C.B.
My kids were late trainers...3 yrs 7 months and 3 yrs 5 months. My first had some fears of public restrooms. I kept a potty in the trunk and let him sit in the trunk of the car to go when we were out. I can't get my head around wearing pull ups sometimes when it's convenient for me - they are trained or they are not - but I know that works for some people. I kept a supply of baby wipes, bags, hand sanitizer, and lysol wipes in the trunk for cleaning up. I also made it a point to go into the public restroom of every store/restaurant we went to. At first we just went in and briefly looked that there was a bathroom. Once that was no big deal, I'd turn on the hand dryer. After that, I'd flush, wash my hands and use the hand dryer...desensitizing and normalizing over time. I never pushed it, just made bathroom visits part of our outings an soon they were no big deal. Now at 4 and 5 both my kids use public bathrooms independently...under a very watchful eye with lots of coaching from me, of course.