Traveling with a potty-trained child can be challenging, but with some preparation and planning, it can be made easier. Here are six tips and tricks for traveling with a potty-trained child:
1. Familiarize Them With Portable Options For Traveling
Before traveling, introduce your child to portable potties or stool and toilet seat for public restrooms so they understand how to use them. What you bring along depends on you what you find easier: a potty or a stool and toilet seat. Learn more about potties and toilet seats in this blog.
Great travel potties that we would recommend are My Carry Potty or Buubla Potty. But you can always choose to stick with the potty you use at home.
It will come in handy to practice with your child to use public restroom or the potty on other places outside the house. This way, your child is familiar with the potty and is not dependent on your house-setting.
2. Plan Restroom Breaks
Always plan time on the potty before going out, this will help you avoid a few accidents ????. Make frequent stops during road trips to allow your child to use the restroom. It might be a good idea to set an alarm for every 2 hours to make a stop. Even if they say they don’t need to go potty, encourage them to try. Just say something like:
‘Now it’s time to sit on the potty again.’
Are you having a hard time, because your child keeps resisting the potty? Read this blog on how to overcome resistance!
Think about how you are traveling, you will need different forms of restroom breaks for traveling by car, train or airplane. When traveling by plane, you might need to consider what you will do when your child suddenly needs to go, but the emergency lights are on. Be sure to bring enough sets of clean clothes, including socks! Plan a restroom break before landing or before a queue, this way you will mostly avoid the panic that your child has to go potty at impossible moments. Because honestly, sometimes it can feel like children only have to go potty at times when there is no possible way. So stay relaxed when this happens, your child is practicing and accidents will happen. And when an accident has happend on the plane or train, ask for help from the flight attendant or train conductor, they will know what to do when accidents happen.
Also be aware for cultural norms of the country you will be traveling to, some cultures might not appreciate a child going potty outside. And it might be handy to learn the phrases like going potty or where is the toilet, so you can communicate with the locals.
3. Pack Essentials On The Road
Most important, bring along a potty! It fits great in the bottom of a pushchair. Also bring along plenty of wipes, hand sanitizer, and extra clothes in case of accidents. It is important that children get used to washing hands after going potty.
Traveling can be new and scary for children, therefore they might have more accidents. To help your child, it is important that you remain calm whenever accidents happen. Just say something like:
‘I see you have weed your pants, wees and poos go in the potty. Next time you feel a wee or poo in your belly, you can go potty.’
Let your child sit on the potty again, change the outfit and go back to your travels! It is also good to consider the clothing of your child, not all clothes come in handy when having accidents. If you are worried about your carseat, you can protect the car by using a car seat protector.
Is your child just starting to get potty training and are the queues and waitings actually too long for your child? You can introduce: travel pants. You can use a pull up on top of the pants, so your child does feel the wetness, but the whole seat on plane or car won’t covered in wees or poos ???? .
4. Maintain Routine In Your Traveling
Try to stick to your child’s usual potty schedule as much as possible, even while traveling. This can help prevent accidents and confusion. Children love a safe environment where they know what is expected and they can follow their usual routine. This helps children to feel calm and confident to go potty ????. You can also try to plan your travel around your child’s natural bathroom schedule. For example, schedule flights or long drives during times when your child typically needs to use the restroom less frequently.
5. Stay Patient And Positive During Traveling
Traveling can be stressful for both you and your child, so try to remain patient and positive throughout the journey. Potty training accidents may happen, but it’s important to reassure your child and avoid making them feel ashamed or embarrassed. When the stress of travels fades, chances are that your child picks up potty training where you left off.
6. Consider Timing
Traveling while being in the middle of potty training might not be the best idea. Your child is busy learning this new skill, he or she has to learn how to recognize they have to go potty, sit on the potty with bare bottom and let go of their wees, they are also learning to wipe, pull up pants and trousers and wash hands. When you add traveling and new places to that, it might become too much newness for your child. This can can all be quite scary, which may cause more accidents. So plan potty training a few weeks or even months ahead from your travels! For many parents summer is an excellent time for potty training, but consider that a long trip that summer might not be the best idea ????. Some parents also choose to potty train when being on holiday, if you like that idea, just make sure that you plan enough time to sit and watch your child and pack all the essentials.
By following these tips and being prepared, traveling with a potty-trained child can be a smoother and more enjoyable experience for both you and your little one. Want more help with potty training, the Go Potty® app is designed to help parents to complete potty training!