Another PTing question: Leaving the house

PepperStick

When did you feel comfortable leaving the house with your toddler in underwear? Short trips? Long trips? 

DD has been using the potty since last Monday and has only had a handful of accidents, mostly happening when she was rough housing with daddy and distracted. I still frequently remind her to tell me if she has to go.  

When did you feel comfortable? Was your kid scared of public toilets? I'm scared of public toilets and the thought of bringing her in there and holding her on those nasty toilets makes me want to puke.  

rjeller32

We took it slow. The first trip was about an hour to the grocery store less than a mile away after 3 days of PTing. After a couple of days we bumped it up to 2 hours at the park, etc.. Just make sure to have them go pee before you leave and ask them constantly if they have to go. I bought a potty chair, so we could take it with us in the diaper bag and through it on if she does have to go. It made public toilets less intimidating because her seat from home was on it.

And, you'll probably experience one or two public accidents. It happens. Just be prepared, take extra clothes, socks and shoes with you everywhere. 

12bailey18

We never leave the house without him first going potty. There have only been maybe two times that he's needed to use the public potty and we're usually out for about 2 hours everyday. I always carried an extra pair of undies and pants in the car just in case but never needed them. DS has been PT'd since August and I started right away. I started with just short trips but soon we just carried on as normal. I'll tell him to tell me if he needs to go potty but as long as he goes right before we leave he's usually good. Long day trips (which aren't that often) are different. He'll usually go once while we're out and he's never been scared of going in public. It's never been a big deal to him. 

Sonadora

We took her out on day 3. I brought a change of clothes just in case. She peed before we left, went to her tumbling class for an hour and peed before getting in the car to come home.  I always insist on trying before we get in the car, regardless of where we are. I am also not a public toilet fan, but even when your child is PTed, a lot of little kids have to go frequently, especially at first, so unless you want to be a hermit, I think you have to suck it up. I got the Pottette Plus (a foldable toilet ring) to put on top of big toilets when we are out and about just so she doesn't fall in, since I find holding her on a big toilet while also trying to help her wipe to be really challenging. Plus, she can hold onto the sides of the Pottette and not try to grab the toilet seat for balance.

We've not had an accident in actual public yet, but she has had two in the car where there's not an opportunity for her to go before we get in and we are pushing her ability to hold it...she's good for an hour to an hour and 15 minutes now, any longer and she's hit or miss.

olechka

i got her used to public toilets while she was in pull-ups, so that's not a problem.  First time we went without pullup was out to a restaurant, because she refused to wear pullup, wanted her undies.  She asked to go to the bathroom 6 times during the visit, people were laughing at me but we survived.  I always make her go before we leave and then force her to go in 1.5-2 hrs, a lot of times she doesn't want to and i make her and she lets out a lot of pee so she clearly needed to go.