Before I had a potty trained (training?) kid I admit I judged people I saw having their kids pee in public. Like, at the playground, for example. But now that I am in these shoes I have to admit I have encouraged my kid to urinate in public more than a couple of times. By the side of the street/road and even on the edge of a Wal-Mart parking lot (!!!). Sometimes a real toilet is just too far away!
How do you feel about public urination?
admin / wonderful grape / 20724 posts
Before we go to the playground (or leave daycare), we've started checking if Charlie has to go. If he has to pee then we will take him home, so he's learned to pee when we ask him!
pomegranate / 3275 posts
I use to carry a travel potty with me, which even though that still means a form of public urination, it isn't the same thing.
pomelo / 5093 posts
Not in love with it. I just saw a 4 year old drop trou and just pee right on a tree. In the middle of a busy park. No. I will reserve outdoor peeing for emergencies, only.
pomegranate / 3503 posts
We have bags from our travel potty always in the car so we use those on emergencies. Otherwise, we make them go when we ask them to before we leave the house or before we leave a place with bathroom facilities. My parents used to let us pee in public. I never liked it.
eggplant / 11716 posts
I saw a 3 year old (ish, possibly 4) drop trou on the corner of 87th and Broadway on the UWS, which is a pretttty busy area. He peed onto a very small and bare tree, so there was no coverage of his bits. His dad was with him. I assume it was an emergency but it was still awkward because he was peeing about 11 inches from our parked car and I had to get in on the passenger side. There was a coffee shop about 1 block away, so they could have gone there (preggo me had just used their bathroom).
I guess it depends on the definition of public. I've peed in very private, but public areas, when having a dire emergency as an adult. But the middle of a busy park or street, I say no.
pomegranate / 3008 posts
We always just put the little potty in the back of the car so we were always prepared. It wasn't a big deal for us and we just dumped any pee into a grassy area. C would have been too intimidated to pee outside let alone standing up. He's a kid that just needs privacy.
pineapple / 12566 posts
Living in Europe, I don't think it is too much of a big deal to see young kids peeing by a bush or tree in the park. I see it happen a few times a week and never judge. It's hard enough finding a toilet as an adult when out and about, so I can't imagine telling a kid to wait.
grapefruit / 4584 posts
I'm not really fazed by little kids peeing in public at this point, particularly in situations where there is no toilet nearby. What gets to me is when I see parents holding a child over a trash can or a plastic bag to go #2...when they are just in front of a shopping mall, or about 20 feet away from a Starbucks with a toilet. That I just can't understand, and I've actually seen it more times than you'd expect!
grapefruit / 4120 posts
@PinkElephant: really, public pooping??? That's a whole other ball game hahaha.
grapefruit / 4923 posts
i feel like potty training is a huge undertaking (i haven't done it yet), so if i do see a kid peeing in public, i figure it's an emergency and don't judge. i'm not comfortable with it, but i know i will probably be in those shoes one day.
grapefruit / 4120 posts
It's true, you guys... potty training is no joke. And when you have another infant, it's really hard because you can't just drop everything and dash off so easily.
I try to always take my son to the bathroom whenever we have a chance, but sometimes 15 minutes later he's telling me he has to go again!! If he wets his pants, well, whatever. But when we're in the car I sort of go into a crazy survival mode where I'm much less picky about finding an actual restroom.
grapefruit / 4584 posts
@sloaneandpuffy: you can't make stuff like this up! What's better is a place I see it frequently is a very high end mall - nothing like seeing a woman unpack her new LV purchases from a carrier bag so her child can use it as a port-a-potty! I'm not in North America, so I try to chalk it up to cultural differences...but I don't know!
pomegranate / 3983 posts
I'm with you in that I totally encourage it. At this point the time window between when he tells me and can't hold it anymore is very short so if he has to go and we're not someplace that has a bathroom we just look for a discreet spot and go. My theory is that people have gotten used to kids training at an older age and don't realize that a two year old just can't hold it as long. That said I haven't personally had too many issues with others giving us the stink eye.
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