Traveling by Car with a Newly Potty Trained 2 Y/o

We have dealt with similar situations...I would get a travel potty. They can be found on line (The Potty Store? I think) and there are some great small fold up travel pottys that use a gallon ziplock bag to catch pee and poop, then you can throw it out. Can be set up in the back of a wagon, or suv or by the side of the road if needed :)

I'm in a similar situation - going to WIS this weekend - but my daughter is only about 5 months potty trained. Like so many others, whenever we go anywhere more than around town, we take her potty seat and keep it in the trunk in case of emergencies (which can come up quickly!!) Then I just pull off on an exit or someplace safe and let her go. Also, I put one of those baby waterproof lap fabric sheets where she sits in her car seat. It is pretty small and fits there in case I can't stop in time. Good luck!

If I was you, do not use diapers, , take a small potty with you, if not the whole potty, then just the pot inside it, you can pull over and let her sit on it and toss pee in ditch.
Worked for me.

I have 3 kids, 2 are potty trained and this is what worked for us--bring the little potty with you in the car. That way if she says she has to go and there is no place to stop, just pull off, let her pee in the floorboard of the car (obviously easier if you have a van) and then use wipes or kleenex to wipe out and put in a walmart type bag. I use to 'line' the cup in the potty with a walmart bag if I knew mine were going to poop to make it easier to clean. Eventually she will be able to 'hold it' longer and you won't need to keep it in the car, but I did for my son till he was over 3 just to be sure!

I've also noticed on trips that my kids may not have to go right when we stop, but if they get out and stretch and walk around, then they to go before we get back in the car. Saves a 2nd stop not long after! Good luck!

Hi! I am thinking the same thing you are because next summer my twins will be potty trained and we're planning to drive to Oregon. I must be nuts!
Anyway, there's a company called One Step Ahead that sells great items for kids, stuff you never see in Wal-Mart, etc. They have a travel potty seat that folds up so it looks like a little plastic briefcase. You unfold it, put a gallon zipper bag over the seat ring, and presto... instant toilet!
I've included the web address to that one item below for you. God be with you!
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...

Since most people recommended getting a travel potty seat or buying pull-ups, I thought I'd share my thoughts and experience, which are a little different.

My 3 year old son has been potty training for about 6 months (and had lots more accidents than your daughter) and yet he has never ever had an accident in his car seat. We have taken four 13-hour car trips since he started potty training and several 2-3 hour trips. I have never bought pull-ups for home or traveling--because I think they are an unnecessary expense and I am afraid they would cause him to regress. If you are concerned about the "just in case" reason for using pull-ups, another less expensive (and less diaper like) option I might suggest is to buy gerber plastic pants from wal-mart (around $3 for 6 pair and they're reusable!) and put those over her undies. They usually have fun prints that she might not mind--could call them her "vacation" or "travel" underwear.

With how well she is doing at potty training, I would be very surprised if you had any problems as long as you stop every couple of hours for a potty break. Having a boy, we didn't worry about bringing along a potty chair, since he could just stand up and won't go #2 when we're traveling anyway, but that is probably a good idea with a girl since sitting on public toilets can be a challenge.

Hi JB,

I would invest in a travel potty just in case. I'm sure there are plenty of rest stops along the way, but in case you can't get to one quick enough, try investing in one of these.

http://store.babycenter.com/product/code/5458.do?scid=SSE...

You just use any brand gallon zip bags and toss when done. Have a great trip!

this really doesn't have much to do with potty training with road trips, but I do have a little advise. Over Thanksgiving, we drove to Mississippi (with my daughter) and it was not the first time we did this, but it was the first time - AT NIGHT. I will never do it again! She was car-sick almost the whole way. She had never been car sick before, and hasn't since the drive home. we left and drove at night thinking she would sleep. well she did, but she also "tossed her cookies!" We did not have the money to stay in a hotel and i didn't want to sleep in the car on the side of the road, that is not very safe! So, a 9 hour trip turned into a 12 hour trip due to frequent stops and slow driving... It was NOT fun, I felt so bad for my little girl. Just be careful if your driving at night (and bring a bucket just in case!)

