Potty training now - Disney in exactly 5 weeks!

[labst60]

Okay- I need advice on how to best tackle the world with a newly trained 2 year old. We just started potty training this week (we're 2 for 4 so far today - basically, she has no problem GOING on the potty (both #1 and #2), but she really isn't telling me in advance yet -she tells me she is GOING to tell me, then she comes and shows me the wet panties - but unless I put her on there, she's not asking to go yet.) I would hold off until after vacation, but I really want to get this done before the summer since we have so many activities planned for the summer and can pretty much just sit in the house and wait it out now. She is going to be a big sister at the beginning of Sept, so waiting until the fall is not an option... anyway...

Our biggest problem is that she is a little peanut and can't sit on a regular toilet by herself - with one of the potty inserts, she does just fine. So, I bought a travel/foldable insert for when we are at the mall, etc and I'll take that with us for the airport, restaurants, parks, etc. I also think I'll take one of our non-foldable inserts for the hotel room (that way, I can just keep the travel one in our diaper bag- no need to worry about forgetting it.) What about a stepstool? Should I bring/buy one for the hotel room (maybe we have tall toilets at home - but she just can't get on by herself w/out a stool - and it even takes a little effort with a stool- and this is the little monkey I often find has climed up on my dining room server!!!)

We also have a really car/portable potty that sits about 2" off the ground (haven't used it yet). It comes with disposable inserts - not sure if this is something i should bring or if we'd even use - not like I'm going to pull a potty out in the middle of the line for It's a small world!!!

What else am I not thinking of or any advice/tips you could give? Do they sell travel size lysols because I am thinking I am going to want to spray that foldable pottty seat - also - I thought I'd get hand sanitizer for the trip rather than always trying to reach her up to the sinks to wash her hands - can anyone recommend a good NONSCENTED one for kids?

Thanks!

 

[deedeetoo]

We went with my DD when she was 2. She had been potty trained for about two months at the time of the trip and had been having no trouble telling us she needed to go and holdling it until she got to a bathroom.

But we had big problems on the trip. First, she was afraid of the automatic flush toilets and they are everywhere (at the airport, at the parks). She absolutely refused to use them. She also is a peanut so we had same size issues as you. We finally gave up, bought diapers, and used them whenever we went to the parks. I should add that she didn't want to use the diapers but the whole potty thing was getting so stressful that we just said enough is enough. We had no trouble in the hotel room where we had a normal toilet and in fact she was fine when we had our day off from the parks. .

The good news is that once we got home, she was back to being potty trained as if the week off hadn't happened.

 

[we're all mad here]

My DD is recently potty trained. She refuses to go back to diapers for trips. She too is afraid of those self-flushing potties. A tip I got from another diser is to use post-its over the sensor. Works well! Just be patient, it took us a lot longer than we hoped. Used LOTS of prizes that she picked out for when she went. Worked wonders! Good Luck

 

[tadamom]

For the time you've got left before your trip, have you tried buying her some really special panties? My daughter was 2 in December (she is potty-trained) and I bought her some Disney Princess and Minnie panties and it just broke her heart if she ever had an accident in those. I think that really helped her.

As for your trip - I'm usually not a fan of pull-ups but have you thought about using those just for the trip? That way if she does have an accident, then all of her clothing won't be wet. Another thing that I haven't tried myself but the thought just popped in my head is what about Little Swimmers? If she wore those, she would have them on in case of accidents and she would also be ready for the splash pads & fountains. Just remember to tell her to tell you when she needs to go.

A tip that I'm going to remember for our trip is the Post-It notes over the sensor for automatic flushes. I saw this tip here on the Dis and everyone swears by it.

Good luck and hopefully she will be fully trained before your trip!!

 

[Tigger&Aidan]

I think there's a good chance that she'll forget to tell you when she's in the middle of having fun, especially considering all the fun at WDW
Unless she makes real progress in the next few weeks, I think i'd consider a back up plan, maybe pullups with undies on top, just in case? Or, take lots of clothes and wet washcloths to clean up. DS is 2 and I'm hoping that he's fully trained for our trip later this year (hoping summer does the trick for us, as he's not so into PT now....)

As far as the step stool, i'd just scrap that idea for the time you are there and lift her up in the hotel. You'll be lifting her in the park anyway.... For cleaning, I know Clorox makes a travel size of their product - the one you can use around food, etc, which I've seen at Walmart but the name of it is escaping me! You could also use Colorx Wipes.

 

[JESW]

I'll just give another opinion...

I would hold off until you get back. I did that when we went when dd was younger. She just wasn't consistent and had too many accidents. And this may have been bad of me, but it was much easier to have her in diapers for the trip. Nothing like standing in a long line with a newly-trained child and then have to leave.

