My 27 month old decided to potty train two weeks ago and is doing great. He has been accident free, including at school and in public and I want to keep up the momentum. The only thing I can't figure out is how to get the kid to use public potties. He will use the Potette in a stall without a problem, but there's absolutely no way he will sit on a seat. Part of it is he has a tiny butt (like fits in 12 month shorts small) and doesn't fit on the seat. Even if I hold him he's unstable and is afraid of falling in. I'm happy continuing with the Potette, but any suggestions for getting him to realize it's okay to use the potty?
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My son had the same issues. I tried an Oxo travel potty seat but that didn’t seem to make a difference at first when he was really nervous about the whole thing. I ended up just helping him balance on the front of the regular seat. I kind of hold his thighs and he puts his hands on the seat to stabilize himself. Then, of course, there’s the issue of pointing it down
. My DS is big for his age, but i can imagine it working if he were smaller.
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Teach him to stand up pee! In public I hold my son up, anywhere with a stool he leans over and holds onto the seat while it’s up.
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When my son was too short to pee standing without a stool, I would lift the toilet seat then pick him up and hold him with his feet resting on the rim of the toilet. Eventually he got tall enough to just stand and pee.
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If he’s tall enough, even on tip toes, stand to pee. My son actually never did sit to pee (but he’s very tall).
If he’s not tall enough, this is great. We use it for poop. Buy a small pack of Lysol wipes and wipe it down when done. Has a carrying bag and it folds up relatively small.
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I never bothered with any sort of toilet apparatus while we were out and about. I did keep disinfect wipes on me though, and would wipe down the toilet seat. Also, I agree about teaching boys to pee standing up!
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Go J! That's awesome! I read this trick in a book and it actually has been working great for us when Rowan is fussy about peeing. Can you have him stand on the toilet? You could even throw Cheerios in and make it a game?
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We have this foldable seat and it’s worked perfectly: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B071YF2F22/ref=mh_s9_acsd_zwish_b52xb9f_c_x_3_w?pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_s=mobile-hybrid-8&pf_rd_r=RBRWYMHNCFRSK8JXF76B&pf_rd_t=30901&pf_rd_p=47b5ccab-d439-50ac-a6b3-eb7d81e40007&pf_rd_i=4624421011
We tried standing but he stopped wanting to do that after a week or so.
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Have you tried having him sit sideways on the seat? I do that with my son and it feels much more stable, because his butt can rest on one side, his legs reach the other side and he feels stable without having to cling for dear life.
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@MrsBucky: This! I remember doing this as a child for a very long time!
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@MrsBucky: That's such a great idea. I did that for years. Maybe that'll work for him.
@Mrs.Someone: @ElbieKay: @SweetiePie: I never even thought about standing to pee. Duh. Easy solution. Even though he's tiny, he's tall and should be able to reach.
@pachamama: I will try that! He loves to pee on trees (my neighbors love me), so maybe cheerios will work.
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We have this folding potty seat that fits over a regular toilet
Kalencom Potette Plus 2-in-1 Travel Potty Trainer Seat Green https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0016KYMMU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_j6TbBbTQ60QFM -
Having the same issue over here, but slightly different reason. T's ok with me holding her steady on the toilet, but is terrified of the loud flush in public restrooms so she refuses to go near them. If she comes in with me when I have to pee i have to let her out of the stall to go hide by the sink before I flush
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@beatrixkiddo: do the post-it note trick (or a bit of damp toilet paper in a pinch). keep a few in your purse and tape it over the sensor until she's done and out of there.
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When my daughter was tiny, I would sit all the way back on the seat behind her and sit her in front of me. Then she couldn’t fall in.
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@tysonja: yes! This tip changed my life!
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@Pollywog: How did it go? Did you successfully get him to go using the public bathroom potty?
Have you transitioned him to the grown up toilet yet at home? That would be the first step I would think. We never had a small potty phase, we had a seat adapter (on the big toilet at home) for the longest time. There are travel size fold-up seat adapters too, but it never worked for us and it was gross carrying that thing around. So in a way that didn't work out, haha.
It also could be a vibe coming from you too ... have you expressed that feeling / concern, or ever made that "gross" expression when taking him to the public bathroom? Maybe he could be picking it up from you that it is nasty to sit on the seat?
For public bathrooms it has been a nightmare for us for a long time (our situation was, he 100% will not go anywhere outside of home or school, or in diaper). We couldn't go anywhere for a long stretch of time because of this situation. One of the pediatrician suggestion that really helped was, he told us to get a bag filled with cheap $1 toys/goodies, whenever he go to use a public restroom, he gets to pick a toy. We worked with our daycare teacher and talked his ear off. One day we were in the car close to home, DS said he needed to go. Instead of going home, DH pulled up into a very quiet hotel (Hilton, Sheraton or something - the key point is the hotel was of a decent caliber). We went into their public bathroom that is super super clean and super quiet. We went into the stall, he went, we cheered, went back to the car and I let him pick a toy from the bag. The rest was history.
Good luck! I am really curious how it goes!
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@irene: The toys aee a great tip. I'll have to try it.
We've had zero luck so far. At home 90% of his pees and all of his poops are in the main potty with a toilet insert. He's happy to go and he uses a similar set up at school.
He's seen me pee in several public restrooms without any problems (I have a newborn who sat on my bladder my entire pregnancy. I swear I have used every public restroom imaginable). He had no problem going on his travel potty in a stall at the baseball game (so noisy, gross, and unfamiliar), but full on refusal at the library and pool (clean and familiar).
My new plan is to bring our toilet insert to the pool to see if that helps. I feel for the kid, I tried all of the tricks mentioned here and there was no way he felt stable. He just held it for 30 minutes instead of peeing in the pool or shower (which is what I assumed he would do)
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@Pollywog: aww. Yes, our pediatrician's wife is a child psychologist and the toys was her suggestion. Try the toys, and make sure you talk to another person (that is a person that he likes and of authority, eg. his daycare teacher, or his pediatrician...etc.) with him there. Somehow when a 3rd person is involved, it oddly becomes real for the child. Once it happened it happened very fast. Don't drag it out: get the toys, talk to the ped / teacher, and take him to a clean stall. Back then we had a deadline (we had to travel out of country in a week and I was stressing out as he flat out would not go anywhere that was not the exact throne at home or school), but I think the rushed timing did help. Best of luck to you and do report back!
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@irene: Thank you again! We had (sort of) success. I took him to a pool party yesterday with the potty seat he uses at home. He told DH that he needed to pee (something he's never done before) and went on her toilet.¡Then did it for me later. We are going to his cousin's house tomorrow and we will try their toilet with our insert. If that works I will just bring it with me on outings until he's a bit bigger.
. My DS is big for his age, but i can imagine it working if he were smaller.
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