Trekking out and about about with a toddler can be tricky enough, but running errands with a potty training toddler, her into everything ever curious, little sister and her energetic older brother is down right difficult. Those bathroom stalls were not meant for four people! But what do you do when your potty training toddler has to go and hasn’t learned how to hold it?
This genius idea is courtesy of my dear friend Rebecca. When I saw a porta potty in her minivan I instantly said, “I need one of those!”
And let me tell me it’s worth every penny.
I have a little potty seat in my minivan. In the bag behind it I have the tube of mini M&Ms (her potty reward) hand sanitizer, Lysol (for disinfecting the seat) and extra clothes (for times when we don’t make it to the seat fast enough. I recently added plastic shopping bags (for when she goes number 2). Now, instead of dragging my 3 crew circus into the bathroom stall at every store on our errand run, I have her go before we go in. (while her siblings are safely strapped into their seats (germ free). At the soccer field with no bathrooms? No worries… she can go in the privacy of our van.
Changing my minivan into an RV courtesy of a $10.00 potty seat, definitely works for me. For more great tips, check out Rocks in My Dryer.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Awesome idea! Where do you buy one of these $10 seats? Pebbles is not quite there yet but I’ll be ready when she is!
Hmmm, I’ve never thought of that before…
What a great idea! My just-turned-2 year old toddler is not quite ready to embark on the journey of potty training, but I’m reading up on all that I can so that I can be prepared/armed. But what if you don’t have a minivan, such as our family? Any suggestions?
neat idea, this would be a better alternative than just putting on a diaper.
That is a great idea – my Lil Sugar will be ready for this soon – thanks for the tip!
My friend does this too!
What a great idea! Now we just need a minivan! We already have the potty.
Cool. I saw this idea on Kate & jon plus 8 (or however many). I did wonder about the smell though. They complained of pee going everywhere! Any problems??
I need to put one in my minivan! Ella Kate is scared to death of the automatic flushing potties!! She can spot them too! If she goes into a public restroom and sees one, she’d just assume hold it until she wets herself. The whole time she sits there, she cries for me not to let it flush!! Hehe
I was thinking about doing this, myself. Glad to see I’m not the only one with the idea. When hubs asks, I’m going to tell him I saw it on a blog
Hi! I found you at WMFW and I love your idea! I just started pottytraining my son and I make him wear pull-ups to the store because i’m a germ freak! I’m also glad to see that you use candy as a potty reward! I didn’t want to for a long time but I finally buckled and my life has been 90% easier since! Thanks for your great idea!
Now that’s an idea!
I love how there is a picture of her using the potty
This is quite possibly the single best wfmw I’ve ever seen
I heard about someone else doing this and now you have totally reminded me that I need to get an extra potty seat for the car. We are just about to take that potty training leap and this will make life sooooo much easier. Thanks!
What do you do with the plastic bag if she goes #2? How do you empty it for either pee or poop in public?
lol now thats too cute
Who knew I was a genius!
That is so funny! Love ya girl!
R