Ok...Child potty question...

[cali2gagirl]

My daughter is not quite 3 and we've been potty training for a month now. She's doing reallly good..but I'm worried how it's gonna be at WDW. My crazy DH said we should put her in pullups there because there's no way we can stop at the bathroom alot.. - SORRY..that's out of the question..our hard work is not gonna regress...lol
Question is this..if I'm lucky...I'll get about 5 minutes warning before she has to go, are the bathrooms conveiently located throughout the park...and if the lines are long...would it be rude to explain she's GOTTA GO?!?!?! and 'cut' in line? I just don't wanna be changing panties all day long!
Hope this is the right place to post this question...it's theme park strategy...LOL

 

[HauntedMansionGeek]

There are rest rooms all over but they're fairly well hidden sometimes. Ask the nearest cast member and you'll be guided to one.

Depending on exactly where you are in each park, there can sometimes be a bit of a walk to get to a rest room, but for the most part, you should be fine.

Our biggest problems had to do with the gap in the seats...if they weren't clean (thank goodness at Disney they usually are!) the little ones have a tendancy to stick their hands in a puddle or worse yet, drag their clothing through it. Ack!!

The second problem was the fact that many Disney potties are AUTO flushers. This means that sometimes they flush WHILE you're still on the toidy, which scares the bejeebers out of the wee ones. I felt so sorry for ours when that would happen to her....almost ruined her whole day she'd get so scared! Nobody wants to be FLUSHED! LOL


Good luck with the potty training!

 

[Belleotheball]

I can completely understand why you would not want to use the pullups. I think you should be okay finding the restrooms. You may want to keep extra shorts and underpants in your backpack in case of accidents. Also, I purchased for my daughter a potty training pair of underwear that were thick and absorbent with some type of plastic around the outside, so as to not soak through to clothes if there were to be an accident. I think I bought them at Target. They were pricey, but were very good when I was worried about accidents.

Another thing, my daughters at potty-training age, were very impressed with public restrooms!! If we were at a store or restaurant they ALWAYS had to go and check out the restroom. BUT at Disney World they were always so pre-occupied and fascinated with the whole park, that we didn't use the bathrooms as much as if we were anywhere else. I hope that makes sense! LOL!

My daughter hates the auto-flush toilets. She gets really upset if they flush early! I always have to hold my hand in front of the sensor until she has finished and has climbed off the seat!

Good luck with your trip!

 

[Abra Cat]

When I was toilet training my daughter, I made a point of taking her to the bathroom on a regular basis while we were out, maybe every 2 hours or so, whether she had to go or not. Usually, once she was on the toilet, she managed to go. We were able to avoid most emergency situations this way.

Edited to add— I would suggest you bring Pull-Ups with you anyway, just in case. If your daughter has more than a few accidents while you're on your trip, have her wear the Pull-Ups but continue taking her to the bathroom for regular visits. She might regress a little bit in her toilet training, but at least your family won't have the stress of having to clean up wet messes on a regular basis. Good luck!

 

[slp87]

When we took our DD, we just continually asked if she needed a potty break and other times just had her "give it a try", especially if we were about to get in a long line. I know that seems obvious, but when you get in the excitement of everything I think we get overwhelmed and forget. We did have one incident where we had been in line at Peter Pan (this was before FP, so we had been waiting a while) and she HAD to go...RIGHT NOW! We ran over to a restroom and everyone was nice enough in the line to let us back to our spots. Didn't expect it, but really appreciated it.

Have a great trip!

 

[renessa]

I'd let a little one "cut" in line for potty emergencies. No question about that!!!! Renessa

 

[cali2gagirl]

Yeah...my Kayleigh HATES those autoflushers too...I try to stand in the view til she gets off..
Thanks for all the advice I'm definilty gonna pack extras, but just needed 'reassurance all will be okay'
I think I'll just make her go every 2 hrs or so like suggested...she hates when I do that...but it'll be EASY to reward her there

 

[BevS97]

another thought - is she ok on a big toilet? my dd used a potty and a small seat on our toilet for a long time, so I bought a folding seat that we could put on a big toilet so that she wouldn't fall down. It made her much more comfortable about using a strange toilet.

