Q + A: Traveling With The Newly Potty Trained

‘Tis the season of travel and I often get this question in one form or another:

QUESTION: My daughter is doing GREAT with potty training but we are going on a cross country plane ride next week. I’m concerned she’ll have to pee right at take off or landing. Or that the bathroom will be occupied. When she has to go, it’s NOW.

ANSWER: Many people have to travel soon into potty training or live in remote areas where it’s a long ways to go even grocery shopping. Depending on how your child is doing (and you will have a good sense of this about a week in) you can do a couple of things. You can put piddle pads down in the car/plane seat. These are also called Chux. They are big plastic squares with an absorbent middle. Think disposable diaper spread out thin.

It’s also PERFECTLY acceptable to wear a “travel diaper”. I would actually call it that so your child understands it’s out of the norm. It’s a “just in case”. You should put it on last minute and take it off immediately upon arrival. You should also try your hardest to honor any pee calls even while wearing the diaper. The travel diaper is especially useful for long plane rides. Mostly because traveling with a toddler is stressful enough, never mind have to keep a keen eye on the potty situation. If you are stressed (and you will be) about if and when your child has to pee…it’s going to be worse than a few hours in a diaper.  I have had MANY clients do this and it doesn’t interrupt the potty training flow at all.

For road trips, it’s more than cool to attempt it without a back-up; you will be much more likely to be able to attend to that pee call while on the road. However, for plane travel I really do suggest a travel diaper.  It’s just too stressful and I can almost guarantee that your child WILL have to pee at those very moments she won’t be able to.

And really…through travel, the holidays, and potty training…everything but everything is better when Mama’s stress level is keep hovering around sane.