Fear of public potty - advice

amr1218

DD has been toilet trained for about a month now. I purchased a travel potty, but wasn't a huge fan of it...so we travel with the full size toddler potty.  

We have tried on a few occasions to use the public potty (in the mall, restaurants, our church, etc.), but DD panics and cries, "No, Mommy, I use the little potty". The end result is that DH or I run out to the car each time she needs to potty.  I am not even sure if it is the public toilet itself, or the stall, the echo, the unfamiliar environment or what. 

Has anyone gone through this and willing to share advice?  The good news is that I've lost those few extra pounds lugging a 30 lb toddler from the store to the car for bathroom breaks.  

TiffanyBerry

My daughter also is like this.  For her, a lot of it is the sound of the toilet itself.  She's sound sensitive, and the sudden, loud flushes startle and distress her.  So, we got her headphones.  (Not listen-to-music headphones, but hearing-protection headphones.)  Works great!

She also doesn't like the big seats; they don't feel safe for her.  So we bring the travel potty along to use in the big bathrooms.  Perhaps if your LO will do a seat insert on top of the regular big potties?

To be honest, though, we also keep a little potty (Bjorn) in the back of our car so she can potty there, rather than in the public bathrooms.  It's easier, even if I do have to run out of the store and come back in.  She'll use the other options above, if necessary.

(Post-it's over a auto-flush sensor don't make any difference to my daughter.  The fact that the potty has the ability to flush freaks her out.)

amr1218

Thanks!  We can get her to use the big potty at home with or without the potty seat insert.  I figured this sort of thing just came with the territory.  I just didn't know if there was a magic time span when the public potty wasn't terrifying anymore.  I was also worried that our dependency of the car potty was prolonging its use.  In the meantime, the car potty is way better than an accident!

jllmb79

My DD has been potty trained since 21 months. In the beginning she wouldn't use a public restroom. I would also bring her back to the car to use the full size potty in the car. I started to get her use to using the potty seat only on our toilet at home and slowly she was willing to use a foldable potty seat in a public restroom.  29 months old and she is fine using a public restroom. I still put a portable foldable potty seat on the toilet though ( don't really want her hands on the big public toilets).

amr1218

Perhaps I need to make it a point of using every public facility that we visit...and take her with me. Solely for the purpose of exposure.  Now that I'm thinking about it, I rarely use public restrooms myself.  I also need to look at portable potty seats - the one I have isn't great.  

preggersin2011

I keep a fold up travel seat and lysol wipes in the bag..... Maybe you can have LO decorate one to make it their own?

TiffanyBerry

I'm sure it varies by kid.  DD is 3 1/2, and I don't see the noise issue changing any time soon.  (I hope she's over it by the time she's 5 1/2 and goes to kindergarten!)

Vespah

Yup, DD has been trained since April and she still won't go in a stall. We have a My Carry Potty that she uses in the parking lot all the time. She has no trouble if we go to someone else's house, it is just public washrooms she hates.

junebug555

My DD always said scary and would cover her ears in the public restroom.  She especially was afraid of the ones that automatically flushed while you're on it.  So for a couple weeks, I always used the public restroom first to get her used to it and for her comfort.  It's been almost a month and now, she goes without any fear.

luvmygirlss

It takes a while, be patient it gets better. I think it's safe to say most toddler go through this in the beginning may take a couple months...

TiffanyBerry

LalaMama81 said:

Honestly, she really wouldn't have a choice, no way would I run out to the car every time we had to pee. 

See, I tried this once, and let me say that the meltdown and physical resistance trying to not go into a bathroom stall is DANGEROUS around a toilet and the hard surfaces!  Not to mention that she was completely drained and horrified that I would be trying to force her at something like this.  My daughter would (and did) just pee in her pants instead.

But I think this just falls into the "every child is different" bucket.