And just so you know, my dd is now 8 and didn't have any trouble getting trained after we got home.

Jill

 

[Merriwind]

If she's going both #1 and #2 on the potty, I wouldn't backtrack for anything!

Two things that may help you are the Post-it notes for the toilets, as already mentioned. Also, sitting little girls sideways on the toilet gives them a much smaller opening to span. DD sat sideways on public toilets for a long time--made life much easier. No worries about falling in; she felt much more secure. No squirties either, which can happen on the split seat toilets, especially when they're busy trying to hold themselves up. (I picked up that tip from a lady in the Marrakesh restroom!)

Good luck!

 

[undertheradar]

I'll just give another opinion...

I would hold off until you get back. I did that when we went when dd was younger. She just wasn't consistent and had too many accidents. And this may have been bad of me, but it was much easier to have her in diapers for the trip. Nothing like standing in a long line with a newly-trained child and then have to leave.

And just so you know, my dd is now 8 and didn't have any trouble getting trained after we got home.

Jill

This is what we would do!

 

[Twingle]

Personally, I think I'd try to "go with the flow" as much as possible on trip - but make sure she's okay with it. I know my girls at two were semi interested in potty training, would go when I reminded them that they hadn't been in awhile - but Disney would've been wayyy to much excitement and then expect them to make it to the potty. Lots of tears if there were accidents. You have five weeks, which to a toddler is a pretty long time. A LOT can happen in five weeks!

I'm just going to second the post it note over the sensor - if you don't have a post it note your hand hovering over it will stop the sensor also.

My daughters go to the bathroom sitting sideways also - even at home. Just seems to be much easier for them, and while they aren't short, they are definately skinny!

Good luck, and have a great trip!

 

[ranthony]

and I opted for the pull-ups. The fact of the matter is that even if she remembers to tell you, the finding of a bathroom and waiting in line for a stall may be too much for her at this point. I know when my son says he has to go, he has to go right then and there! We celebrated the many successes and made no issue of the accidents while on the trip.

BTW, I think we only needed to change the pull-up once on 7 days for wetness but it sure was nice knowing that there would be no humiliation for him and no stress for us. It worked great.

 

[meandtheguys2]

Chances are that if Disney doesn't throw off the potty schedule, the new baby may very well.

It is so hard to get the timing right! I agree with the little post-its, and if you take panties to the park, would it work to get the training type, so that you don't have to take so many extra pieces of clothing?

 

[WantToGoNow]

I am not a fan of Pull-Ups either, but if I were you, I would continue the training at home now and use Pull-Ups for the parks. It is very possible even if she tells you she needs to go, she won't make it to the nearest restroom. And with all of the excitement, she might just forget to even tell you that she needs to go. My dd was just short of 3 when we went in November and had been potty trained for almost a year -- we had no issues at all. She actually thinks the self-flushing toilets are funny.

One word of caution on the folding potty inserts -- they pinched my dd's butt on the first try and she would never use them again. My dd lifts the seat (I know, gross) and sits on the rim of the toilet - this puts her closer to the floor and she's more comfortable that way. When we happen upon a toilet that's too tall for her (just the handicapped stalls now), I just lift her up.

Someone suggested Little Swimmers earlier. I would not recommend that as you will discover that they don't hold urine (learned the hard way -- in the carseat). They aren't meant to - they are only meant to hold solid waste.

T.

 

[asktriplets]

We went with my DD when she was 2. She had been potty trained for about two months at the time of the trip and had been having no trouble telling us she needed to go and holdling it until she got to a bathroom.

But we had big problems on the trip. First, she was afraid of the automatic flush toilets and they are everywhere (at the airport, at the parks). She absolutely refused to use them. She also is a peanut so we had same size issues as you. We finally gave up, bought diapers, and used them whenever we went to the parks. I should add that she didn't want to use the diapers but the whole potty thing was getting so stressful that we just said enough is enough. We had no trouble in the hotel room where we had a normal toilet and in fact she was fine when we had our day off from the parks. .

The good news is that once we got home, she was back to being potty trained as if the week off hadn't happened.

ditto.ditto.ditto. my kids were 3 when we went last spring, and they were pretty well potty trained at home, but iffy in public (lots of fears...noise, falling in, not being able to hold it long enough, etc), so we didn't even bother to worry about it. at disney, they were in pullups with underwear over them (made it easier to just whip the pull up off and worry about putting another one on whenever we did a full potty stop which, with 3 preschoolers, can be pretty time consuming!).

they were back to "normal" potty use after the trip.

have a great time!

