Potty Training in Public

I'm kind of going through this right now. My son just turned three, but about 2 weeks before, I just ditched the pull-ups. For the first week, I put them on him when we went out, but I found that was un-doing what I was working on at home. So I carry along a change of clothes, socks, and shoes, as well as a plastic bag (for wet stuff) and wipes at all times. We're still working it out (it's been a little over 3 weeks now), but he's pretty much got it down (except for poops) and doesn't have many accidents now. Usually it's my fault when he does, for not giving him opportunity to use the bathroom for too long.
Hang in there! It takes a while for them to remember they're wearing underwear!
J. B (mom of 6 yo girl and 2 yo boy)

You could put her on the potty right before you leave. If she doesn't go then when you arrive to your destination and theres a bathroom, have her try. If your going to be gone awhile then keep asking her. Have her try again when you get home. You could take the timer with you.
I tried the pull-up over underwear but it didn't work for my son. I say wing it and see what happens. Its too confusing to switch back and forth

I would definitely put her in training pants with the pull ups on over them and continue to carry extras. Make sure she goes to the bathroom before you leave the house and ask her if she has to go every half hour and take her to the bathroom if at all possible in that same time allotment.
Good Luck.

When we potty trained my son, staying in wasn't an option for us, either. We got those plastic pants that pull up over the underpants. We called them travel pants. They aren't very comfortable at all and so he was eager to tell us when he had to go to the bathroom. He figured out real quick that the if he stayed clean and dry he didn't have to wear them. It worked great for us! Good luck! I'm just starting to potty train my daughter and it's still so daunting even though I've done it once before.

Have you tried regular training pantys? I'm sure they still make them.They have to be more cost effeciant and they are very thick under pants and easily changed if there is a accident.Carry wipes and a plastic bag and a couple extra pair of panties.Personally I think pull ups and all disposable diapers are a huge waste of alot of good money.Cloth diapers wash very easily and last a very long time.

Gerber makes training pants that are thick cotton on the inside and vinyl on the outside. They aren't as effective at stopping leaks as a pull up, but they do stop most of the leaks and they still let the child feel wet and yucky. I bought them at Meijers. Keep a couple of zip lock bags with you and like the other mama's said, scope out the bathrooms. We're working on this now also. Good Luck.

A few other moms mentioned this already - -
I always kept a portable potty in the van with me.
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It was a life saver a lot of times, and when they were already trained, we'd still use it because it was so convenient. I always dreaded the germy, messy public bathrooms, so before we would go into a store, I'd ask if anyone had to use the van potty.

Stash a small plastic potty in your car. Put a large ziplock in it so it's ready to go. The second your daughter tells you she has to go, pull over into the nearest parking lot, whip it out and let her go. Have a stash of toilet paper, ziplocks and a few changes of clothes in the car. A roll of paper towel is also helpful. I would toss some paper towel into the ziplock to soak up the pee and then zip it shut and toss in nearest trash can.

I never used pull-ups with my son because he just treated it like a diaper and never told me. I used pull-ups for a week or so with my older daughter becasue she would tell me whenever she was going, or before she went, even with them on. No clue what we'll do with the 1 year old yet. :-)

YES!!! Ditch the pull up on trips that you know where the bathrooms are & keep the timer going. When there are places with no convenient location keep the pull ups on but also keep the timer going & when it goes off, find a bathroom. One idea that also worked for me was to have them go potty right before we left the house & as soon as we came back. We had a few accidents (one in the middle of the Children's Museum) but the panties caught on quickly. I think I was more afraid of letting go of the pull ups than my DD was. Yes it is more work to have to think through extra clothes, panties, etc. but you have to make this step sometime. Also, if she just keeps having accidents every time you go out, then just go back to the pull ups & try again later. Hope this helps!

I too took the potty with me in the car everywhere I went and used training pants. We had to stick to a schedule because my son would not tell me he had to go. I asked another mom friend about this and she told me she was afraid to send her son off to college because she still had to remind him to go in mornings. I think some people just don't feel it.

I always scope out where the bathrooms are and in the early stages, I had the training potty in the car. We started having her go on the hour and then two hours. It may be different from one day to the next. Always have clothes for just in case as she wears underware. When we travel we put a pull up on but still get her to a potty. She is 4 1/2 and we have her having bm's during the day and just need to have her not voiding at night. She wears night pull ups. This year when preschool started she is more in control of all of her bathroom needs. Still having one accident a week on occassion. This may be due to everything we do each week.

Just go with it, and I also have her car seat padded with a plastic bag and towel to prevent it from getting the car seat wet. I could probably remove that at this time.

Good Luck
J. R

I sell Usborne Books and We have a few Potty training Books.(Baby's potty , and Potty Time). You can check out my site at

Ubah.com/T2267

Maybe she is too young to start if she can't tell you about needing to go, but I guess if she is willing to try with a timer why not. YOu are do to have a baby in February don't be suprised if she fall back into her old ways after he arrives. I never potty trained mine until they were three and able to communicate better. I felt that if they couldn't tell me what they needed to do then how were they going to "get it". Most of the time in public situations I found it hard just to find a potty. Pull ups always worked for us because when they were ready to be done going in their diaper I could put a pull up on when we left and they would refuse to go in it even in the car. It was a very quick transition in our house. We'll see how #3 does so far he is nothing like the other two. Good luck it is a struggle.