To use Pull Ups or not to use Pull Ups?

[sweetiee]

My daughter has only been potty trained the past 3 months. We are planning to go to Disney in January. My worry is that we will be in a long line and she will have go potty and then we will have to run to find a potty, stand in line there, then find our way back to the ride.
She does great now, but she sometimes waits and has to go when we are way far away from the bathroom.
I hate to put her in pull ups, but someone suggested that we do it for the day while at the park just in case. Has anyone else been in this position? I hate to baby her down with pull ups, but I also want her to enjoy herself and not freak out with potty accidents. I'd almost rather carry a couple pull ups with us than changes of clothes!
Got any advice?

 

[brendaziz]

I would say go with the pull-ups. She'll be much less bothered by wearing pull-ups then she will be if she has an accident. Also it'll give u a little bit of wiggle room if you happen to be in line fora ride you've been waiting for when she has to go. Good general rule of thumb though- anytime you walk by a bathroom- use it!

 

[allyphoe]

Hard to say - it depends so much on the kid. But with 6 or 7 months reliably dry, my guess would be that she'd be fine. Our rule was that Mom called potty breaks (and I tried to get them in every 2 hours or so, and before getting into a long line), and that everyone had to try, whether they had to go or not.

Also, if you're close to the load zone, alert the CM doing merge / load that you have a potty emergency. They'll point you to the closest one and then let you back in without waiting in line again. (Says the voice of experience when a 5yo got to ToT load before deciding she really couldn't hold it any longer.)

 

[sweetiee]

My daughter does have some "strage fright" issues if a bathroom is crowded or loud. We even have difficulty in the Target bathroom. So I'm afraid that if I do make frequent breaks, she will sit, but not use it due to the loud noises, then will have go while in line.
I'll keep working on the public restroom issue for now and see how she is before our trip. DH is trying to fit a short trip in before Christmas, but not sure.
I might do the pull up thing just in case. I want her to have a good time and not stress.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[matosfam]

We just went through the exact same thing for our September trip.
What we ended up doing was using pull-ups (with Disney characters of course ) and referring to them as "insurance" NOT diapers/pull-ups (because our son wouldn't want to wear those )
It was not a problem most of the trip, but there were at least two occasions out of our 8 days there when we were really happy we took out the "insurance" for this trip!

(BTW: we came up up with "insurance" because that is want you have for "just in case something goes wrong/unexpectedly". )

Whatever you choose, have a great trip!

 

[hoosiergirl7]

That's a touchy question because it all depends on whether or not your daughter will decide that since it's there, she will pee in it.

What we do is take lots of potty breaks and carry a pair of back up underwear and shorts. We're not the commando type of family on our WDW trips so if we don't do something one trip, no big deal. There will be a future trip eventually.

Our DS is day trained but not quite night trained. At home we have no problem switching sheets, etc if he has an accident. However we're headed to California and Disneyland in about 3 weeks and we'll be taking Pull Ups because they do not put water proof mattress pads on hotel beds!

 

[T16GEM]

That's a touchy question because it all depends on whether or not your daughter will decide that since it's there, she will pee in it.

What we do is take lots of potty breaks and carry a pair of back up underwear and shorts.

Exactly what we did with our DD, she has been potty training through out the summer, I just would ask her all the time if she needed to go and keep on at her for going and then if she did have an accident it wasn't made a big deal of, just one of those things. When we went away for a few days in the summer the only time that she had a pull up on was at night, but we did find that it made her lazy and she did tend to use it just because it was there. We haven't had her in a pull up now since July - even at night and she does really well.

But it's what ever you feel comfortable with .

 

[WantToGoNow]

You didn't say how old your child is? If the child is 2-2.5 then I might consider the pull-up for park time only. If your child is 3-4 then I would say no. The last thing you want is an older child starting to use pull-ups (fancy diapers) again because they convenient - I would imagine it might not be as easy to get rid of them again as you think. My dd potty trained just before age 2 and was in panties by her second birthday. We went to Disney just before her 3rd birthday and I didn't even consider it -- we had no problems with her wetting herself day or night. My ds 5.5, however, had been potty trained for 3.5 years and I had to buy him a pack of underwear at the MK - accidents happen but you praise them for using the potty, what will you be telling them when you put them back in a diaper for vacation.

 

[Magic2000]

My DD was potty trained a little before her 2nd birthday. About three weeks later, we were going to Washington DC for a family vacation. I was a little worried about accidents since I'm not too familiar with where the bathrooms are located in the museums and such.

I did buy her some pullups, but we called them her "VACATION Big Girl Panties". Everytime she said she had to go, or if we were passing by a bathroom, I'd take her in to use it. She loved her "vacation" panties - and we didn't have any accidents!

Once we got back home, she went back to regular panties with no problems!

Good luck!!!

 

[salmon731]

I would just do panties with scheduled potty breaks at least every 2 hours, if not more....
We are leaving tomorrow for Disney. My daughter has been potty trained for 2 weeks and we are going in panties! I am bringing pull ups in case we start to have problems but I want to see if she can do without first. My daughter does not drink a lot of fluids so that probably helps too. Good Luck

 

[delmar411]

just bring extra clothes. If DD has to go then you stop and take her. What kind of message are you saying about toileting in general if it is too much inconvenience to go to a bathroom when you have to go?

