get in the way and confuse the issue. Balance is a big part of it, he's just so little! He's balancing on the big seats, poor kid.

As for training him? I just got darn lucky. He's sat on a little potty a couple of times about a month ago after we got it,just for fun. He clearly knew when he had peed so I figured what the heck, it's summer. I left him in just a shirt. The first time he peed he looked so shocked! He really didn't like being wet. I just told him that the next time he needed to pee, he should go sit on the potty. What do you know, he did! I think he had a total of 5 accidents. Two while naked from the waist down, one in just pants (while I was madly searching Amazon for underwear small enough to fit all 26 lbs. of him), and maybe twice in underwear when he really, really didn't want to leave the playground. No skill, no tricks, just darn lucky.

 

[Sandi S]

I'm potty-training 27 m.o. DD right now and she's way ahead of where her three older brothers were at her age. None of them got it until around 3 and for all of them, going to pre-school was what sealed the deal.

Gracie has another year before pre-school, but she's doing pretty good. Even so, she was very interested in the potty right before our trip last month (We drove from NC to CA and back - 19 days including 2 at Disneyland). I decided not to break out the panties until a few days after we came home. It was definitely worth waiting. My three boys wanted to be potty tourists throughout the trip and it was nice that I could send all three of them into restrooms together (well, everywhere except Las Vegas - too scary!).

 

[justhat]

My son potty trained last summer and we went to WDW in August when he was exactly 24 months so I shared your concern. We didn't have any accident and what I did to keep it that way was stop everytime we were near a potty and take him to pee. Sure, sometimes it was only 30 minutes later, but he could fall asleep in the stroller right after that and at least I knew he wouldn't pee in his sleep that way.

And for public toilets, I have my son stand on the toilet seat and I aim for him into the toilet. He's too short to stand up on the floor, holding him is impossible, and sitting meant either backwards (like he did at home) or with his pants off like you said cause he was too little to fit properly. He never stood to pee at home, but in public I always made him do this (and it prevents his little hands from being all over) and he took to it fine.

We never did a potty seat with him simply on his own preference, but a friend did carry hers around in the stroller for her son and seemed to do okay with it.

 

[justhat]

I never thought to have my boys pull their pants off - they were just told to always hold it down.

I think the problem might be size, at least for my son it was. He was about 23 lbs when he started using the toilet at 20 months. If he didn't take his pants all the way off, his legs wouldn't spread far enough to keep him from falling in the toilet. He'd have to grab onto the sides to hold himself up, then he couldn't hold down his 'tail'. And if he tried to use one hand to hold the potty then he'd still end up falling in. Even spreading his legs he often slipped in a bit so we had him sit backwards so the seat was smaller that way and he didn't have to worry about spraying anything cause he naturally pointed down in that position.

Now he's almost 3yo and does not need to remove his pants to sit as he can fit on the toilet seat well enough without spreading his legs all the way.

 

[Mayhem1976]

Hi
My DS is 30 months and PTing, we go in Sept so I have some of the same concerns too! i do have a folding potty seat that i will bring. and when we are out i squat down and hold him up to the toilet (it's building up some arm strength!) He's the same way about taking his pants off and I think that it is about balance. If he tries to hold his pen!s down I think he gets nervous about falling!
As for poops he's only been going in the little potty so hopefully we'll get him in the big one soon to get use to it!

GL!!!

 

[SueM in MN]

if you are concerned that using pull-ups will give the child the 'license' to wet/poop their pants, one way around this is to put the pull-ups over the child's cloth underwear.
That way, the child can still feel the cloth underwear, but will be protected from wetting their clothing (or the attraction seat or airplane seat).
I have seen people sit down in a wet seat in both airplanes and in theaters at WDW. One of the theaters had plastic seats and the person did see right before they sat down, but the other was in the a theater with cloth seats and an he was not too happy to sit down and get a wet butt!