JB

I would take a child potty with you in the car. That way, if you do have an emergency, you can just pull over, have her go, and dump it. You could take a bottle of water to rinse it out on the side of the road.

L.

Put a waterproof lap pad in her car seat and travel with a toddler potty in the car. you can always pull off the highway and let her go in that next to the car. holding abeach towel up for provacy might help. It always goes better than you think. My daughter loved to 'go potty like a camper'. hope you have fun!

Not sure what way you go to WI or where you are going in WI. My dad and sister live there so I used to make the trip twice a year till I had my second child. Now I do not go more than once a year. I took my mom's potty chair with me because there are so many long streches of highway with no exits and it never failed that there is where she would say she had to go. I always took her into the bathroom with me when we stopped and put her on the toilet and we would sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and if she did not go by the time we were done singing then I would let her off the tiolet. I did keep her in a pull up just incase I would even think of doing this at night when you are away just incase of an accident whith her not knowing her surroundings.

I always use a potty chair that I keep in the car all the time with a roll of toilet paper! It is wonderful. You can pull over any side road and be done in minutes! Just dump on side of road. Gross but hey, gotta do what ya gotta do! My kids are 9 and 7 and we take it to the drive-in, trips, garage sales etc.
J.

If I were you, I'd put her in Pull-Ups for the trip. That way, they are easy to get off so she can go when you do make stops, but they are also absorbant like diapers if she has to go and you don't have a place to pull over right away. Chances are, she'll do great and won't have an accident in the Pull-Up, but you're covered just in case she does. I took my newly-trained son on a 3 hour trip not too long ago. I put him in a Pull-Up and he was dry the whole way, without stopping! I just put the same Pull-Up on him for the ride home...and he ended up having an accident. Good luck!

I recommend taking the potty chair as well and even offering small bribes for trying when you are at a rest stop. I just wouldn't make a habit of that. The other thing is to give her lots of fun things to do and keep her drink out of reach and only give it to her when she asks. My toddler drinks a lot when she is bored in the car and that leads to a lot of moments when I'm saying "Hold it for me, we're almost there." I'm not saying that you shouldn't let her drink, just try to limit it to when she is actually thirsty.

Oh what fun - traveling with little ones. We have made trips to Ohio, Texas and Florida with little ones who were potty training or newly potty trained and they did good. I would suggest that you plan on making more stops, like every 2 hours and have her try to go potty. You may also want to purchase some pull-ups that she wears only when traveling. I know that may be hard to do but trust me, it's better to have the accident in the pull-up than in the car seat. My girls did not like having to wear the pull-up but once I explained to them that they were for just in case we couldn't find a potty in time they were usually OK. You could also take a potty chair so that way if she has to go and tells you and there is no potty then you could pull over and have something that she can use.

Good luck!!

LOL!!!! I just can't help but laugh, only because it brings back memories. I use to go Little Rock by myself to see my family and would make good time (6hrs). Well, I when my daughter was potty trained, LOL, I went with my mom and my sister too. We go down 55S...There are stretches where there are no rest stops, so exits, nothing, for MILES!! And you hear "I have to go pee" Then next sign you see says next rest stop 10 miles!!! I HAVE TO GO NOW!! So we just pull off the side of the road, cradle her in our are and let her pee in the grass. Yep, we still tell the story every year we go to Arkansas. My son is 2, and is newly potty trained, but we have changed our traveling to night travels, so the potty thing usually isn't much a problem anymore. My best advise is, ask before you reach the rest stops ( esp it's the last one) stop anyways and have her try!) You could bring a potty chair with plastic bags to line bowl if you do need to pull of the side of the road. (easy clean-up) {Cradling the child in you arms just gives you a funny story to tell} Good Luck and a safe trip! :-)

I traveled from KC to Oklahoma City with my 3yr daughter, I put in the car a potty chair and a milk jug with bleach and water mix. When she needed to go to the bathroom I just pulled over to a safe spot got the chair out and she went. I then was able to just dump out the bowl and rinse with the bleach water and we were on our way. Faster and cleaner than a truck stop.

