Potty training before or after Disney?

[ALittleDisneyFan]

We just brought our baby girl home from Guatemala in January at 16 mos old (she's now 21 mos and home almost 5 mos). She was developementally behind, and improving all of the time. She was very much infant-like instead of toddler-like. (which is fine). She turns 2 in August.... and our trip is in the beginning of Dec. Jan will mark 1 year that she has been home with us. She is now recognizing that she "pa poos" in her "di-di".. but no interest in the actual potty.

I was talking to my husband tonight and wondering if we should potty train her before we go to Disney in Dec, or wait until we get back. We don't mind carrying diapers and wipes... just wondering if it would be more difficult for her to use the potty in the parks.... Thanks!

 

[Lucky'sMom]

I would think you might want to wait. I remember taking my son shortly after he was trained, and he was petrified of the very loud automatic flush toilets that Disney has. We did bring along stickers to cover the sensor, but a nervous child has trouble "going"... Also, at home my kids had little pottys or used a potty seat. That's also kind of a pain at WDW. Not un-doable, just a pain.

 

[KK'sMommy]

I would wait until after the trip. Our DD turned 3 in February and has been fully potty trained for about a month and a half. She is right on developmentally, she just didn't care about using the potty. We are now to the point where she can hold it for a little while, but when she says she needs to potty, we pretty much drop everything to go. Since your little one is a little delayed, I would not push the potty training and just let her enjoy her trip. It is hard enough to PT without having to be out in a theme park! I am one of those moms that believes in child-led potty training, so I think if they are not interested, you are just going to get frustrated.

 

[ALittleDisneyFan]

I would wait until after the trip. Our DD turned 3 in February and has been fully potty trained for about a month and a half. She is right on developmentally, she just didn't care about using the potty. We are now to the point where she can hold it for a little while, but when she says she needs to potty, we pretty much drop everything to go. Since your little one is a little delayed, I would not push the potty training and just let her enjoy her trip. It is hard enough to PT without having to be out in a theme park! I am one of those moms that believes in child-led potty training, so I think if they are not interested, you are just going to get frustrated.

Thank you! The last thing I want to do is push this on her.

She would be petrified of the auto flush, which I didn't even think of.

 

[disneymomto5]

I would wait. My daughter (who's from Russia), regressed after coming home and even though she was a cinch to finally potty train, we waited a bit to give her that extra "baby" time.

 

[StephMK]

I agree, no sense pushing it. At that age, it was just easier to deal with the diapers instead of being at that early trained stage & never knowing when you'd have to fly to the nearest (or every) potty.

I peeked at your blog -what a dollbaby she is!! You were smart to pull out the water cups & break it down to something she could enjoy. We used to take a baby pool to the beach so the kids could splash in it until they got used to the waves and noise. Bet you'll have pic of a little fish loving her pool by the end of the summer!

 

[crisi]

You get a choice for when they potty train?!

My experience was that by somewhere between a year and eighteen months or so, both my kids (one adopted from Korea), each of my children started showing "potty readiness."

And the next two years with both of them were one LONG tease until one day - "poof" - done, like magic.

In between we had stickers and charts and cheerios and naked days and underwear and training pants and pullups and prizes and clocks - well, if someone had said, "if you stand on your head every hour - they'll go" I would have tried it.

My suggestion, if she suddenly decides to use the toilet, don't stop her! My nephew did at eighteen months - a friend's child from the Ukraine did the same thing - despite all sorts of other adjustment related delays (like not talking). If she doesn't, don't sweat it - it will happen and standing on your head just messes up your hair.

 

[adell557]

I would wait. There is nothing more frustrating for your or for your little girl than being in line for Dumbo for 30 minutes to hear your little one say I have to go and then get out of line for her to go pee 3 drops. It takes some time for them about holding it. My daughter went potty every 30 minutes for a month or so after she was going on the potty. After a couple of months she got the hang of being able to "hold it" and know when she really had to go and couldn't hold it any more.

 

[ERMama]

congrats on having your daughter home (nora has been home 2 months).

i agree with crisi, if shes showing signs i wouldnt stop her. but if its just before the trip i wouldnt push it hard either. we took my oldest to wdw for his 3rd bday. he was delayed and we had stopped trying to potty train him. i honestly didnt find it hard to deal with a kid in diapers at wdw. in fact weve been there now 3 times with kids and always have had one in diapers. going in august and will have one in diapers too.

if shes delayed in general she may be delayed in potty training too. just because they recognize what poop isnt doesnt exactly mean they are ready to totally train.

 

[ALittleDisneyFan]

if shes delayed in general she may be delayed in potty training too. just because they recognize what poop isnt doesnt exactly mean they are ready to totally train.

Oh gosh, I hope it didn't seem like I was saying she understands about poop means she should PT. I meant she's just now beginning to notice something in her diaper... where as my friends 19 month old is alerting her mother that she needs to pee, and taking her diaper off after doing so.

 

[scjo68]

I would wait, too. I did with my ds who was a little over two.

Of course, like others have said, is she wants to do it herself, no need to stop her.

When my sis's dd was not yet two, she potty trained herself. My sis had just had her third baby, and they were also just about to move. So pt was the furthest thing from her mind at the time. But her dd decided she wouldn't wear diapers any more. At all. Ever. And she just taught herself. So it was pretty easy for her. Her other two (boys) were not nearly so quick or easy, so you never know what to expect. Just because mom has a plan, doesn't mean the dchild is following it. I learn that lesson more each day.

 

[rebecca314]

I am thinking that waiting would be a better thing for your family. BUT ... just to share a fun story...

DS is still not completely using the potty. I told him after leaving dinner at the castle that he had to try and potty. He fought with me, then finally went in to the stall with me. Lo and behold! He took a big poop and ran out of the castle screaming, "I pooped in the castle!" I think quite a few people got a laugh out of it and now I remind him of that event on days we are having trouble.

 

[design_mom]

We adopted our children as toddlers also. DS wasn't potty trained when we started planning our first trip to WDW. I decided not to worry about potty training until we came home. However, a couple of weeks before we left, he decided that he was a "big boy" and started using the potty on his own. I didn't have the heart to make him wear pull-ups in WDW when he was so proud of his accomplishment. It worked out just fine. We just took plenty of potty breaks (by the way, if you stick a post-it note over the self-flush sensor, it usually prevents it from flushing until you take the post-it back off.)

So -- I agree with everyone else. I wouldn't necessarily *try* to train her before your trip, but if it works out that way, know that it's do-able to visit WDW with a newly-trained toddler.

 

[crisi]

A hint for the autoflush - carry post it notes (the little ones). Put them over the sensor, let them use the potty, move them out of the stall (cause if they are still in the stall - its really loud - louder than home), remove the post it note, the toilet flushes.

 

[Princess-in-Training]

hello! another mom here chiming in to wait until you get back. dd was about 2.5 years old and we hadn't really seriously began potty training. her potty chair had been out for months (comfy for watching tv in!!!) and she liked reading potty books -- she even peed a few times in the potty. but she would say, "no, mommy, i need my diaper." i kept pull-ups on her at disney (I like pull-ups only for the ease-of-changing, not for any other reason!). A week after our return, she said, "I need big-girl underwear, mommy!" and from then on, has used the potty, with diapers only for night!! And that was it. The only time she's had accidents has been when she's having lots of fun, like at a playground or friends house and forgets. She would have been waaaaay too distracted at Disney to listen to her bladder.

DS was a whole different story. It was a huge struggle.

Both my kids didn't care if they were wet our dry, for the most part. DS could sit in a poopy diaper without a care in the world. DD would tell me she had a poopy diaper, but that was it.