- She must have inherited the bulk of my Italian genes, because every so often she sounds like a little old Italian woman. For example: “Uppa me!” (translated: “Pick me up!”) and “Helpa me!” (translated: “Please help me get this cookie out of my brother’s hand.”) It cracks me up.
- Girlfriend LOVES to help – particularly when it comes to cleaning up around the house and emptying the dishwasher. Um, where did this child come from? I actually wrote about this very subject in my weekly post for The Bump.
- She is currently obsessed with Minnie Mouse, two-piece pajama sets (no footie jammies, please) and frozen mini pancakes, which she demands every morning and refers to as “pankins.”
- She is definitely a caretaker and a “girly girl” – I can see it already, whether she’s picking up her cousin’s pacifier when she drops it, rocking her baby doll to sleep or trying to steal my makeup brushes and necklaces.
And, yes, as you may have guessed, she is potty training. It’s been going on for a few months now; very casually, since she’s only 21 months old. In fact, it was something she asked for, since they had started introducing the potty at daycare. Being the clever girl that she is, she soon figured out that “potty time” at home equals “story time,” since Dr. G. and I tend to read to her to get her to sit on the potty longer. So when she sits, her first word is, “Book?”
But the big news is that lately, she’s – as her lovely Princess potty seat above so eloquently states – “making my own magic” on occasion. She either asks to go or tells us that she’s about to go, in which case we immediately stop what we’re doing and whisk her to the potty.
So that brings me to another Disney dilemma: What do I do with a semi-potty training toddler in a ginormous amusement park full of public restrooms? On one hand, I don’t want to suddenly stop the progress we’ve made so far. But I’m not sure in the excitement of Disney that she’ll stop to tell us, in that articulate way, “I pooping!” Nor do I want to stop every 10 minutes and ask her if she has to use the potty. Some options:
- Do we invest in pull up diapers for this trip? It would make it much easier if we’re in a public restroom stall and I need to put a diaper back on her after she “tries” to go.
- Do we buy one of these inflatable potty seats and lug it around with me?
- Do we suck it up and bring one of our portable potty seats with us in our luggage and keep it in our hotel room?
I’m kind of grossed out by all of these scenarios, although from what I am told from my Disney friends, the bathrooms there are spotless. Not sure the same is true, however, for airport restrooms, the airplane, Legoland and for the various establishments in Ft. Lauderdale we’ll be sure to visit.
Right now I’m leaning toward a combination of some pull-up diapers for daytime and bringing the portable potty seat from home (wrapped in layers of plastic shopping bags). We are gate checking Mimi’s carseat, and it’s in one of those huge travel bags, so maybe we can stash the potty seat in there, so it’s not mixed in with our clothes (ew).
Has anyone else faced potty training on vacation? How did you handle it? And who wants to bet the first time Mimi meets Cinderella or Belle at Disney she points to them and says, “Princess potty!”
Elizabeth Atalay says
I say yes, you are crazy to potty train on vacation! ; )
Sharon - MomGenerations.com says
I am smiling because I am SO beyond this… BUT I have gone through potty-training with my 9 grandkids. I sometimes give unsolicited “grandma” advice, and sometimes my 4 kids and in-law kids take it (she says smiling again!)… and I always told them what my pediatrician told me decades ago about potty-training: “Make it easy on yourself.” Now, this advice is wonderful because it can be interpreted with YOUR definition of EASY. But I’m with Elizabeth above! Just sayin’!
Jessica says
I think I am with you on this. If it happens, it happens, and if it doesn’t, oh well. I am usually a stress-case when I travel anyway – I probably shouldn’t be adding another potential stressor 🙂
Mary Larsen says
This sounds like quite the challenge – I am interested to see what you end up choosing and how it goes!
melissa at filling our bucket says
My kiddo will be in the depths of potty training when we go in October, unless we can figure out a way to get him totally trained by then, but…yeah. ha!
This post has a few good tips of things to bring. I”m going to be following this. The good thing on our trip is that we will have 4 adults to one child. So we can all take turns taking him to the potty. 😉
http://www.mommatotallyinlove.com/2013/03/travel-tips-for-traveling-with-potty.html
Sheri says
I can’t bear the thought of even thinking about potty training ever again, nevermind trying to do it on vacation. Good luck!
Dollops of Diane says
“Making my own magic” – hahahaha! We had a Potette Potty Seat for when Isabelle was training that we kept in the car. It folds up super small and has legs that click down when you need to use it (and bags for the “magic”). They also have a 2 in 1 kind that you can use on top of a public toilet. If you wanted to, you could easily fold it up and bring it in your bag/stroller to the park.
Joanna {Baby Gators Den} says
I’d say go for it and bring some spare underwear and bottoms! We are planning on doing that next month with my son who is newly potty trained. Have a wonderful trip!
Chelley / AisForAdelaide says
I’m not sure if you’re crazy… but you might be! 🙂
I’m sure that it will be an adventure either way, and what fun is a vacation without adventure? Good luck to your baby girl- she’s growing up so fast!