potty training and Disney--help please!

[Karebear]

Hi everyone,

We are taking our 2 kids--ages 2.5 and 4 to Disneyland for their first Disney trip next month. DD who is 2.5 began self potty training last week. She is doing really well and her pull-up has been staying dry. I was going to switch her to underwear next week or so.

Here is the problem. We leave for Disneyland next month--right after Thanksgiving. I remember not feeling really comfortable that my son would not have an accident until he had been potty trained for at least 2 or 3 months. Should I put her in pull-ups for the trip? I don't want to have her regress since she will be in underwear by then. Any and all tips welcome!

 

[DisneyMagicMommy]

Bumping for more information...i'm in the same situation with my 3 year old. He does well at home but i'm thinking will all the excitment at the parks he might ignore the fact that he has to go and not tell us until it's to late and and accident is imminent. I'm considering doing pull-ups for this very reason...but I will still take him to the restroom often...the pull ups would be there just in case.

 

[grlpwrd]

We have 5 kids and sometimes when one of them was potty training while on vacation I either kept them in Pullups (I am a health nut, but on vacation I have resorted to disposables) or they used their cloth training pants. I think either way is fine, but the main thing is when you return you have to really enforce and be consistent.

If you are going to make the switch to underwear, then be consistent, but you also need to be prepared while there. Yes, you need to take her to the restroom regularly and have extra clothes and undies in case of accidents.

Would you consider switching her to cloth training pants which have a little bit of layer or have her use those in the interim? Some even have a plastic outer layer to keep in wetness and contain leakage.

GL!

 

[thepeach80]

Evan had been done for about 3 mos when we went and he did great in WDW and we were there till 10:30pm! My 4yo did great too. Now Epcot was another story and I'm not sure why that was so hard, but he peed on the floor of 2 different stores in Epcot. Yeah, it's funny now, NOT then. We had brought extra clothes for both boys and he used his and his brothers. We never went back to pullups though that wouldn't have bothered him at all, but it would've just told my oldest that he could pee in those and not bother w/ the bathroom.

 

[drivencrazy]

I say that if the child is ready, go for it!

My 2 year old decided that she was going to wear panties a couple months before our Disney trip. I had decided that I would wait till we got back to work with her... she had an different idea!

Needless to say, I didn't want her being lazy, or thinking it was alright to pee in her pants again so we kept her in panties and she did great!

I worried about the plane, but she had no problem going on there (although she didn't want to use that bathroom again)!

She was able to tell us in plunty of time that she had to go... even if she was having fun doing something or waiting in line!

Also, if you are driving and think that there may be a mess... you could always put the pull up over the undies that way they know that you aren't letting them slip back! Or get waterproof mats for the car seat!

Good luck and enjoy your trip!

 

[Hannathy]

Once my kids were dry they were dry didn't matter where we were or what we were doing so I didn't use diapers/pullups. Just go to the BR a lot and luckily Disney at least Disney world has a lot of them. Always before a show or long line.

One important thing tho is be aware of the automatic flushers on the toilet. They are very loud and will startle a little one if they go off while they are on. So either practice somewhere with those flushers and warn the little person or take post it notes to cover the sensor so it doesn't flush(just remember to take it off before you leave)

 

[northriver]

I really recommend using the cloth training pants instead of pullups. For some reason the pullups seem so hot and uncomfortable, much more so than diapers. When DD was newly potty trained she work PullUps to our State Fair several times, and a long day at a zoo. Every time it was so hot and humid and I thought the pull up made her sweaty and super uncomfortable, hard to pull on and off since she was sweaty. She never had an accident out in public anyway. After that we just wore the thick cloth training pants. MUCH more comfortable. If the child has an accident they really do contain most of the mess, just make sure to keep a change of clothes and a plastic bag to store dirty clothes in on hand just in case. Oh and be sure to carefully review the maps BEFORE you go to the parks. Some of the restrooms are a little hidden out of site, especially at MK. If you know where they are ahead of time, life will be much easier when you hear the little voice saying "Mommy I have to go right now!" LOL!

 

[ncwdwluvr]

I recently experienced this same thing. I let her wear underwear but I bought the really thick kind and did put the plastic covers on. Every time we passed a potty I asked her. If we were going to get on a ride and I knew the line would be long, I made her go. It took a lot of time out of the day, but we made it a game. We tried to see how many Disney Bathrooms we could see. We tried to notice things that were different in each bathroom, like soap color, or tile on the wall. She did not seem to mind so much.
Good Luck! Have Fun!

 

[workinmomof2]

Why wait for the next week or so to put her in the undies. Do it now. There is plenty of time between now and Thanksgiving to she if she can do it. At her age it should not be a problem. Especially if SHE is making the decision.
Good luck.

 

[buckler]

My DD potty trained herself too and our Disney trip convinced me she was ready to get out of pull ups and into underwear. She managed to go the entire time without a single accident. I switched her into underwear when we got home from the trip (Princess ones of course!). But, she would have been fine in underwear in the parks. If your daughter is accident free for a few weeks prior to the trip I think you can let her stay in underwear and not go back to pull ups.

But, do follow the Post-It note advice to cover the eyes on the automatic flush toilets! I learned after my first trip to Disney to take those. My kids hate to have the toilet flush on them mid-use!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

We had the same situation last year with DD. She was (day) potty-trained before we went on the trip (had to wear big girl panties to impress the Princesses!) but we did keep Pullups on her for the plane. I could just imagine that even though we had her go before we got on the plane...she would just "have to" go at takeoff or some other time when you can't get out of your seat! We didn't have an accident the whole trip but it was worth putting her temporarily in pullups for my peace of mind.

 

[tmarquez]

We made tons of day trips to Mk when DD was potty training. She wore regular underwear. We made mandatory potty breaks for EVERYONE, whether they needed to go or not at certain intervals. Never had an accident. Never had to leave a show, or get out of a line either.

Actually we still do it this way. That way we don't spend all day in various bathrooms. Just a quick pitstop and everyone is taken care of.

Have fun and congrats to DD!

 

[Princess Roo]

I would switch to underwear as soon as you can and see how it goes. If she can go 2 hours between bathroom breaks, then I'd try underpants at Disney, too, and just make sure you hit a bathroom every 2 hours.

One thing we didn't expect with DS is that once he was allowed to wear underpants he threw a FIT if we wanted him to wear pull-ups (except at naps, which he had been doing all along). A few weeks after he trained, we went to put him in a Pull-up for a flight and he was SO upset. We calmed him somewhat by stretching a pair of underpants over them (didn't think about under them at the time - that may have worked better - LOL!) but he kept saying he was a big boy and wears underpants. I do have friends that have switched back to Pull-ups for vacations, but it wouldn't have worked for us.