We also put a hand or a sticker over the auto flusher - she still hates that now.

bev

 

[crisi]

I think most adults at Disney are sensative to both potty training children and pregnant women "cutting" in line - although few bathrooms we went to had lines. There were generally enough stalls.

Keep in mind that you may get five minutes notice after a twenty minute line. Sometimes Disney cast members are helpful in these situations and will let you come back to your spot or the front of the line.

I'd also recommend the vinyl covered trainers at Target, just for the trip. They won't be as absorbant as the pull ups, but will keep you from needing to carry around a complete change of clothes. I THINK if you explain to your daughter that this are special Disney underwear - so that if she does have an accident, you can take care of it easily - she won't regress (but you know your own kid). We only had a couple pair when my daughter was training (at home) and I'd wash them out in the sink if they were just wet (they do take a day or so to air dry). Remeber to pack some ziplock bags.

 

[Jordan's MOM]

I UNDERSTAND the pull up issue. They are so much like diapers that going back would be a regression. However. A newly trained toddlers at WDW will be tough too. I think that I would try without the pull ups, but bring some along and be willing to use them if you find it will make your trip better for everyone.
There will be many times that 5min notice will not be enough time to get to a potty. There are lots of bathrooms, but like someone else mentioned they can be hidden and hard to find. Another mention is that many rides and shows are more that five minutes long and while you can leave a show, you can not get off a ride in the middle.If you use WDW busses you are also stuck for 30 or more minutes too.
I have let many little girls ahead of me in the bathroom and I think that a lot of women would also, however, there are a lot of children at WDW that too are hurring to the potty and going ahead might not always work out.
The same holds true for the line holding. I would never object to a child & parent leaving to go potty and comming back to join thier family, but as another thread proved, many people do. Some CM's would help out I bet ,but others will not.
I think that the biggest think is not to be so aginst the pull ups that it would make the trip stressfull for you or you daughter.
She could understand that these were just for WDW time and you still expect her to tell you when she needs to go and contine to take her very often throughout the day.
good luck and have a great trip..

Jordan's mom

 

[disneyeveryyear]

We took our son immediately after he was potty trained.

What we found that worked was a little healthy "competition."

Whenever we were headed for a ride with a line and/or it had been a couple hours, we would either "race" to the bathroom, or make a bet who could go potty first. He seemed to get a kick out of this. We didn't have any "accidents" in the park. Of course, with four adults around, there were a lot of people to participate in the game. Someone always had to go.

We did however use pullups at night because he wasn't dry at night until he was about 5 1/2. He never felt this was a regression, just a fact of life. He slept so deeply there was no chance of waking him up at night to go to the bathroom.

 

[cali2gagirl]

Yeah..I'm thinking I'll be able to do without pullups! I'll bring a couple just in case...but I don't think we'll be using them (crossing fingers) She's only been trained about a month..but within the first week she stopped wetting at night...we have only had 1 night accident and 2 or 3 day accidents in that month. I think as long as hubby and oldest daughter stay in line...I can run with her to the bathroom. - We'll definitly go before any long anticipated ride or show waits tho!!
Thanks again ya'll

 

[forgetyourtroubles!]

We have taken 2 newly toilet trained kids to wdw and they were both terrified of the loud auto-flushes.
Take a roll of big stickers and stick them on the sensor- for sure. You can cover it with your hand but you have to have a light-proof seal using the whole palm of your hand so if the child needs help wiping, take him or her off the toilet to wipe because when you move, it will flush LOUDLY. My daughter was BEGGING to teetee in the sink and she would not use a pull up.
Also, before we left, (I know this may sound crazy) I charted the time of day she had to go for about 3 days and it was pretty much clockwork every 3 hours. So we visited the bathroom every 3 hours and she got a Mickey candy after every visit. We were accident free the whole trip. I wish I had known about the sticker thing before I went. The first few days (before I figured out the sensor would not fire if a light-proof, motion proof seal was achieved) were pretty upsetting to our little one. Incidentally, she rode every ride with NO fear! You never know!

