Going out while PTing

Yodajo

We just started seriously pting Sam.  I need to go out for a few errands this am.  Do I have him wear his training pants or do I put a diaper or pullup on him while we're out?  I don't want to send him a mixed message, but I also think an accident is still pretty possible.   What do you do in this situation?

kylara111

We started PTing on Saturday.  Accidents are still highly possible so I just put DD in a diaper if I need to go somewhere.  I take it off as soon as we get home.

DandR

i totally did the pull up in public...I wasn't about to make my shopping trip MORE difficult than it needed to be.  I always did this speech "I know you are a big girl and don' tneed this because you will tell me when you need to potty, but since we may not be RIGHT next to a potty, I think we will put this on.....JUST in case.  Please let me know if you need to go though."

joseysbride

Have him go right before you leave, and put him in a pull-up.  He probably won't even have to go while you're out if it's just for an hour or so.  Then probably have him go right when you get home.

That's what we did anyway, and it was fine.

Yodajo

DandR:

i totally did the pull up in public...I wasn't about to make my shopping trip MORE difficult than it needed to be.  I always did this speech "I know you are a big girl and don' tneed this because you will tell me when you need to potty, but since we may not be RIGHT next to a potty, I think we will put this on.....JUST in case.  Please let me know if you need to go though."

How long did you use a pullup for?  Just until she was accident free consistently or longer? 

gingerthebee

Thanks for asking....I've been wondering this myself.

AnneUCSB

I would keep his underwear on him and then put a diaper or pull up over it, just in case of an accident.  That way, he'll feel himself wet if he has an accident and also still be able to wear his underwear, which he is accustomed to doing.  Also, take him to the restroom right when you get to the store and every 30 minutes or so thereafter.  Good luck! 

MrsOlson

I would not put him in pullups. Once you are in underwear- stay in underwear- unless their sleeping. You are sending mixed messages with the pullups. Just bring plenty of pants and underwear and line your carseat with a towel. They will get it much faster that way. Good Luck!

DandR

Well, longer I think.  Everything is different when you are in public compared to being at home.  There are a lot more distractions and until I knew that when my kids asked to go, they could wait a few minutes, its hard to say you will be RIGHT by a restroom, you know?  Especially in the beginning, they don't tell you until its URGENT.  So, it was awhile I think.  And then after that I still carried dry clothes in my car...JUST in case.

elm1032004

When we were at that point we used Pull Ups or just undies and brought extras.  We were doing this with DD in the summer so undies were easy enough if I let her wear a dress.....but otherwise I would do pullups and call them big boy or big girl pants.  IMO diapers send a mixed message.

joseysbride

We did the pull up in public for about two weeks, and that was after a good week without any accidents at home before we even went out.

We never had a problem with her going in the pull ups because she never had to go while we were out.  We used pull ups for nap time, too, and after being pt'ed, she never peed in the pull up at naptime either so long as we had her go right before.

DandR

I disagree with the mixed signals...i mean you still do pullups/diaper at bedtime, right?  Its not like you automatically expect night time potty trained, right?  You probalby still do it at nap time as well.  well, going out in public is just one of those "exceptions" that my kids wore pull ups.  It never confused them. 

And I also did the pull up OVER the panties thing....I forgot who said that, but yeah, that helps.  And always (still do) require a potty trip before we leave the house.

 

Yodajo

Thanks girls!  We're going out with pullups over the training pants in a bit.  We'll see how it goes! 

Halo79RN

early on we did a pull up or a trainer like blueberries or imse vimse (with a cover over the IV one).  but when we get to a place, I take dd to try.  we go to the mall, first stop, the Sears bathroom (b/c they don't have the automatic flush.. that scares the crap out of her).

xbrooklyngrl

I too disagree w/the mixed signals comment. I put them on DD if we're going on a far trip (an hour or more) and then change her, she still won't go in them but its a nice safety just incase!

ChicagoBaby

I'm in the camp that once you go to underwear, you don't go back. It is sending a different message than putting on a pull up for sleep--I always said to her that we wear special underwear for sleep. She stopped needing the pull up for nap after a week.

 Just take plenty of underwear and change of clothes and keep asking them if they need to go. If they have an accident, it will just teach them that they tell you in public that they need to go too. 

 Fwiw, we started PT'ing over a holiday weekend while DH was home and we really didn't leave the house much for the first couple of days until we felt more secure that she would tell us if we need to go. I think it you are PT'ing and you focus on it 100% for a couple of days, you will have a much easier time and the process will be a lot faster. 

HisBetterHalf

From my own personal experience in the past 2 weeks, keep him in underwear.  I tried putting DD in a diaper or a pull up when we went out and it totally threw her off.  The rest of the day was full of accidents even though she had been awesome about it up until the diaper went on.

Here is what I do/did:  I bring the potty in the car with us.  I put a dish towel folded up under her bum in her car seat.  When we got to where we were going, I sat her on the potty in the car before we went in.  If she went, great, if not, I didn't make a big deal.  She was pretty good about telling me when she had to go.  So when she told me, I'd just take her out to the car and let her go and then we'd go back to what we were doing.  I realize that this can be a pain if you're at a mall or something but its totally worth it.  That way they don't get confused.  Again, this is just my experience with it all.  

katie277s

When we went to Disney on Ice, I was worried about L.  I put him in a pull up and put his underwear over that.  I told him that if he absolutely needed to go, it was okay, but to let me know.  He did wonderfully and his pull up was bone dry. 

hopefulmom

I didn't start pting until they went through a nap without a wet diapers.  Once in underwear they were always in underwear.  I did have some that had plastic on the outside (don't even know if they make them anymore).  I would still put the regular underwear on with a panty liner inside (not letting him see the pantyliner obviously).  That way at least it might "catch" some if he has an accident.  Take extra clothes just in case and line the car seat.

CleoKitty

Once ds went to underwear that was it- we didn't go back to diapers. I bought several pair of very good, high-quality training pants (the Imse Vimse trainers are awesome!) to use for going out and for bed/naps.

 

KoriBrett

I leave it up to her.  I have her go before we leave the house, and ask if she wants a diaper or underwear.  As long as we'll be somewhere with a bathroom, no big deal.  If we're going to be in the car forever or somewhere without easy bathroom access, we'll do the diaper. 

And we always bring extra pants, socks, a diaper, and undies in the car.

ak071401

We must be int he minority, but we just went out with the underwear. I got a foldable potty seat to put in a ziploc in my purse and brought a change of pants with me.  The only time I ever used the change of pants was at Disneyland and that wasn't his fault -- DH didn't quite get DS's pants down quick enough.