 

[nessz79]

Agree with others...continue potty training and bring pull-ups for the trip. We did this for our son because he was afraid of the auto flush toilets. He did pretty well and was only wet a couple times. A great resource are the baby areas of Disney as the bathrooms there are much quieter and less scary.

 

[mla2177]

I did the same thing with my two year old last year. I started potty training him 1 1/2 months before our trip. I didn't want to wait until after too because we were getting ready to move and thought it would be too hectic then. Anyway, my son did pee the bed a couple of nights in the resort pack and play, and he did have one peeing accident in the CBR foodcourt, but overall, he did really well for being newly potty trained. I took the dog wee wee pads(I know it sounds horrible), and laid one down in the pack and play and then put the sheet over. Mousekeeping was great about bringing a new sheet when he had an accident. I also kept on top of him. Every couple of hours I took him in the potty. I highly recommend not putting her back in diapers or pull ups. I think it will just set you back.

My son was also a little tike too, and I got a potty seat from a company called One Step Ahead that folds up but it cushioned too. I think it was like 15.00 plus shipping, but well worth the $$$. I kept it in my backpack in the parks. My son was never scared of the auto flush, so I can't speak on that.

Good luck and have a good time!!!!!

 

[mla2177]

Oh, if you remember, can you post a pregnancy trip report when you get back? I am TTC right now, and if I am pregnant this month, it will be about as far along as you are when you go. Just looking for some feedback!!!!

 

[Mommy2tink&pan]

I would bring pull-ups. If your DD is anything like mine she will be so embarsed if she has an accident in public. I have my DD (just turned 3) potty trained and I am bring pull-ups. I don't want her to have to remember to tell me she has to go with all the excitement. I'm 99.99% sure she wont use them, but I'm not willing to chance it .



LeighAnn

Just a side note: I had my DD totally potty trained at 23 months, even durring the night. I was expecting and didn't want to have two in diapers. She did great...Until my DS got here. About 1 1/2 months after he was born (she was26 months at this time) she reverted back to wetting herself durring the day and night. Finally, a year later, she is back to being potty trained!

 

[newmommy]

When we were at GF last year, they had step stools. I don't know about the other resorts. We had to request it, but they did have them. We were using it so DS could reach the sink. He wasn't potty trained so I don't know how well the stool would have worked for the toilet because it was a taller two-step type of step stool.

 

[monorailsilver]

If she is doing good, I'd keep training her.

When my oldest (now almost 6) trained it took her 3 days & she was done with pee & poop took another week.

My son however is another story. He started peeing when he was 18 months old but only in the am & at night. He was going when we were in Disney (he was 22 months old) but I kept a diaper on him since he wasn't trained but if we sat him he'd go.

We had the foldable potty seat on our person & we took the potty ring that goes over the toilet with us & kept it in our room for both kids.

We had to pick him up to sit on the toilet which was no biggie so I wouldn't bring a stool.

Just bring extra underwear & extra shorts with you to the park & make sure you take her before you leave your room & depending on how much she drank prior to that when you get to the park & pretty much every hour or so.

I think you can do it.

My youngest is now 13 months & when we go to Disney she will be 2 1/2 so I am hopeful with 2 older siblings she will train early so I don't have to worry about diapers. Heck I put her on already & she pee'd (she woke up dry so I sat her on).

 

[labst60]

Thanks for the replies everyone. So far this week, things are going okay. I know she knows when she has to go because for the past two nights, she has been waking me up to tellme she needs to use the potty (she still sleeps with us) and then goes right away and goes back to sleep. Then no problem first thing in the am - but the morning (prenap) is her "bad" time. She just feels WAY too busy playing to tellme or give it an honest try when we go to the potty. Then, once nap time comes, she goes right before nap and then goes when I put her on for the rest of the day/evening. The mornings/early afternoons are rough though!

I do plan on using the pullups- just for my peace of mind. So far, I plan on using swim diapers as well - but being that they really only hold poop, I'm not sure what value they'll be - we really are okay in that department- that is never a "surprise" for her. So, I'll play that by ear. We've always used the reusable/fabric swim diapers in addition to little swimmers (obviously not at the same time!!!), so they really feel more like "underwear" than a "diaper". Again, it might just come down to a piece of mind thing for me- even though the last poopy swim diaper we had was when she was like 8 months old in swim class. I don't know - it just seems like the kind of thing that is easier to do (just put her in it) than to fret whether I am doing the right thing!

Frequent stops to the restroom WILL NOT be a problem as I will probably need to stop every 15 minutes (24 weeks pg)- especially drinking all that water to keep hydrated. Maybe I should consider putting myself in pull-ups as well - as really, I'll probably be the greater risk of embarassment at that point!!!!