 

[beattyfamily]

I used thicker underwear that are specifically for a child in training. They hold a little more so they are great for accidents at night and when you are not at home.

NO PULL UPS!!! I agree!

Good luck!

 

[SueM in MN]

Another idea to avoid having totally wet clothes is to use pullups (or thicker training pants) as protective pants over her regular underpants. If she wets, she will still feel the wet underpants, but the pull up will contain the fluid so it doesn't get everything wet. A few pairs of wet underpants would be easier to deal with than whole outfits. That would also help on rides becasue if she does wet, it's not going to leave the seat wet. And, the transition back to just regular underpants should be easy.
You can request waterproof sheets from Housekeeping at your resort so you don't have to worry if she does wet the bed.

 

[Magic2000]

My youngest DD potty trained right before her 2nd birthday. We went to Washington DC by train about a month later. I brought pullups for her and explained that these were her VACATION big girl panties. We still went to the bathroom as needed, and she still kept her pullups dry. We almost had an accident when we were walking around and she needed to potty. It took a few minutes to find a bathroom, and fortunately, she did great! (No regress; and she hasn't used them since!)

The following summer, when she was almost 3, we were back at Disney. She had been potty trained for about a year now but I still always brought an extra change of clothes with us in the parks. (I kept it in a small diaper bag in the stroller) Anyway, we had just gotten on Peter Pan and barely flying, when she announced she had to potty really bad. I was really nervous cause I knew she'd be upset if she had an accident. She was able to wait til we got off the ride and found a bathroom. (Right before we got in line, we had gone to the bathroom, but she didn't have to go.)

Good luck!!!

 

[JVL1018]

Originally posted by forgetyourtroubles!
We have taken 2 newly toilet trained kids to wdw and they were both terrified of the loud auto-flushes.
Take a roll of big stickers and stick them on the sensor- for sure.

Do the stickers come off easily? I'd be afraid that I wouldn't be able to pull them right off.

 

[CEDmom]

Originally posted by SueM in MN
Another idea to avoid having totally wet clothes is to use pullups (or thicker training pants) as protective pants over her regular underpants. If she wets, she will still feel the wet underpants, but the pull up will contain the fluid so it doesn't get everything wet.

This is a really great idea! DD is 3 1/2 and we do this on long car trips or plane rides. It works great and she stays. We tell her it's just a precaution in case we can't get to the bathroom in time.

 

[escapetodisney]

We have DS3 who's not completely trained but getting there. We're going in about 3 weeks and will be doing the potty thing too. When DD5 was training I used a small roll of masking tape and put a little piece over the flusher eye. This works and the tape is easy to remove. It made her feel a lot better about the potty at WDW.

 

[vhoffman]

Every child's different and you have to go with what you feel is right, but personally I would not use pullups, even if it meant cancelling the trip.

My son was very difficult to potty train. We moved a lot during potty training and we resorted to pull ups during moves. tThere's enough stress during moving without constantly cleaning up messes. However, this kept him from being trained. He just got too used to going in his pants. After all, we expected him to go in his pants when it was convenient for us(that's what a pull up is for), so why shouldn't he just go in his pants when it suited him?

He is now 6.5 years old. We recently went to Seaworld. We asked him repeatedly if he had to go, but he said no. Then I smelled that all-too-familiar smell. When I asked him why he didn't tell someone he had to go, he said he didn't want to "stop playing". I didn't have any change of clothes with me. I didn't figure I'd need to drag around a diaper bag for a kid pushing 7 years old. I told him he'd just have to wait until we went home to clean up. He made the decision to use his pants as a toilet, now he could "lie in it". BTW, it wasn't an accident. He admited he'd rather go in his pants than miss out on the fun. However, wasn't that the way we had trained him through use of pull ups?

If it means cancelling the trip over using pull ups, I'd wait a year or so. Its an investment in the future. Unless you want a kid who thinks his underwear is a portable toilet.