Potty training and our trip to the World

[TDERadulski]

DS will turn 3 in May and we are headed to WDW to celebrate. We have been working on potty training, and he has "#2" mastered. He is still in diapers, however, since "#1" is still a work in progress.

My question is, how have you all handled potty training while you are at WDW? I am concerened about waiting in line at the parks for use of the restroom. I am uncertain if he can hold it for the entire time we are in line. If he does have an accident, he will be very upset. The last time he had an accident, he stared crying and saying "I'm sorry mommy. I'm sorry mommy". It broke my heart! I just reassured him that it was Ok and that accidents happen.

If anyone has words of advice or can speak from experience, please do!

Thanks,
Tara

 

[CEDmom]

When our DD was in the early stages of mastering potty training and we were going out somewhere I'd put a pullup over her underpants. She understood that this was just in case we didn't get to a bathroom in time. The only time she had a complete accident when doing this was when she fell asleep in her carseat or stroller. Otherwise, she occasionally got her underpants a tiny bit wet but not even enough to wet the pullup. I'd just put a fresh pair on her and she was good to go. I can't imagine what we would have done if we didn't do this and she soaked her carseat and stroller.

Good luck.

 

[becka]

I was also going to suggest the pull-up thing. My DS will also be 3 in May and we are in the midst of potty training. Unfortunately for me my little guy has #1 pretty much mastered (an occassional accident) but is afraid to go #2 on the potty.

We are not planning on going to WDW until December but I am hoping and praying that we have mastered it all by then. Even then I will probably use pull-ups over his underwear just in case.

 

[rt2dz]

I had DS#1 completely and totally potty trained by 2.5 and I think by about 24 or 25 months--before he was trained--he stayed completely dry at night. HOWEVER, when we went to Disney when he was 3.5 (no accidents for over a year at all) with the busy WDW lifestyle, he wet the bed. He was totally horrified. Just so busy and so many long days, even with breaks, it threw things off. So I just want to say, be prepared for things to be off. And prepare the kiddos.

 

[Stephres]

My mother and I were just talking about how my sister was so fascinated by the restrooms at WDW, that's when she decided to be potty trained! My mother said she thinks they visited every single restroom in the Kingdom!

When my son was just trained I brought extra underwear and shorts in a ziplock bag in case of accidents and looked at the map beforehand so I could be familiar with the restrooms. I found that a lot of people were very nice and let us cut in front a couple of times. Not too many people can resist a cute three year old doing the potty dance. I think we also used pull-ups at night as well.

My daughter turns three next month and we are celebrating in Disney too! She is the stubborn one though, and isn't the slightest bit interested in the potty, even when I offered to buy her princess panties!

 

[Mom to Jordan]

If he is in diapers less than a month before the trip I would leave him in them till after you return. On the trip if he asked to go, take him. If you are all going, ask him if he needs to go but beyond that I would just let things ride until you get back. Of course if he has some big revalation and decides tomorrow that he wants nothing to do with diapers, then that might all have to change but I would change nothing or start anything new at this time.

Jordan's mom

 

[Lucky'sMom]

Here's a suggestion I got off of these boards a few years ago, and I used it and it really was a life-saver: All of the restrooms at WDW have automatic flushing toilets. These can scare some children, as they often start flushing when the child is still on the toilet, or has just gotten off. My son was scared of these. Buy some stickers, the ones suggested to me were the kind you might use for a garage sale. They come in packs with rows of solid color circles of red, blue, yellow, green, etc. When you take your child to the rest room, take one sticker and cover the "glowing red light sensor" on the automatic toilet. This will prevent it from flushing. Once your child is done, and away from the toilet, remove the sticker, and the toilet will flush. Then after my child went, I would give him a sticker (as a reward) to put on his hand, shirt, etc. This worked amazingly well, and prevented what could have been a disaster. The last thing you need is a potty-training child to become afraid of the toilet! Good luck!

 

[DebbieDVC]

When we went to WDW last fall, our DS had just turned 3 a few days before the trip (yes, we had to pay admission but that is another story). I was lucky enough to have stayed home from work for the 3 weeks prior to our trip. DS was about 80% successful the first week of training. During our trip, we left him in Pull Ups. The only accident we had was at night when he was just super tired.

The positive during our trip was that he learned to use the big potty with out a seat as the hotel nor the parks had "potty" chairs.

I think that we all were more comfortable having him in Pull Ups. He was so excited to be at WDW, he did not care. As soon as we were home...underwear it was and since then no accidents.

On another note, DS is really scared of the automatic toilets. He refuses to go potty in public now as he does not want to encounter one of those auto pottys. Lucky's Mom...what great advice about the stickers. That will make it fun and less traumatic

 

[Laurabearz]

I told the girls they were Mickey's magical toliets and they flushed all by themsleves.... AND Mickey is so proud of his wonderful magic (I mean who likes an unflushed toliet) he makes them flush really loud.

Our Oldest was newly potty trained on a WDW trip. She, herself, opted for pull ups after the second accident. If he wont use pull ups, make sure you bring extra socks (and even shoes if he is a race horse)

 

[Disneymomofsix]

Lucky's Mom, you are a lifesaver. I had planned to start my own thread before we go on how to get your child to use the bathroom without the toilet flushing. The other day we were at McDonald's, and it flushed because she moved. She jumped up screaming. I calmed her down, and then it flushed again. Someone had suggested standing in front of the sensor, but the stickers sound much better.

 

[ArRzrbk]

We took our DS's potty seat (the kind that fits over the big toilet) with us. He turned three at Disney World and has basically mastered #1 and #2. Our tips..

1.) Take the potty seat.

2.) Practice using the big potty at home without a seat (if he will) for #2, as you may end up in the parks or a restaurant needing to go. This happened to us a couple times. Just hold him above the potty or cover the seat with toilet paper or a seat cover and help balance him on the edge.

3.) Wear pull-ups (we called them big boy pull-ups) at the parks and at night in the bed.

4.) Ask him frequently if he needs to pee-pee or poo-poo before you leave to go to the parks. Tell or show him the rest of you are going to do that befoer you leave.

Good luck!

 

[sleepyone]

Buy some stickers, the ones suggested to me were the kind you might use for a garage sale. They come in packs with rows of solid color circles of red, blue, yellow, green, etc. When you take your child to the rest room, take one sticker and cover the "glowing red light sensor" on the automatic toilet. This will prevent it from flushing.

OOOO! Great tip! *must buy stickers*

 

[WDWorBUST]

Instead of stickers post-it notes are good for covering the sensors....some stickers might leave a sticky residue behind and with a post-it you have a nice clean edge to grab to remove it.

 

[ArRzrbk]

Wish we'd thought of that! My Mom was the first to take DS #1 to the auto-flush potty, and when he came out he said, "Those crazy potties." She'd made it into a game about those "crazy auto flushing potties." He talked about them the whole trip