When You Gotta Go …
Holidays aren’t a great time to focus on toddler toilet training
Parents often start thinking about toilet training sometime after their toddler’s second birthday. If the child shows signs of interest and readiness, it’s a good time to start talking about it, reading books on the subject and getting familiar with the potty itself.
But if you know you have a trip coming up you might want to delay earnest toilet training until you return. Diapers are easier to deal with than perpetual potty prompting. With all the other stresses of traveling with a toddler, who wants to spend their vacation focused on that?
But if you’ve already made some progress in that direction and you take a trip, don’t be alarmed if your toddler has a regression while away from home. Unfamiliar settings, changes in routine, excitement of new activities, fatigue and the over-stimulation of travel can all lead to occasional accidents and night wetting. Expect some setbacks and be prepared with wipes, changes of clothes and underwear, some pull-ups and a waterproof sheet, even if your child has seemingly mastered the skills back home.
Sometimes it’s just a matter of not knowing where the bathroom is – always try to scout out the location of the nearest loo when you’re out and about as kids don’t have a lot of lead time to work with. Don’t add more stress or pressure to the situation by criticizing or making a big deal of any mishaps. Praise the successes rather than punish the accidents, ensuring the process is positive and non-threatening.
To help your traveling toilet-trained toddler, there are a variety of portable potty units and folding seat covers that fit over a regular throne.
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