What do you use for potty training

I've been working on potty training this week. I think my son is close, and has been wearing training pants around the house with few accidents. We have yet to leave the house though. And I want to be prepared when we're out. I don't know that I want to go back and forth between diapers or pull-ups and confuse him. I think I'd rather just deal with some accidents at first and not drag this out longer than necessary. I'm a freak about germs in public bathrooms though. I've never brought them in with me, I rarely use them myself, and if I do I touch nothing!

Do you bring in a portable seat with you? If so, which kind? I think I'd rather do that so they can hold onto those handles rather than touch the toilet seat itself. But then you have to take the toilet seat with you that was sitting on the toilet - and that's kind of gross too!

I just wondered what most people do - use toilet paper or a tissue protector to cover the toilet and hope for the best, or do you prefer to bring something in with you. I want to get the logistics down in my head before the first dreadful public bathroom experience!

 

The only time I used pull ups was when we went out it public at first and then for extremely long car rides until I felt confident they wouldn't have an accident when they fell asleep (they almost always sleep). I never called them pull ups or really let on that they were like diapers. I called them our "going out undies" and "Doras" (the Easy Ups have Dora all over them). They had a couple of accidents, but I don't think ever took advantage of the fact that they "could" go in them without any negative consequence.

We did eventually start using them at night, when we were done with them during the day so to facilitate night training.

As far as potty seats in public, I either hold them over it, and probably sound like a lunatic about not touching anything (that part has gotten better) or I use this: Folding Potty Seat. It works pretty well.

 

We never did pull ups. I was worried about the first trip out in public, but I was prepared! I bought a portable potty seat, that doubles as a potty seat to put on top of toilets, or as a stand alone toilet. Here it is: Potty Seat.

I love it. We don't leave home without it. So the first time we went anywhere when they were trained, I got waterproof covers for their carseats-which really-we didn't need. I used them no more than 3 times and they never had an accident in the car. If we were going anywhere-they went to the bathroom as soon as we were ready to walk out the door. Then when we got to our destination, I had them use the toilet in the car. I then would bring it in my diaper bag(it comes with a bag). If they needed to use the bathroom, I pulled that out and it went over the seats. If not, they went when we got back into the car before we headed home. It seems like a lot of work, but they quickly caught on when they had to go. They are great now. The novelty of it all as finally started to wear off! :laughing:

 

I personally found the most amazing thing in the invention of public toilet seat covers (which reminds me, I need to order more). They are disposable and come in Dora, Diego or Sesame Street (that I've seen so far). They have tiny stickers that peel off so it doesn't slide off the seat, it fits the shape of all public toilets and they are designed to hang over the edge so that the kids can put their hands down to hold themselves up. It's great because my girls use it and then I can sit down and use it too. They're very, very light so I keep a few in my bag, in my car and they're great for traveling.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PQNPFA/ref=s9_bbs_gw_d0_ir04?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1C1N0RT2K8RJCXW7ZFTS&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

I order mine from Amazon, but I saw that Walmart has them as well. Not sure if they have them online only or in store as well. Will have to check that out. It would make things easier for me.

 

They also have these at Target. I may have to try them, cuz mine are in that "I want to try EVERY public toilet seat I can!" phase... Lord help me becuase I am a HUGE germaphob! LOL And when I take both girls... boy, one inevitably ends up rolling/playing on the floor while the other one is usin the toilet - DESPITE my yelling to get up and not touch anything! *sigh* Public restrooms stress me out now, which is why I used pull-ups/diapers on my girls for outings for the LONGEST time, and just recently did they start wearing underwear even when we'd go to the park/zoo/mall, whenever we had an extended outting planned...

 

I use a fold up potty seat and then we wash our hands when we're done.

 

We've just started potty training and have only been out in public once but we used the Dora Folding Potty Seat and it worked fine. They both had to pee at WalMart and it worked!

 

A folding seat did not work for us. We used it maybe twice and then they both refused to go anywhere near it because it would move a little when they sat on it and that felt unstable to them. Instead, I'd just clean the seat if it looked dirty or was wet and made sure everyone washed well when we were done. Considering that they were both very fond of licking trash cans for a period of time, it seemed a very minor thing to touch a toilet seat.

 

Yeah, they're a little wobbly, but I hold it for Alice when she's on it, so it's not so unstable for her.

Hahahaha licking trash cans. I love the stories about your boys.

 

We always keep our froggy potty in the car. If we must use a public toilet.....usually DS is tall enough to stand in front of the toilet. I remind them every time we go into one not to touch anything. Most often, they still end up touching something. Thank goodness for hand sanitizer, right?!?

 

we have the Pottette potty that one of the first posters mentioned. Its GREAT! I love that its the portatble potty and seat all in one. I use grocery bags as refills for when we are out and about. and I use regular heavy pads that I got cheap w/sales & coupons in the bottom of the bag to absorb the urine.

I don't think that the Potette potty is wobbly on the toilet at all, its pretty stable on the toilet as a stand alone.

as for my boy, he can stand up and pee, and with public toilets he just has to stand on top of my feet to raise him up enough to get in the toilet.

I just put one of the waterproof diaper pads that's the size of a burp cloth under then in the carseat.

good luck!

 

I decided that in the grand scheme of things, touching the sides of a public toilet wasn't going to be the worst (or grossest) thing my girls did, so I let them use the regular public toilets wherever we are. I choose clean looking toilets, wipe them down, and the do a serious scrub on my girls hands when they're done. For us, a folding potty wouldn't add much value because the girl not sitting on it would be walking around the bathroom touching everything else. Mine haven't graduated to licking trash cans, but today they rolled on the carpet in three different airports and touched the bottom of every piece of luggage going around the luggage carousel when we arrived home. So you know... putting their hands on a few toilets is nothing. I say save yourself the trouble of a folding potty seat and invest in good soap instead!

 

I used a fold up potty that went over the big one. I would wipe down the big potty first with toilet paper or a baby wipe, then put the folding seat on top (I also liked it because it had the handles for them to hold onto). Then when done I would wipe off the bottom of the folding potty and put it back in the special bag I carried it in. We would then all wash our hands and leave. I would use a sanitizing wipe on it every few uses to make sure I got the germs off.

 

Right after DD PT'd she was afraid of the big potties, even with a potty ring. So, I had a training potty in the back of our trailblazer and she would go in there. I would just flip open the glass window in the back instead of the entire door. This way I could get her in there and she would still have privacy from the door being closed.

 

We also went out in pull-ups at first (and still do sometimes) and I just wipe the seat and stick 'em on there! ardon:

They are pretty good about not touching anything. I've told them that somethings are just yucky. We all wash our hands when we are done, or if the bathroom is really that bad, I'll use a little hand sanitizer. (Rarely break that out though.)

Our biggest public bathroom issue is them wanting to peek under all the doors and talking to people! (Or opening the door when I'm using the bathroom. <_< )