Potty training and Disney

[disney_momma21]

I was just curious as to how parents of little ones do the potty training thing while on vacation. I'm currently in the process of trying to potty train my 2 year old, soon to be 3 in April, son. I must say that it's not going very well and I'm starting to feel like a failure. I'm hoping he will be potty trained prior to our trip in September but from the looks of it now it seems impossible. So any tips or advice you have on the subject will greatly be appreciated. Also, how did you keep up with the potty training while on vacation? I'm so worried about accidents.

 

[Aliceacc]

My personal advice would be to wait until you get back. Why overshadow such a wonderful trip with inevitable accidents? Throw some pullups into your suitcase and have an amazing vacation, then deal with the potty training on your return.

And PLEASE do NOT let this make you feel like a failure, or your son either!!! This is a developmental thing-- they're ready when they're ready, and not until then. We were pretty sure my son would be wearing pullups to the prom, but even he eventually got trained. But it is a full time job in the beginning-- three steps forward, two (or four) steps back.

So pique his interest, get him some big boy underwear for when he's ready, but give yourself and your husband and son a break and table this one for now. The potty will still be there in the fall after your trip.

 

[bellebud]

My 6yo ds was a piece of work to potty train...

He had the ability to hold his pee at 16 months old (he'd show us) - and his big sis was 3yo and going potty was a family affair (he was in the bathroom every time any of us went), so a bit before 2yo I tried underwear a few different times. Nope! OK, not a biggie. (dd trained at 2yo, so I thought maybe...)

I'm telling you, we "potty trained" him for a bit over 2 years!! He was finally totally trained at 3 3/4 years old. When I say totally trained, I'm talking no accidents though (that's what I consider trained). He'd show such promise at times throughout those 2 years - but it never happened.

SO... I have no advice on 'how' to do it, just wanted to offer that if it doesn't happen quickly (before your trip) don't sweat it. I'd count on pull ups for the trip anyway. You don't want to be just about to board a ride, and have him say "potty!!"... and you also don't want him peeing on ride seats (or the hotel bed, etc, etc). Having to find a bathroom quickly while at disney might be very hard sometimes - unless he's truly trained beforehand (which is of course possible), I'd almost count on accidents at a place as distracting and exciting as disney.

Good luck!!

 

[caitty13]

I have been potty trainign my son since last Sept. He turned 3 in Dec and I think he has finally got it. #1 and #2 in the potty with no accidents. He does still wear a pullup at night but that's a different thread. We went to Disney in December for his birthday, We left a pullup on him the whole time. He let us know when he had to go and the only time he wet it was if he had fallen asleep or was overly tired. He rearly had accidents outside of the house anyway so our problem is at home or mimi's house.

 

[brymolmom]

How are you training right now?

I personally feel that there is a 'window' for each child when it is 'easier' (not necessarily simple) to train him/her. After this window the child becomes more resistant and 'tests' their power - and then it can take a long time.....

We waited too long with my ds and I had those same feelings of failure for many months. It was and still is what I consider one of the most difficult things I've done as a parent. What I learned from the experience (keep in mind these are just my own opinions):
1) Start early - the 'window' is usually between 18 and 30 months.
2) Don't go half way - make a decision and throw out the diapers (except for nighttime if desired) - go straight to underwear. Take time off from work to stay home for some time if necessary.
3) It is the parent who needs to be 'ready' not the child (of course, this is assuming the child is showing at least some signs of physical readiness). We tried 2 times with ds and when he had some accidents we said 'oh he must not be ready' - no, he was - it was just us who weren't ready to deal with the mess for a few days. Make a decision to start and don't turn back for anything. Prepare yourself with paper towels, towels, carpet cleaner, rewards, etc. and KNOW it will be messy and frustrating for at least some amount of time.

Of course, there is another school of thought on this - my own sister didn't have the time or desire to do any 'training' - so she didn't. All she did was wait until her kids wanted to train themselves (no training involved actually, they were so old they knew what to do - they just had to decide they wanted to wear underwear) - they all trained somewhere around the 3.5 - 3.75 year old range. This is an option to some as well. Although it was definitely NOT for me - I was OK with the 'struggle' for a few weeks to not have to change diapers for that extra YEAR that she did.

In terms of doing it on vacation - you might find that even if he is still having accidents at home - he might not while out. My ds did this - he had the control and would only 'choose' to have accidents at home (the power thing). So, he might be ok while you're gone - just make sure to hit the potty VERY frequently and get him used to public toilets before you go.

