Q re: Potty Training timing

[cookiesandwine]

Sadie's been very hit or miss in regards to using the potty. Some days she can do awesome all day, some days (mostly with me) she screams like it's torture.  We (at home, daycare, and my parents' house) have all been encouraging, still offering a lot, etc. but not pushing it at all. I think she's physically ready, but she's stubborn and just doesn't want to. My aunt who does her daycare is ready to start hitting it hard when we are.

BUT we're going on vacation beginning of April; driving 14 hours to FL.  

So should I wait until we get back from vacation?  Or do we try to PT in the next 5 weeks and hope that she's pretty well trained by then? Obviously we'd be taking a small potty with us on the road, then dealing with lots of hotel/restaurant/travel stop bathrooms. We'd be taking lots of breaks while out on the beach - do I tell her it's ok to go in the ocean? That seems confusing, no?   

[summergirl1211]

I'm probably not the best to give advice since we haven't tried serious PTing yet, but could you give it a try and see how it goes over the next week or two? If it goes well, keep at it and hope she's ready for the trip and if she doesn't do well, back off until after? I would say wait, but then it won't be a ton longer before baby #2 comes, and if I were you I'd be wondering about waiting until after s/he comes. That's my two cents, for what it's worth. GL whatever you do!

[cookiesandwine]

Feb 25, 2015 13:01:10 GMT -5 summergirl1211 said:

I'm probably not the best to give advice since we haven't tried serious PTing yet, but could you give it a try and see how it goes over the next week or two? If it goes well, keep at it and hope she's ready for the trip and if she doesn't do well, back off until after? I would say wait, but then it won't be a ton longer before baby #2 comes, and if I were you I'd be wondering about waiting until after s/he comes. That's my two cents, for what it's worth. GL whatever you do!

I had the same thought about trying to too close before #2 comes (July) but I reeeeaaally would like her PT before then.... Ugh.  I'm definitely willing to try doing it now and seeing how it goes for a while, but 1) I don't want to cause any regression or confusion about starting then stopping again, and 2) it's just bringing up SO many questions that I'm not sure how to handle it when we're on vacation. KWIM?  I just have no idea what to expect. 

[cbear]

I would go ahead and try to hit it hard. We still put E in pullups on long car rides but she surprises me and keeps them dry! She's fine going at a gas station, etc. FFC we totally had to Have her pee in a field once and she did and thought it was hilarious so I would totally tell her to pee in the ocean hahhaa

[xanthepants]

Do it now. Try not to think that PT is going to be an overnight thing or you are going to freak yourself out. It's a long process. You will deal with a trip as it comes. For months I had to stop and take Cosette potty every other minute it seems, it is just the way it's going to be for a while unfortunately. So knowing now what I know? I'd just bite the bullet and go for it.

[xanthepants]

And pull ups are totally reasonable to use on long car trips. Heck I will still use them on our plane ride coming up and Coco's been trained for 6 months!

[cookiesandwine]

She *always* wants to go pee when we're out in public, but really just wants to touch everything, never actually goes, and fights something fierce when I try to put her diaper back on her. I'm not sure I can handle that for a week while we're out while I'm 6+ months pregnant.... I definitely don't expect it to be an overnight success, but would it be unreasonable to think she may be past that stage after a month of PT?

Is a pull-up that much different than a diaper??

[bantyrooster]

I would just potty train. We did a diaper on the first long car ride and now just take potty breaks. We never did pull ups. I still don't trust him while sleeping even though he is usually dry.

[bliz1712]

To me pull ups are just fine and a heck of a lot easier then messing with a diaper on and off. I would guess they might not hold as much as a normal diaper, but they aren't there for long term IMO. I went with them because it made them easier to do the transition until she was fully trained and it still left a little barrier in case we had accidents. For us they just made sense and especially easier for DC.

I would suggest trying it out for a week or so and see how it goes. If there's no substantial progress then I would put it on hold until after the baby. I've heard a lot of siblings regress when new siblings come along and on top of your trip it might just be easier if she's not completely ready. I'm probably in the minority here, in regards to waiting however.

For Hanna, picking out her new underwear and all the treats she got was a huge factor in why it went so smoothly.

[cookiesandwine]

Oh bliz1712 we have Minnie, Bubble Guppies, and Frozen undies (zomg1!1!!!!1!11!) and she still will be like "nope, diaper please." Which is part of what leads me to believe she's physically ready but is just being stubborn. I figured she'd be in a diaper overnight for a while anyway, plus we're hoping to make the drive overnight which would eliminate a lot of potty breaks. But I am encouraged to hear that I'm not insane for thinking about doing it before we go!!

[pinkluna]

We potty trained about 6 weeks before our cruise. I didn't want to carry a ton of diapers and wanted them to be able to enjoy the pools and water areas. In ways I'm glad we did (and we didn't even use the pools), but I was regretting it the nights we spent in the formal dining room going back and forth to the potty. I enjoyed a hot meal only the days they were passed out from exhaustion (you know, because they refused to nap earlier). They did fine at the beach because they were distracted, but it seemed during meals or when they were bored, they wanted to go constantly.

If you decide to potty train, I would suggest getting her a two-pieced bathing suit if she doesn't have one. One-piece suits are a PITA to remove for potty breaks, especially once they're wet. Also, the foldable travel seats are convenient for public bathrooms.

[junkytrunk]

From my personal experience with M, I let him tell me that he didn't want diapers anymore. We didn't have to struggle to get him to go. He was really excited to go on the toilet and wear his undies. He was potty-trained in only a couple of weeks. I would probably just wait until she is really ready. It's much harder struggling and fighting with them, than if you wait until they truly want to do it.