Is Your Potty Training Toddler Road Trip Ready? Here’s How I Survived
When my daughter turned two, that magic day sent me bolt upright in bed, sweating and fearful in the middle of the night: My daughter needed to be potty trained before we headed out on our summer road trip, and I’d already failed this test once.
I’d been so busy packing and planning our summer adventure, the last before my oldest started Kindergarten and we’d be tethered to a school calendar, that I’d overlooked potty training and road trips. We were planning a summer of luxurious hotels, exotic places, sun dresses, and chic sandals. Would our agenda be dictated by diapers and wipes?
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Could I Potty Train Her Before We Began Our Summer Road Trip?
It was time to start potty training. I couldn’t bear the idea of putting it off until Fall when school started, or later. I also hated the idea of having to check extra luggage just to bring diapers and wipes with us to Mexico (or risk having to track down diapers at resort town bodegas along the way). Having to scout out swim diapers so she could swim in hotel pools could mean we’re sidelined from all the fun.
I also hated the idea of trying to potty train her while we were traveling. The idea of changing her diapers in airports, on airplanes, roadside gas stations, truck stops, and fast food joints, well, ewwww. The only thing worse would be trying to get her to poop on one of those potties for the first time. Double ewwwww.
Then, just after my daughter’s second birthday, by a stroke of luck, I picked up the New York Times and read Jane Brody’s column on potty training. Ms. Brody changed my life. You can read her column here.
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Using the Car as a Potty Training Tool
I know moms who station a porta-potty in the back of the car and plop the kid on it when the child is inspired. But putting my baby’s bathroom lessons on display for anyone passing by in the parking lot? No fun. And, I wondered, could I check a portable potty in my luggage for airline travel? The answer is yes, but do you really want to?
But for many people, potty training on the go is a must; especially in large families with busy schedules, the littles are always along for the ride. For those who do decide to set up an in-car training station, I love an SUV with a clamshell, or split, liftgate best: Your child gets a little privacy with the lower portion of the gate closed, and the liftgate is at hip-height, making it easier to manage the process. While a minivan has great space, the cabin floor is pretty low, meaning you’re doing a lot of bending over.
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Potty Training Before Travel: Good Idea?
Ms. Brody championed the advice I wanted to hear: Let my daughter go bare-bottomed until she got it. Put a portable potty someplace that she’d find it convenient, and put one in the bathroom. Do this before she gets old enough to start negotiating about using the potty. And let her do the rest.
So this is what we did. We put a toddler potty near the TV, took away the diapers, and as she learned to use it, we moved it closer and closer to the bathroom, moving it into the bathroom after a few days. She got the idea: When she had the urge to go, she found the potty and used it. During our travels, she learned to tell me when she needed to go, and she learned to go even “when she didn’t need to,” letting us choose where and when to use the potty. And the best part was a summer of travel without diapers, wipes, ointments, swim diapers, diaper bags, porta potties, potty training books, and more. Just a fully empowered, ready-to-travel toddler.
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Finding Potty Training Success Everywhere You Go
With a road trip on your agenda, be inspired: get the potty training out of the way so it, or its much less attractive alternative, the diaper-dependent child, doesn’t become the background for your season of travel.
If you find yourself traveling while toilet training, though, there are some great ways to translate Ms. Brody’s advice to life in the car:
- Pack an emergency kit of clothes, wipes, extra bags, and hand sanitizer
- Invest in a portable potty for travel
- Consider your setup in the car for your supplies and for your child’s privacy
- If you’re buying a car and know this is in your future, consider how your car will help you manage the process (again, that split liftgate can be a great thing!)
- Enlist your other kids in the mission too; everyone can help
- Stock the car with potty-training books to keep the conversation going
- Limit drinks while on the road to keep urgency and accidents to a minimum
- Buy an extra car seat cover so you can swap it for laundering
One friend said her son took so long to potty train that she thought he would go to college still in diapers. Luckily, they all catch on sooner or later, and if we’re lucky, it happens quickly and without trauma. Not keeping our kids house-bound while they catch on is a viable option with the right prep and planning. And our summer of diaper-free travel? It was flawless—and accident-free.
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