Potty training at Disney...need advice

[suzct]

My DS almost 3 is doing really well on the potty issue. Almost all #2 and most #1 when we remind him. He is using pull-ups. Today since we stayed in the house he went without anything. He will not go on anything right now, but his potty.
We are headed to Disney the first week of feb. I don't know what I am going to do. He won't sit on a big toilet and I don't blame him as his feet don't touch the ground. I can continue the pull-ups, but hate to give mixed messages by letting him pee in them in Disney, but not elswhere. I'm definitely confused on this issue. The timing isn't good, but I am happy he is making some progress.
Any advice?
Thanks

 

[metivier]

Someone posted that the Baby Care Centers have toddler-sized toilets -- maybe DS would be more comfortable using those? Also, there are portable fold-up potty seats that you can place on top of a regular toilet -- one example is this one:

Folding potty seat

Personally I would avoid pull-ups at all costs as you have made such great progress. Good luck! (I might be in a similar situation in May with my 2 year-old!)

 

[blondeeinmichigan]

I say between now and when you leave REALLY start working on him using the big toilet. His feet aren't gonna be touching the ground for a while yet.

Just work work work on it and I bet he'll get it in the next month.

He'll do great!!

Good luck!!

 

[lovesdumbo]

My DD was completely potty trained for months on her first trip at 3 1/2 but she was terrified of the public potties. She'd use the one at the hotel (with the fold up potty seat) but I had to put her in pullups or go back to the resort every time she had to pee. She knew it was a special situation and she didn't have any problems not wearing pullups after we got home.

I had to use the baby care centers to change the pull up because she wouldn't walk into the public restrooms. The baby care centers did not have small potties but they did have ones without the autoflush. Another solution to the autoflush (that I still had to use for her at 6 1/2) is to use those very small post its over the sensor and then just throw it away after she's all done.

 

[littleprissboutique]

My dd3( since October 22 ) has been potty trained for almost a year. She loves her Milk, but sometimes (rare) I let her have a Cola Icee. It runs right through her and she has an accident. Also when she has popsicles. Though it is not often, I am not taking a chance at Disney. I have heard of 4 and 5 year olds having accidents at Disney. Standing in line for long periods of time, Excitement and just forgetting they need to go. So, my little one is fine with a pull up in the park. When we travel ( plane ) she always wears a pull up, and has never been confused (sp). She says they are her protective panties...LOL

So, maybe you could just explain to your little one that they are protective underware. Children understand more than you think..

Hope all goes well.....Have fun at the world.

( Oh BTW--- You could pick up a training potty and ship it to your resort. Then he would have one in the room. Then just clean it up and ship it home. Also, you may want to check with the baby care centers... Never been to one, but they may have the tiny potties. I know a lot of the malls here in TN have a family restroom with a big potty and a little one. Hope this helps )

 

[dis-happy]

Those potties at WDW can loudly flush without warning---it would scare my ds to death! I took the easy way out---what with driving to WDW and his unpredictable urge to have to go RIGHT NOW (even when we almost ready to get on a ride), I chose to use the pull-ups and worry about the rest of potty training at home. Most kids don't have a problem with a different set of rules in a different environment, especially when as old as 3. IMO, don't feel bad about making it easy on yourself.

 

[crisi]

We didn't have good luck with the folding seat - pinched and then the kids wouldn't use it.

Post it notes are useful for blocking the flush sensor.

In my mind, you need to decide whether pull ups are better or worse than being prepared with a change of clothes, wipes, etc. for an in park accident. We chose pull ups with my son, and he potty trained a week later when we got back, but I don't think there is one answer that is right for all parents. Pull ups may delay potty training a little more, but a week in pull ups won't mean they go off to college in training pants. However, some parents don't want to delay potty training for ANYTHING - and with the cost of diapers and effort involved, I can sympathize.

 

[disney-super-mom]

I say between now and when you leave REALLY start working on him using the big toilet. His feet aren't gonna be touching the ground for a while yet.

Just work work work on it and I bet he'll get it in the next month.

He'll do great!!

Good luck!!

I agree with this entirely (and the fold-up potty seat is a good idea too).
I don't think it's a good idea to give mixed messages during potty training. Too confusing for a little one.
I think it's fine to use pull-ups incase of accidents, but as far as "where" it's okay to go potty, the "where" should always be the potty.

Start encouraging your DS you go on the big potty at home, maybe with a little footstool. Then graduate him to try using a big potty in a public restroom. Even if he refuses, keep encouraging him to give it a try everytime he needs to go. Maybe offer him a reward for trying, even if it's only to sit on the big potty for a second. It would be a step in the right direction and eventually he'll try it for real.

Also, those automatic flushing toilets can be very scary for the little ones. My DS was terrified of them because they would often flush when he was sitting on the toilet, and they're so loud and flush so stongly! So I started to cover the little red light with my finger so there was no chance of that happening again.

Anyway, have a great trip to WDW!

 

[Kae]

Post it notes are useful for blocking the flush sensor..

That is a very good Idea. the toliets in the parks are very loud & terrified DS when he was 4 & DD this year at 4 1/2. I would wait & see how well he is doing my DS was just a 3 year & a month we he got ptty trained & has never had a accident-it was like it just clicked one day. But if you hold on to a couple pull ups for the trip you might see how he reacts to the "big" potties at WDW.