 

[labdogs42]

Ugh. I'm with you on this one. My DS turned 3 in February and I"m hoping he'll be trained by our September trip, too! (of course, I also thought he might be trained for our trip this past January, but that was a crazy idea!! ). Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I'm suffering through this whole potty thing with you. Some days Ds is totally into the potty thing and some days he's just NOT. This week, I'm trying not to mention the potty at all! We'll see how it goes. I think I'm leaning toward the lazy way of "just let them decide when they are going to do it". I have shown him how to use the potty, he knows how to flush and wash his hands, he just doesn't want to do it. I think I need to back off for now and let him figure it out. At least I hope that works!!

 

[flipflop]

I was just curious as to how parents of little ones do the potty training thing while on vacation. I'm currently in the process of trying to potty train my 2 year old, soon to be 3 in April, son. I must say that it's not going very well and I'm starting to feel like a failure. I'm hoping he will be potty trained prior to our trip in September but from the looks of it now it seems impossible. So any tips or advice you have on the subject will greatly be appreciated. Also, how did you keep up with the potty training while on vacation? I'm so worried about accidents.

First, don't get discouraged. September is still 7 months away!! There were many times DH and I were ready to give up when training our triplets (we trained DD first and the boys who were physically ready later than dd a few months afterward) - we'd give each other pep talks to stick with it. I agree with the sentiments quoted below. Plan on staying home for a week, cover your couch with a plastic tablecloth, pull up any rugs that you can, put the underwear on and go to it. It will likely be messy and frustrating but stick with it.

You should expect that there will be occasional accidents even for children who are fully "trained." My dd has been fully trained since August and she had an accident yesterday (which she was very upset about). My advice is to keep a change of clothes with you and a small pack of wipes. If there is an accident, no big deal - just get the kid changed.

I personally feel that there is a 'window' for each child when it is 'easier' (not necessarily simple) to train him/her. After this window the child becomes more resistant and 'tests' their power - and then it can take a long time.....

We waited too long with my ds and I had those same feelings of failure for many months. It was and still is what I consider one of the most difficult things I've done as a parent. What I learned from the experience (keep in mind these are just my own opinions):
1) Start early - the 'window' is usually between 18 and 30 months.
2) Don't go half way - make a decision and throw out the diapers (except for nighttime if desired) - go straight to underwear. Take time off from work to stay home for some time if necessary.
3) It is the parent who needs to be 'ready' not the child (of course, this is assuming the child is showing at least some signs of physical readiness). We tried 2 times with ds and when he had some accidents we said 'oh he must not be ready' - no, he was - it was just us who weren't ready to deal with the mess for a few days. Make a decision to start and don't turn back for anything. Prepare yourself with paper towels, towels, carpet cleaner, rewards, etc. and KNOW it will be messy and frustrating for at least some amount of time.


.

ITA!

 

[all4fun]

Oh my, I beat myself up over this too. My ds was four when he finally potty trained, but once he got it, he got it 100%, even at night. We had tried numerous different "methods" but I think when the time is right, it's right. Some day, you're gonna look back on this and wonder why you stressed over it so much. I think you've gotten great advice so far. You just have to figure out what works for you and your ds. I would really try not to get too stressed out about it though. If it gets too stressful, then I think backing off for a couple of weeks is also a good idea. You don't want it to become a power struggle, which I think is what was happening with my ds (he's oh so stubborn LOL).

 

[jnsma]

September is a long way away so things may change and you don't want to stop now just because of Disney.

We went to WDW with 3 year old twins who were going through potty training. They were not ready and just threw pullups on them and let them go and very glad we did.
With the heat and activity we tried to keep them hydrated as much as possible. They don't normally get juice but made an exception to get them to drink more and boy did they.
If they asked to go, of course we went, but we didn't push it at the parks.
I think with the increased fluid intake and the excitement of the parks there would be plenty of accidents.

That said before the parks, we did a Disney cruise and it would have been really nice to have them potty trained for that since you can't go into the pool or some of the activities unless you are fully trained.

But every kid is different and there is still a long time....

 

[abcboys]

We are currently in the process of potty training my youngest. He will be 3 in July. We leave for Disney in May. I did what one of the other posters suggested and just went straight to underwear. I ditched the diapers totally (he still wears pull-ups at night but a lot of the time will wake up dry) He is about 70% trained for potty and just about none on the poopy part but I WILL NOT go back to diapers. I use those thick cotton training pants. He will tell me when he has to go potty but I will catch him pooping in his pants every time. Sometimes I will hurry and sit him on the potty and he will make it on time. He is so proud of himself when he does he calls his big brothers in to "see". He knows he gets a prize if he poops on the potty so I don't know why he prefers to go in his pants??