We regularly make a 5.5 hour trip to visit my grandparents and 6 hrs to my Brother & Sister-in-law, and even a few 15 hrs to visit family in New Orleans. I always tell my kids they need to go potty before we leave the house and anytime we stop because 'there isn't a potty in the van'. As if any car has a potty, but it works. My son (age 3) sometimes says he doesn't have to go, but I tell him he needs to try because...(again) there isn't a potty in the van. He is usually able to go. (I also do this anytime we're going out, even to the grocery store, so my kids know the drill. We ALWAYS go potty before we leave the house.) We stop about every 2-3 hours. I'm tall and usually need a stretch break by then anyway. I also try to plan it on the 5-6 hour trips that about half-way is meal time so we can stop, have a potty/gasoline break, and get food. The kids usually eat and then nap the rest of the way. It's also convenient to travel with kids if you feed them supper and leave just before bedtime. They'll sleep a lot of the way.

As an added backup, you can take the potty chair along in case you have to make an emergency stop by the side of the road. A friend of mine who lives 30+ minutes outside of town always carries hers in the back of her SUV so the little ones can climb back there and go if they need to. Of course she stops the car first.

Also, be sure to prepare her for the possibility of the auto-flush toilets going off while she's on the toilet. My daughter was scared by one when she was little. I just made a joke out of it and we called them the 'crazy flushing toilets'. That made her OK with them and would still use them. I would just warn her every time she was on one that it might flush while she's going. I also found a fold up toilet seat at Toys-R-Us that I could carry around for her to use on public toilets. It made each restroom 'hers'. It's not so much of an issue with my son, since he stands.

Have a great trip!

Do you have a potty chair, you can always take it with you and bring wipes and or toilet paper with you on the trip, they always have rest stops along the way, or if she needs to pee and the rest stop isnt for a mile or 2, or you can always find a safe spot to pull over and let her go in the potty chair. Just a thought.

buy a LITTLE PORTABLE POTTY THAT SHE CAN USE IN THE CAR AND YOU MIGHT BUY PULL UPS JUST FOR TRAVEL. I HAD TO DO THIS WITH MY OLDEST BECAUSE HE WOULD WAIT UNITL THE LAST MINUTE TO TELL US. SO THEN IF AN ACCIDENT HAPPENS IT HAPPENS BUT ALEAST IT WILL BE CONTAIN IN A PULL-UP INSTEAD OF IN THE CARSEAT. ALSO MAKE SURE TO STOP EVERY TWO HOURS OR SO. YOU MIGHT THINK ABOUT TRAVELING AT NIGHT BECAUSE THEN SHE WILL SLEEP ON THE WAY AND NO ACCIDENTS. HAVE HER GO POTTY EVERY GAS UP BEFORE YOU LEAVE FOR YOUR TRAVEL TRIP AND ANYTIMES SHE SAYS SHE HAS TO GO. HOPE THIS HELPS! T.

Hi there! When I traveled with my daughter at that stage (we drove from St. Louis to Fort Campbell KY-a 5 hour drive), I would leave really early, like 4 or 4:30 a.m. and she would just sleep the entire time. If that is not an option, try to stop once every hour and make her sit on the potty- then give her a little reward like a snack for doing it on command!

It shouldn't be a problem at all. Just don't plan on trying to set any records. (That might take some doing on your husband's part. LOL) Make sure you ask her regularly if she needs to go. Stop for plenty of breaks...maybe each hour? Also, take a potty chair along for those stops where you can't get to a restaurant or gas station, or when you do stop at one but you do NOT want to take your baby in there.

Good luck!