Kae

 

[Laurabearz]

We prepared our kids for the toliets by saying they are Mickey's Magical Toliets and they flush by themselves quite loudly so Mickey knows they are doing their jobs! Kinda like the Thunder lets the clouds know the plants need more water, with Lightings help (so thunder can see the trees and flowers... lol)

We took DD3 (at the time) when she was in the middle of Potty training. By the second day we went offsite and bought pullups. Just an FYI the pee went into the shoes... which was icky. I had brought a change of clothes but not socks and shoes....

We told her we were still going potty in the potty but the pull ups were just in case. She only had two more accidents that trip, and we were all grateful for the pull ups.

Edited to add.... My girls didnt have problems with big pottys but they baulked on using a port a john. I told them a port a john might be icky but it is a heck of a lot better than peeing and pooping on the ground so no monkeying around, just do it, get it over with and move on.

 

[crisi]

We took DD3 (at the time) when she was in the middle of Potty training. By the second day we went offsite and bought pullups. Just an FYI the pee went into the shoes... which was icky. I had brought a change of clothes but not socks and shoes....

Ewwwwww.

My big fear was the "messy poop" The one that takes a while to clean up with a pull up - but is contained (as opposed the the less common explodo-poop - which no mere diaper can contain!), but for which underwear is not sufficient.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

I had the same problem a few weeks ago. My son was 90% trained. We used pull ups the entire trip. We let him go in his pull ups. This was easier on us, I have to admit. We didn't have the stress of finding a bathroom in a split second. He did use the potty whenever we went. When we came home he went back to his big boy pants with no problems. Sometimes you have to do what is best for the whole group.

P.S.-he isn't confused or suffering emotionally from our decision.

Lori

 

[3littleHalls]

Another one whose child was terrified by the auto flushing toilets in the parks! She was completely trained and refused to go for fear of being sucked down the loud potty! We would have to hop the monorail and go back to the hotel for her to go. I started making the kids try to go potty before we leave the house, before and after bedtimes. In the parks we took potty breaks... and we didn't have to deal with "I have to go" from them. Best wishes for a Magical trip!

 

[Windy City Heather]

I vote for pull ups. I took my 3 year old who was potty trained for 6 days in September no accidents until just before we got on the plane. Then I took her for 4 days the end of October. We had so many accidents I ran out of underwear and had to buy more. By the middle of the 3rd day I was at my witts end. The 4th day she was in a pull up all day and it stayed dry all day. For the 4 day trip we spend 2 days at MK, 1 at MGM, 1 split between Epcot and AK. We only had accidents at MK. One of the MK days we went through 7 pairs of underwear. We are going again in Feb. She will be in pull ups every day but still be using the potty.

 

[Nicolepa]

If it were me I'd start teaching him to pee standing up. My ds actually chose to do it when he first started training (wanted to be like daddy). Then sitting on the big potty is really only an issue when he has to do #2.

 

[disneyfreak74]

Just back in Dec with a 2.5 DD. She did great!!! Refused to wear a pullup!!! She was pretty good at giving plenty of time to let me get her to a potty. Also everytime we walked pass a potty, the WHOLE crew would go potty!!! Would she would fall asleep I would put a diaper on her to be sure we did not have an accident (she still uses them at night. she kinda sleeps hard like her mommy) and then as soon as she would get up we would head off to the potty!! If anything Disney helped with our potty training!! She wanted to be a big girl the entire time we were there!!

We used the fold up potty seat. Got ours at Toys r Us and it has Dora on it (also have one with Sponge BOB)
Used plenty of hand santiazer.

 

[momofbgtwins]

We went in September and the twins were well into potty training. My son still had accidents, but my daughter is a camel, and will go 8 hours without peeing, rather than have an accident! Anyway, we used pull ups for naps (even in the park for stroller naps) and nightime. We bought a fold up potty seat to bring with us, and it collapsed when my son was on it. We also brought a padded potty seat insert for the condo. We ended up bringing the padded insert to the parks in the backpack. Luckily, we asked often,"Do you need to go potty?", forced the issue a few times when they said "No", and had no accidents. Pull ups full time would've been a horrible insult to my daughter, and my son would've loved the "crutch", and we would've been back to square one! Isn't it funny how kids can be sooo different????

 

[AnaheimGirl]

I second the suggestion to teach him to pee standing up. Having never been in a WDW men's room, I don't know how high up the urinals are, but hopefully he could reach them OK.

For #2, you could bring along a padded potty seat insert, just for the hotel bathroom. We did this for my 2yo dd. That way she was more comfortable using the hotel toilet, but she was already used to going on the big toilets without any such help when out and about at home. It's fairly flat and we just put it in a plastic bag and packed it in the suitcase. Maybe you could find something to use as a stepstool with it, in the hotel room at least.

Oh, just had another idea. We keep one of these in the car for emergencies. The On the Go Potty It folds up small enough to carry in a backpack. The only thing is, if you plan to use it every time, you'd have to bring lots of extra liners, because you need a new one for each use.

Good luck!

 

[2dogmom]

My 2.5yo was potty training when we went last month. I had her wear a pull-up, but she insisted on only going on the potty. There were 2 times we were in line and I told her to go in her pull-up, and she reluctantly did. So we didn't have any problems going from pull-up back to underpants.

 

[DisneyLover17]

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