Accidents happen.

That will become part of your vocabulary awfully quick with a PT'ing child. It's no biggie and if you don't make a big deal out if then they won't either.

 

[tanyaandallie]

If you are going in January and she will have been pt for 6 mos, I would not worry. Take frequently potty breaks. If you are going to a long line, go potty first. We went last Jan and my ds was pt but not consistently telling me when he needed to go. I put him in pull ups for the first few days. For some reason the heat and the pull ups gave him a horrible rash so we ditched the pull ups. He did perfectly fine without them. He never peed in them when he had them on anyways. I think closer to your trip you will have a much better idea of how she will do. IMO if a child is pt for 6 mos (assuming we are talking about a 3+ year old child) the pull ups are likley not necessary.

 

[scottish mum]

I would say use the panties we only use pull ups for night time as we don't want accidents in hotel beds. One thing my DD hates the toilets that flush by themselves so after reading tips on here we took sticky notes to put over the sensors and she was so happy that it wouldn't flush while she was on it.

 

[K and K's Mommy]

We did pull-ups when we went with my newly trained DD. It was a big mistake. She regressed and we had to retrain at home. She was young, about 27 months, so maybe if yours is older that won't happen.

 

[Stephres]

I would do panties with extra clothes in a ziptop bag for insurance. We did pull ups at night for a long time. They are so tired they sleep extra hard at Disney!

 

[bzzymom]

I definately would bring them for night. I would carry an extra outfit, underwear and shoes as well as a plastic bag with you. DS was potty trained by age 3, I went to WDW 2 times with no potty accidents after being trained, and then at age 4.5 he had an accident. We were on the way to the bathroom, and he couldn't hold it anymore. I always carried an extra outfit, underwear and bag in a back pack just in case. However, I was not prepared for his tennis shoes being wet. Luckily, we had sandals in the room that someone went and got.

 

[Disney1976]

You probably know your child better than anyone, but I certainly see your point of view. I can tell you that with my former stepson, who had been potty trained for awhile (but always had bathroom issues, lol), we learned the hard way one time at DHS when he had a HUGE accident right before Fantasmic -and this is with taking him to the bathroom all day long. One thing I've learned -you can take a child to the bathroom, but you can't force them to go! He would often just outright refuse to use the bathroom, insisting he didn't have to go. Ever spent 15 minutes in a public bathroom trying every trick you can think of to make them go? I could have promised him Santa Claus would bring him a Mercedes, no dice. Then...the invetiable. The next time we were there, we used pullups on him, and we were glad we did because there were a couple times when they saved us! I think even taking him to the bathroom a lot, the lines were long, plus he got SO engrossed in everything -the shows, the characters, etc., I don't think he thought about it until it was too late.

Here's the other thing you'll realize -if you're at the front of a que line, it may be easier for you to sneak out with your child who suddenly has to go. But some lines are very long, and wrap around (Splash Mountain and Big Thunder come to mind as examples). What happens if you're deep into the line, hundreds of people behind you, and your child suddenly has to go? Of course you make the effort, but if you're too late, a pullup is easier to change than an entire outfit, and shoes.

 

[sweetiee]

One thing I've learned -you can take a child to the bathroom, but you can't force them to go! He would often just outright refuse to use the bathroom, insisting he didn't have to go. Ever spent 15 minutes in a public bathroom trying every trick you can think of to make them go?

I know exactly what you mean. For those that asked, my DD just turned 4. She was adopted at 12 months and has been behind on all development. She ate baby food late, walked late, weened a bottle late, now potty trained late. We realize that it is taking a while to catch her up to her peers. She has some sensory issues, which is what leads her to freak out in loud and crowded bathrooms.
Yes, I've spent 15 minutes in a bathroom trying to get her to go. It doesn't work. I can't make her, it only gets worse. She finally made her first #2 on a public restroom the other week-and it did take at least 15 minutes for her to go.
So I'll see how she is doing the first of January and if I feel she is old enough and trained enough, I'll go with underwear. But I will probably carry pull ups just in case.
Thanks to all for the advice. I can tell there are som experienced parents on this board!

 

[NY_MOM]

We went in 06 when DD had been trained for about 3 mo. and just did the potty break thing..right before we left anywhere we made sure she went.... and asked her about every 1/2 hour to make sure. Just stick to the panties and make sure to take a complete change of clothes and frequent potty breaks. Good Luck and have fun!

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

If you try the panties route - make sure you take her to the Baby Care Centers in each park and show her the little child-size flush potties! Going to the bathroom in the ones at Disneyland and DCA is such a huge incentive for my 3 yr old that she is fabulous about saying when she needs to go.

In fact, (sniff....) they were the very first potties she ever went in!!!!

Now I'm not saying you have to run to them every time, but if you happen to be passing that way, it's a special event!

Cautionary tale....
We have close friends that are struggling right now with their 3 yr old. She is fully potty trained at pre-school, but they kept putting her in Pull-ups at home after the training. Now, during her time with her parents, she demands the pull-up to go in and not the toilet and refuses to even ask to go to the bathroom, even when out. They have now become completely manipulated by their daughters actions.