That being said when we go to Disney in May I think I'm just going to put him in pull-ups if he's not totally trained by then. This is going to be a fun family vacation and the last thing I want to worry about is accidents and cleaning out poopy underwear.

My oldest son was 2.5 and totally potty trained. My 2nd was a lot more difficult and was trained 1 month before he turned 3. If I can get this kid totally trained by his 3rd birthday I will be happy. I hate potty training!!

 

[disney_momma21]

Thank you all so much for the great advice!!! I think I'm just going to go with the approach of just letting my son set the pace on the whole potty training thing. I've only been a mom since 2005 and I must say that this has been the toughest obstacle to overcome so far!! My son is stubborn too and I think we've got caught up in a power struggle. Thanks everyone so much for the great tips and advice! It really does mean alot to me to hear that I'm not alone on this. I'm just going to go with the thought of if it happens prior to our trip then great! But if not, well then it looks like I will have another item to add to list of items that I need to pack for WDW...Pull Ups!! Thanks a bunch!

 

[Bethany]

First time we went our son was 2 and a couple months, and he was in the midst of potty training, but he still wore pull ups. While we were there he did SO GOOD! I was in shock at how well he did. Maybe it was the novelty of being at new toilets?? I don't know, but he did amazingly well, even though at home he never did that good. We stayed at Pop Century and the toilets there are SO LOUD and powerful when they flush that you might want to make sure he's out of the bathroom first so you don't traumatize him with the loud flush lol (check out the loudness of the toilet wherevery you stay first).

We totally lucked out with our youngest, who's now 26 mos. She overnight potty trained at 19 mos. She just decided one day that she was done with diapers, and she was.

Like others have said, don't push it. Pushing him before he's ready can cause major grief and headache.

Have you tried a sticker chart? When my oldest was potty training we did a sticker chart for her. I made a path with blank squares and each time she went potty she got a sticker on the path. When her path was full she got to go to the store and pick out a toy (I made sure it was a cheap one).

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Here's my story, hope it helps: at 18 months DD said to me "peepee on potty", in we go and sure enough, she goes; next night: "poopy on potty" (now this I thought was a BIG deal), sure enough, she goes; this goes on for about a month and then IT ENDS. ABRUPTLY. Perfectly happy to do what she wants, which is NOT use the toilet. Her babysitter told me she would help, but since she watched a number of kids, it was better to try in the late spring, early summer months while they spent most of their days outside, so if she had an accident, it was outside, not on the rug, furniture, etc. This I understand since it would be quite a mess with 5 kids potty training at the same time. Sure enough, between babysitter's house and home, we got it done, but the BIG push came when we booked our Disney trip. I told her Mickey would not allow babies in diapers at his house. She had to be potty trained before we went in Nov. (her 3rd birthday). It worked -- she wanted Mickey BAD! Also, semi-backfired. I wanted to put her in pullups on the plane ride and at the hotel at night -- Wasn't having ANY of it. I was so afraid she'd have an accident in bed at night and then what was I to tell the hotel -- bring me a new mattress?! She didn't, but on the plane ride home we hit turbulence and needed to stay seatbelted in so, of course, who has to go?! Crying, begging, pleading to go. I was torn between her being seriously injured, or her having a MAJOR setback. After about 10 minutes I took her to the bathroom where she not only peed, but pooped. While we were in the bathroom the seatbelt sign was shut off so there was a line forming for the bathrooms. When she came out she proceeded to tell everyone in earshot how she had pooped and it really smelled and she was sorry! Morals of this story: (1) he'll go when he's ready and not before; (2) bribe him with The Mouse; (3) take advantage of the warmer months; (3) be prepared for anything, including embarrassing but awfully cute moments along the way. It'll be over before you know it!

 

[buckler]

Don't stress about it. My youngest was a few months shy of 3 years old on her first trip to WDW. She wore pull ups the whole time but managed to stay dry the entire trip. So we say she potty trained at Disney! When we got back from the trip we got her some Disney princess panties to celebrate.

My oldest didn't potty train until she was 3 1/2. Each kid is different. They won't potty train until they are ready.

