Potty Training and Public Restrooms/friends' Homes

We just taught my son to sit with his legs spread farther apart to help stabilize himself, and it actually helped point him down too. Once we felt he was fairly stable on the seat, we had him start to hold himself down. We had no problems with him on public toilets or anywhere away from home by doing this. When out in public, I usually try to help hold him up (support him) a little just because the seats are so much bigger, even with him spreading his legs apart. No issues!

My suggestion - SKIP the potty chair. I did it with my son at two years old and prior to that, with many children at the childcare I worked in. It seems to avoid so many problems (like the ones you are describing) plus the adjustment from potty chair to toilet.

I used the toilet "insert" for when he needed to sit, but never brought this with to friends homes or public toilets. He just quickly learned and adjusted to the fact that these were different from home.

I did have him sit backward...yes, it's a little bit of a pain with clothing, but in the long run, got him used to facing the right direction and easily transitioned him to the standing position. (For public toilets I just lifted him my the armpits and had him "stand" facing the toilet.)

Try having him sit sideways on it and help to balance him so he feels secure.

We've just been using the regular seats when we're out. I help keep my son up by holding him. For friends/family homes I bring the little potty or the toilet seat cover. We're shifting to just the toilet seat cover though - less clean up. We got all three Baby Bjorn potties (2 potties and one seat cover) - partially to see our son's preference. Turns out it has been good to have potties in all areas of hte house. Less running when the nees arises.

My son turned 3 in May and he has been potty trained for 3 weeks, we started him off with a potty seat that sits on the floor that makes music when he pees in it (this was a no go with him), then we got a cheap wal-mart toilet seat but I hated the low splash guard on it, he always peed out of it (he liked this one), then I tried the baby bjorn, I loved it cause the splash guard is higher and it looks more comfortable (it took some bribing, but now he likes it and so do I). As for on the go, I bought one of the fold up seats from babies r us, he HATES it and will not use it, he prefers to just sit on the seat, so I just lift him on it and he holds himself up (cause he's a big boy LOL), and then I just make sure to wash his hands really good afterwards, it took him a few times of me trying to get him comfortable with peeing in public restrooms, but now hes a pro.

Good luck and I wouldn't put too much pressure on him, he's only 2, I thought thats what I had to do with my son, then I let it go for a while per my doctors advice (she said most boys don't train until 3-4 anyway) and when I retired he was even more adament that he wasn't going to do it, then finally last month I said that was it, no more diapers NO MATTER WHAT, and after 3 accidents in 20 minutes there hasn't been one since. (except yesturday when grandma took him for a 1.5 hour drive and he got cold and wouldn't go in a wayside boonie bathroom)

We used the Fisher Price Potty-on-the-Go. It was wonderful for friends' houses, camping, even long road trips!

We potty trained our son outside (yes we live on a farm) and he and his dad would "pee on the ants" and when he had to go potty inside he would sometimes tell us he needed to go, and we would go. For awhile I had a few cheerios I'd toss in the bowl so he could aim for them too. When we were somewhere other than home, I'd throw a piece of toilet paper in so he had something to aim for. We also never ever ever did the sitting for peeing, only for bowel movements.
You don't need to do anything different when you go to other people's homes, just hold on to him so he doesn't fall in when he's sitting!
We thought it would be confusing to sit facing this way for one thing, sitting this way for another thing, then change it later to standing for this thing...

Hi K., I started with the potty chair with my son. However when he was 2 he didn't consistently use the potty chair. As he got older though, we just started putting it on the toilet and letting him use it that way. I think he liked it better. He is 3 now and even though he isn't completely potty trained, more my fault I think, he doesn't even use the smaller seat on the toilet. He just scoots himself back further on the seat so he doesn't pee out of the toilet. He does this even when we are in public or where ever. It is kind of a pain to always take off 1 shoe, but if that is what I need to do at the moment so he goes, I'm fine with that. Maybe see if he will do that at home. When they scoot back, it is less of a feeling like they will fall in I think. Good luck!

When I potty-trained my son (and daughter) I would make sure that I went with them to the potty outside the home and would (and still do my son just turned 3) hold my son on the big pottys and tell him that other people use these so they might be dirty, -even with a paper seat cover kids grab the sides of the potty- my son goes to the potty without touching anything and cause I'm holding him he makes no messes. He also thinks it is special cause mom is holding him (he is a mama's boy).

And yea if you are going to a friends house to stay for a period of time take the potty, friends understand =)

What I did was to bring a folding seat with me in the diaper bag. Once he's ok with standing to pee, that's even better cause when he's too short for a particular toilet I just pick him up and aim him. We still do that, although he is past having to sit on the folding seat. When he has to sit on the big seat, with or without the folding seat, just hold onto him and talk to him while he goes, so he doesn't feel afraid. I would let my son hold my leg, and I'd put my hand on his shoulder.
Oh, also, make sure and tell him to lean over a little when he goes number two (or sits to pee) so the pee doesn't come out betweent the seat and bowl...learned that the hard way. Also, to get him interested in standing to pee (which won't be right away) try putting Trix or something in the potty to aim at.

We have a fold up seat that goes on the big toilet that makes it smaller that we got at WalMart for like $10. In order to not have to use the splash guard, we taught him to hold himself down while going.

You can buy portable potty seats that fit on a large toilet seat and fold up into a carrying case. I wouldn't recommend it though. They one we bought never sit flat and our daughter actually got pinched by it. You can also buy disposable covers that you put on the bit potty. They are just plastic and have a smaller opening. We haven't tried those however. We just have our daughter sit on the regular toilet seat and hold on to her hands.