I have had my dd wear a pull-up over her underwear in the car. I've just explained to her that when we are traveling, there is no guarantee that we will be able to find a potty right away, and that the pull-up will help protect her clothes in the event she has an accident. We always seem to make it to the potty in time, but just having the pull-up on gives both of us peace of mind.

I know that some people out there will not agree with this, but it works for me.

Do you still have a potty chair? If you do, a friend of mine would bring it and take some small garbage bags or grocery bags and line the chair with that, so if they had to stop on the side of the road it wouldn't be so messy. Did that make sense? Stop every couple of hours or so and have her potty and if she doesn't go then you may have to stop on the side of the road. If you don't have a chair then bring an ice cream bucket to use. Good luck and God Bless.

Something that worked for my parents was this: They brought a potty chair in the car. When we had to go, they stopped the car and we used the chair outside. They dumped it, cleaned it real quick, and we were on our way. It will be more difficult in the Chicago area, but other than that, you should be fine... provided your daughter is not too shy to go.

With my son we stopped every hour or so the first couple of times we traveled to see my parents (a four hour drive). Also if we got gas we made him go try. Someone said take part of the potty with you, I agree. The nice thing about having boys you can pull over anywhere ;) Just be prepared for the drive to take longer than usual. Good luck.

I know when my mom had my siblings, she brought their potty chair with us in the car and used it when we stopped. If you don't use pull-ups or diapers in the car, try to find a waterproof pad to put in the car seat in case of an accident. oops!
Beware of automatic flushing toilets!! Make it appear as "Magic" that the potty went down the toilet. so child won't hopefully be scared. Best wishes on your vacation!!

take the potty chair with you. We took a lot of trips when our kids were little and did not want them to regress back to diapers by putting them on for the trip so took the potty with us. If they needed to go and we weren't close to anything we would pull off on a ramp and have them use the potty and took a small container of water to rinse it out and wipes with us to wipe out the potty so it wouldn't smell in the car. Some trips it was used, others they made it to the rest stop. We did stop at more rest stops along the way when the kids were awake just in case they had to go because rest stops are usually 2-3 hours apart.

We road trip often and have since our daughter was very young. When she was at this stage, I always took along her little portable training potty and a roll of toilet paper on road trips. That way if we had to stop somewhere and there is not a public restroom close, our daughter could use her potty. As you likely know, when they speak up that they need to go potty they cannot hold it for more than a few minutes from that point. This made having the potty available very helpful. We have a minivan so we would put the potty on the floor in the van and let her potty if she needed to. This helped her to stay in "big girl" panties during the trip and aided us in having a potty available whenever she needed to go. We only had to do this a couple of times but it came in very handy and saved us from having accidents in the car.

Bring a potty seat with you. If you're 10 miles from the next exit and she just can't wait, you can pull over on the side of the road and use it.

I remember when my daughter was that age. I would take her on long road trips as well. I remember having to stop several times for false alarm poo-poo breaks. Bring her potty chair. That way if you're in the middle of nowhere she still has somewhere to go.

Take the potty chair...Stop when she needs to. We have pictures of our daughter sitting on the potty chair beside a toll road in PA... We were in a safe location, off the side, she was blocked mostly by the vehicle, but we know she mooned a few cars...Pretty funny memory actually.... She'll love us for it in a few years, but it worked...

Hi, JB, We have taken our 2 year old to Iowa (6hr drive) twice this summer and she has been great! We take the potty chair along - just in case, & have a pull-up in reserve, but she hasn't needed it. We ask if she needs to go more frequently than we do at home, but she tells us when she needs to stop, and at least tries to go when the adults needed a break. Have a great trip! Mel

When my daughter first got potty trained I would still put her in pull-ups for long drives because she wasn't very good about telling me when she needed to go. When she realized she needed to, she needed to immediately and we couldn't always accomodate. Another suggestion might be to take a portable potty seat with you that you could set up anywhere if she needs to go and you aren't near a restroom. Good luck!