I have a 2 year old daughter and she is getting the whole pottying thing down. She is now wearing panties while she is at school; however I am still apprehensive about taking her out with panties on. You see, I don't want her using the public toilets. They gross me out.
How are you moms with little girls handling this? What are you doing to prepare for the possibility of your little girl using the public restrooms?
Currently, I bring a small potty with me so my son can use it before we go somewhere and again when we leave. However, there have been times when my son needed to use the restrooms and we could not go back to the car.
Please moms let me know. I look forward to the recommendations.
There are fold up potty seats. Here's one:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2304657
I also have some Dora disposable potty seat covers. They actually have sticky spots on them so they don't slide. http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2792567
She has to learn to be able to use the bathrooms where ever she is. You have to be careful about expressing your opinions to her about this because it may cause anxiety in her about not just public bathrooms but any that aren't at her home or public places in general. I also agree with some of the other moms that no matter how much you clean and scrub your own house there will ALWAYS be germs, microscopic bugs and the like in our environments. I understand being scared about your daughter and not so much about your son because I am petrified about my 16 month old little girl developing UTIs because of mine and my families history of them but I can't feed her cranberries every day, all day and obsess over it because it would consume me and she would eventually develop her own anxieties about it.
i carry a resealable sandwich bag with hand sanitizer or wet wipes, toilet seat covers, a tiny portable lysol, and flushable wipes. i have the routine down to an art - get a wad of toilet paper, put it on the seat and use your foot to wipe the seat. then spray lysol and do the same with another wad of toilet paper. position the paper seat cover, help your daughter sit on it and go, wipe with the flushable wipes, and wash hands with the hand sanitizer or wet wipes. voila! your daughter doesn't have to touch anything! i bought all my supplies at wal-mart - the hand sanitizer, seat covers, and flushable wipes are all in the travel-sizes aisle, and the lysol is usually at the checkout.
I agree with Susanna. That's what I go by.
P. S
In a phrase - it stinks. But you gotta do it, just buy some disposable toilet covers and keep them in your juice/wipes bag. You will not be able to get away with it all the time unless you drive your kids nuts and make them distrust public places. If you really still have trouble, buy some of that natural sanitizer (EO?) which sprays. You can spray the toilet first and then add the cover.
Just my 2 cents :)
First of all, try to relax. As gross as they are, repeated studies have showed that your kitchen sink likely harbors more infectious germs than a public toilet. If you're too cautious about using antibacterial stuff on everything, you could weaken your daughter's immune system. She does need SOME germ exposure.
That said, carry a ziploc of Lysol wipes and give a quick seat wipe, and pick up one of those little portable folding toilet seats (preferably the one with handles for the kid to hold). Make sure she washes her hands when she's done, and you should be good.
Keep tissues and a bottle of hand sanitizer (or just rubbing alcohol) in your bag and wipe the seat down first. There's also the (less-than-perfect) method of covering the seat with toilet paper.
And practice GOOOD handwashing with soap, using a paper towel to turn off the faucet and open the bathroom door.
Lastly, remember all those studies that have shown time after time that things like the the handle for the water fountain, light switches, cellphones, keyboards, door handles, and ice dispensed from ice machines usually have a LOT more germs than toilet seats. (I just realized that, while my point was to make you less stressed about public restrooms, I may have freaked you about about ice and light switches. Sorry.)
Hand sanitizer & tissues!!!
I bought this awesome thing from OneStepAhead.com
It was a hard, durable plastic "cover" that folded up into a 4in x 4in (approx) size. It had rubber grips on the bottom so it wouldn't slide. (I actually used it for my son when he was too small to stand and pee in the toilet.) It made him feel safe, and it kept the germs away from him. I could keep it in a ziploc bag and just throw it in my purse. LOVED IT!
Take a packet of sanitizing wipes and wipe the seat. Bea sure and take her underpanties completely off where she won't get them on the floor or the toilet. You could take some paper towels in your purse if you don't feel confident with the sanitizing wipes. Going to the bathroom is a necessity and she needs to learn how to do it without compromising her health. V.
I taught my kids to get toilet paper and layer the toilet seat, as we all should, before they sit down. They are going to have to learn to do it and it's easy enough to teach them how to keep safe in public restrooms. We shouldn't have to be afraid of the public restrooms...maybe appalled..LOL
As others have stated they make paper toliet covers. We tried using those paper ones but my two year old squirms a lot and usually moves the cover around after I place her on the seat. I have also seen on Amazon a portable toliet seat that folds up flat. I am sure that would work better. We always just make sure we wash our hands very well. It's been proven that shopping cart handles have more dangerous germs than toliet seats.
I have an extra set of undies and pants in my car at all times, in the center council actually haha. Im not very anal about public bathrooms. My daughter barely even lets me in the stall with her and shes only 3! little miss independent. I carry wet wipes in my purse. I will wipe her bottom with the wet wipes and go on with the day. My kids get a bath every night before bed so any excess germs get washed off then. Im not super anal about public restrooms since we shower and bathe everyday, the germs dont hang around long.
Have you thought of getting one of those foldable toilet seats that you can take along with you? I got one from a friend of mine when my daughter was potty training and it helped.
You can get character designed toilet seat covers at Babies R Us and Target, and you can also get purse sized bottles of Lysol and little packets of Clorox Wipes if you're really freaked out by it. Clean the seat and put the cover on it. Carry anti-bacterial gel in case the sinks aren't kid friendly. I have boys, but they still have to use public bathrooms and sometimes sit. Honestly, I know they're gross, and I always say, "DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!!!", but if they're touching shopping carts, library books, toys in any public area, playground equipment, etc. they won't meet anything new in the public restroom!
I've got a gril and a boy and yes, as nasty as some public bathrooms are, you just have to suck it up and deal with it. When a child is potty training, you can't expecet them to hold it just because you have an adversion to public restrooms. To me, public restrooms can be just as clean or just as nasty as someone's home bathroom!! And when a 2yr old says she has to go, she has to go NOW so you don't have much time to fumble around cleaning the seat with sanatizer and what not.
You'll learn which places you go regulary have clean bathrooms and which ones don't. Take my walmart for example, the ones at the front of the store are always a mess but the ones at the back are cleaner. I'd rather squat in the woods than use our Kmart's bathroom it is so nasty!!! But when my 3yr old son tells me he has to go, I have to take him, period.
You've gotten some good ideas like the folding seat cover or make a cover out of toilet paper too. but most importantly-Proper hand washing afterwards!!!!
S.