Our 2yo is learning to go on the potty without the seat. He uses the big potty as is. He sometimes likes to sit on the big potty using the insert for training, which is fine, but usually just holds himself up. Best wishes!

I've used the Baby Bjorn Potty Trainer with my son and daughter and have LOVED it! It's an insert that goes inside a regular toilet (and adjusts to fit any toilet seat). It has a splash guard so you don't have to worry about that. But the great thing about this seat is that your child will simply outgrow the seat and still use the same toilet...no need for another adjustment to a regular toilet from a potty chair (and no mess to clean up either)!

As for potty stops on the go, I simply cover the toilet seat with a cover and sit my child on the edge and hold them up. It's an adjustment, but before you know it, you and your son will do it second nature!

Here's a link that shows all of the Baby Bjorn potty training products, including the seat I mentioned and a cute step stool: http://uggamugga.blogspot.com/2008/05/baby-bjorn-potty-tr....

Best of luck in the potty training!

with my granddaughter, her mother always kept a fold up seat we bought at Walmart in a ziplock bag in her diaper bag. Now that she is trained and does well she doesn't need it anymore. Boys can stand up to go in the other bathrooms, you just need to make sure he aims well.

K.,
I purchased (through Kohls.com) portable seat covers. They fold up small enough to fit in a medium size purse, and unfold to fit over any toilet. They are made of hard plastic and have cute little Sesame Street characters on them. I also rec'd a "potty hammock," as a shower gift. This is a cloth one that slides unto any seat to assure two things: little ones aren't touching the actual seat, and little ones aren't falling into the toilet... However, both turned out to be a pain in the, well, you know what! The "potty hammock" required me to actually touch public toilet seats, and the cute little hard plastic fold-up ones ended up being too small for my little ones' butts.
Luckily while at Grandma and Grandpa's house, they (I have b/g twins) wanted to show off how big they were and would sit right on their "big" potty. They just figured out how to do "the lean." SInce they mastered "the lean" so quickly, it made friends' potties easy to use. And then of course, public restrooms...no "leaning" there... So, (Go ahead and laugh) I line the toilet seat with toilet paper and make the kids sit sideways (most public restrooms have that HUGE gap in the front...). It works just fine, no need to take anything off, just pull down...
I hope this helps!
J.

K.,

I always used a potty chair with a removable seat that could be placed on a regular toilet. For the first couple months until my child got comfortable, I would bring the whole potty chair to friends' houses and just bring the seat in a bag when in public. It was a little inconvenient, but it was so much better than the trauma of having to use a regular toilet before they were ready.

Also, if you go somewhere there is the auto flushing toilets, put your thumb or a piece of tape on the sensor. Nothing freaks them out like the auto flusher. We called it the "magic potty" and tried to stay positive.

One piece of advice; once you decide to potty train, don't put your son back in diapers even if he has setbacks. It can delay finishing training for months or even years. If you aren't ready to fully potty train, have him sit on the potty every night immediately after dinner while he watches the bath water run. That's your best chance of getting him to pee in the chair. You can also teach him things like getting dressed and undressed, cleaning up after himself (dirty dishes, laundry and diapers,) and concepts such as up and down, dirty and clean, wet and dry, on and off, etc. When you do decide to fully train, all these things will make it go faster and smoother. I would recommend the book "Toilet Training in less than a Day." You can get it at Amazon.com or on eBay.

Good luck,
S.

We traveled with our potty seat. She was only 20 months old and very small so we used the potty seat and brought it everywhere. It made it easy to when we were on our way somewhere and she had to go while in the car....we would just pull in a parking lot and put her on the potty chair. It worked well for us. Our friends and family were fine with us bringing the seat. When we went to a movie and the doctors office and going on the potty was still new we brought our seat that you put on the toilet to make it smaller for them. It worked well. Also in public restrooms cover the motion sensor for flushing. It didn't take long for her to adjust to public restrooms without a seat, we just hang on to her. The loud flush still bothers her though...she has to be prepared. My Mom had said that once we started potty training do not use diapers/pull ups. The first 24 hours were messy and then after that she did great for the most part. I used the underwear with the extra padding, I found them at Target and always easy to get off clothing. We gave her a lot of liquids and didn't go anywhere the first 24 hours. Do what feels right to you. Good luck! A.

Hey try a travel potty seat. I found a foldable travel seat that worked for a while. It will fit in a diaper bag so you don't have to carry a big seat around. they can get a bit flexible so be careful with what you buy. Here is the link http://www.pottytrainingconcepts.com/Merchant2/merchant.m...

Hope it helps you out!!

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3518178

This is just one of the many portable pottys you can buy. This one is online only, but there is a sesame street one you can buy at Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, and Babies R US. We have it for our daughter and everyone thinks it's the best invention ever. We've used it in every public restroom and by everyone's house that we've gone to. Folds right up and fits perfectly into a small diaper bag.

We used this:

http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...

I just kept it in the trunk. It takes regular gallon ziplock bags. We have a station wagon, and my son *loved* getting to sit "in the back" when he needed to use it. Dump the ziplock, wipe it off w/a clorox wipe and you're done. And of course, if you're at someone's home, you can just carry it in with you. It was truly a lifesaver. It not only solves the seat-size issue, but the dangling legs issue, which is part of what is so hard for them.

Good luck!