Be sure to bring Post-it notes to WDW to block the electric eye on the automatic flush toilets. You don't want to have it flush on your son and freak him out so he is scared to sit on the potty. Also, I hear the baby stations have smaller toddler size toilets. I wish I had known that a few years ago!

 

[labdogs42]

Careful with the Disney bribe idea. Are you willing to actually cancel the trip if he isn't wearing underwear by then? If not, I wouldn't go with that plan. I thought about doing that, too, but since I'm not willing to stand firm on those consequences, I can't use them!!

Good to know about the post it notes on the auto-flushers. DS is scared to death of loud toilets. I'm sure that isn't helping our potty progress!

 

[Bethany]

Be sure to bring Post-it notes to WDW to block the electric eye on the automatic flush toilets. You don't want to have it flush on your son and freak him out so he is scared to sit on the potty. Also, I hear the baby stations have smaller toddler size toilets. I wish I had known that a few years ago!

You're a genius! My youngest is sometimes afraid to use public restrooms because of those darn auto flush toilets. She's had them flush on her a couple times and then she'd jump off the toilet and refuse to finish.

 

[abirdd]

1) Start early - the 'window' is usually between 18 and 30 months.
2) Don't go half way - make a decision and throw out the diapers (except for nighttime if desired) - go straight to underwear. Take time off from work to stay home for some time if necessary.
3) It is the parent who needs to be 'ready' not the child (of course, this is assuming the child is showing at least some signs of physical readiness). We tried 2 times with ds and when he had some accidents we said 'oh he must not be ready' - no, he was - it was just us who weren't ready to deal with the mess for a few days. Make a decision to start and don't turn back for anything. Prepare yourself with paper towels, towels, carpet cleaner, rewards, etc. and KNOW it will be messy and frustrating for at least some amount of time.

Could not have said it better myself! DS just turned 2 last Friday, and has been completely potty trained the 1st week of January 2008. I say completely, since we've not had any accidents since January 6th... this goes for day and night.

In DS case, we used the modeling process with a lifesize Curious George doll for a couple days first, then promoted George to underware. Well, DS could not WAIT to follow suit! For rewards, DS had no interest in stickers or cookies (which we thought he would), he wanted tattoos... So, low and behold, the tattoos worked. Looked a little crazy on his arms and legs at the time, but hey, whatever works!

In terms of getting ready for Disney - I think if you keep focused on your effort, make a point to model the desired behaviour and make it a family affair... you'll be surprised at how quickly potty training can be accomplished. No matter what, don't give up

 

[becky_AK]

This is a great topic...since we are in the potty training stages right now too. Great advice from everyone!

OT~I see you are from Oregon. What part? I'm in Portland

 

[disney_momma21]

Thank You all a bunch!! You don't know how much I appreciate all the helpful tips. Today has been a good day with potty training. DS told me when he had to go potty and I took and he did a #1 but for some reason I have never been able to get him to do a #2. I guess thats going to be the hardest part. I'm still hopeful that by september he won't be 100% potty trained but at least 85-90%, I'm keeping my fingers crossed! But if not, then just like you all said, don't push it too hard. He'll get it when he get's it.

It's just so hard not to get discouraged with myself. I've tried the sticker chart and that worked for a little while but now he's just not that into. I started today to offer him hot wheel cars as prizes for going potty. So far they have been working. I never thought about offereing tattoo's. He really likes those, maybe I will try that if the cars thingy doesn't work out. Did any of you just go from diapers to underware? I use the pull ups but I think DS is thinking they are more like a diaper. So he is less inclined to try and not have an accident in them.

 

[DannysMom]

I'm just going to go with the thought of if it happens prior to our trip then great! But if not, well then it looks like I will have another item to add to list of items that I need to pack for WDW...Pull Ups!! Thanks a bunch!

Yep don't sweat it, he'll train when he's ready not when you want him to be ready.

Last year my son was 3 1/2 for our WDW trip & not yet potty trained. (Well, he was a odd duck, he'd been pretty much trained for #2 for almost a year, but not for #1, which I understand to be unusual.)

We just packed the pull-ups & while at Disney my son decided to be potty trained. Really & truly. Out of the blue he started announcing (loudly) "I NEED to pee!" and he was successful in holding it until we could run to restroom & get a stall. I vividly remember picking him up at Cosmic Ray's & running to the restroom with him. So for whatever reason, being at Disney was where he had his potty training breakthough.

Not saying that it'll happen that way for you (or anyone else) but it's possible & you just never know. Maybe it was the pixie-dust?