PT and public bathrooms

So my boys are finally doing well with potty training. I feel like we are at the point of going out in public with underwear instead of pull ups. We have done a few short trips (like 30 min. or so), but nothing longer.

So how do we handle public bathrooms?

I am going to teach them to pee standing up, hopefully this week, but I think they are too short to do it without a step stool yet - too bad there aren't urinals in women's bathrooms! Or maybe the public bathrooms are lower than I think?

As far as sitting, they haven't learned to balance on the big potty, so do I need to carry a potty seat with me?

Any tips or advice? I can carry one of their small potties in the van, but if we are at the mall or something like that, it would probably take too long to go back to the van and they might have an accident before we made it there.

TIA!

 

I kept a folding potty seat with me till they were comfortable sitting on the big toilets. Not sure what to do about the standing thing though. With Emmett, I'm probably not ever going to teach him how to stand to pee (at least inside). DH doesn't & I don't want to clean up the mess.

 

I carried a potty seat with me. Now that my son is overcoming his fear of public restrooms, most of the potties are low enough where he does not need a step stool to stand & pee. But when he was the age of your boys, I would have had him sit on the potty seat (but he was too terrified of public potties to do even that, so it was just DD who utilized it). My son still needs a step stool to stand and pee on our upstairs potty, it's still too high for him.

 

I lift DS up under the armpits/around the chest (difficult to explain - holding him up in the air as if he were standing on a step stool right in front of the toilet) if the toilet is too high for him to reach without a step stool. I also lift DD and hold her sort of squatting over the toilet. At first I did not like DS standing up but after a bit of training and cleaning up lots of messes I now find it convenient when we are out and about; at home he often chooses to sit anyway.

I am a bit of a germaphobe with public restrooms and never touch anything in them if I can help it(I squat instead of sitting myself) so I would never let them sit on a public restroom toilet if I can help it.

 

It isn't so much the bathroom itself as much as it is the high sound levels from just opening the door. I can't even crack the door near him to just ensure/encourage him that we are just going to wash hands really fast and then get out before he starts screaming bloody murder.

 

We use a potette plus, can just pop it on the seats. I just carry a bigger purse now.

 

I carried/carry a potty seat with me. As for ds, I stand him up on my feet, or hold him up under the arms like someone else said. Usually just him standing on my feet works.

Both my hubby and older son sit to pee at home, and Liam does the same most of the time too. They only stand up when we're out somewhere.

 

I have girls, so peeing standing up was never an option. I just held them up on the public potties until they were big/coordinated enough to keep themselves up.

I'm not a germaphobe at all, so I was thrilled when they could sit on the seat themselves and I didn't have to crouch on the floor in front of them! I'm also thrilled that my girls have always been willing to use port-a-potties or go in a bush if necessary (though, sadly, at almost 7 they're really too old to go in a bush now, unless we're hiking).

 

My boys learned at school to stand up. They just taught them to lean against the back of the toilet. That way their streams will be aimed down towards the water. They rarely make a mess, but it does happen. As far as public goes, I hold them up under their arms and they stand on my feet if the toilet is too tall for them. At least by holding them under their armpits, they don't lean on the dirty seat or toilet bowl. They much prefer when daddy takes them, because there is usually a urinal in the bathroom and even more often, one that is just the right height for them. They feel so proud of themselves or using it.

 

Thanks, everyone. I'm going to get a travel potty seat for now, but also work on the standing up thing. I hadn't thought about having them stand on my feet, but that might be enough to do it since they are pretty tall for their age (95th and 75th percentile). DH hates shopping, so it will mostly be me taking them in the public bathrooms. And DH always pees standing up, so that is probably want they are going to want to do too since they are already into copying Daddy and like to follow him to the bathroom.

I am a bit worried that the automatic potties many of the stores have will scare them, too - DS1 always complains about it being loud when I use the potty and he isn't even in the stall, so I don't want to have a major setback because of that. We have a niece (now 8) who had that happen at age 2, where she was sitting on the potty when it flushed, and she refused to use a public bathroom for the next 2-3 years.

 

Someone posted about using post it notes to cover the sensor....that's bleepin' BRILLIANT! We always just roll out 6-8 pieces of tp, fold it in half and drape it over the sensor so it won't go off until I move it. I wait until everyone is done, zipped and buttoned back up and we have the door to the stall open, tell them to hold their ears and then quickly drop the tp into the toilet. It flushes as we walk out to wash our hands.

 

That is a GREAT idea! Thanks for sharing.

 

For my boy, I lift him from behind and hold him under the arms and gently press my knee into his back side so that his hips are forward and the pee goes in the toilet. For my girl, I wipe off the seat and then support her under her arms while she goes so that she doesn't fall in (I face her and place my arms under her armpits). It's not fun, but it works. I also cover the sensor with toilet paper so it won't flush mid-visit.