My 2 1/2 year old son uses the potty at home and hasn't been in diapers for 3 weeks. He goes #1 standing up on a stool at the big toilet and #2 in his potty chair. However, he's terrified of using a public toilet and refuses to use it, and we sometimes end up having him go outside. Does anyone have any tips for getting him comfortable with public toilets? Also, does anyone have any tips for keeping him dry during naps?
I am also potty training my 2 year old daughter. We bought a folding, padded potty seat that fits on all toilet seats, and toilet seat covers to keep her hands off of dirty public seats. These were extremely inexpensive at MyPreciousKid.com and were shipped quickly.
My advice is the same as everyone elses. I went to walmart and let her pick out a potty seat cover. She picked a very cushy dora the explorer seat cover. It may have cost $10.00. The biggest thing to help them stay dry at nap is to have him go potty before nap. Obviously no drinks from the time he goes potty till he gets up from his nap. but at 2 1/2 he may still have accidents while sleeping that is perfectly normal.
Our oldest had this problem. We went and bought a plastic travel toilet seat cover from Toys R Us and had her decorate it with stickers. She was so excited to use it that we had no problem after that. Might be worth a try!
You are the first mom that I have heard other than me whose child was afraid of public toilets. Mine was afraid of the sound of the flushing because often it was so loud and it would flush automatically instead of with the handle that you could control when the flushing came.
The way we overcame her fear is to show her over and over the flushing, to get used to the sound and eventually she overcame the fear.
Ask your child what he is afraid of. Once you can identify it, go into a public toilet and show him he has nothing to be afraid of. It may not work immediately but eventually the fear will stop. Until the fear is gone, we had to make sure my daughter pottied before we left the house. I still have fears of public toilets, but it ain't the flushing....it's the germs :)
Hope that helps!
He is still pretty young and may just feel more secure at home. There are folding potty seats(burlington coat factory, is where I think I got mine) that make hole smaller. If he is on the small potty still, and not your regular toilet, another small potty kept in car can be used. You may just need to wait until he is using big potty with seat insert until you can expect him to feel comfrotable in public, ...keep a change of clothes, and just keep re-introducing without anger. It is just a matter of time. If he gets scared he may backslide. (If another baby comes around, or big change, then he may too)
Best of luck and patience,
L.
My son is also 2 1/2, we went through the fear of public toilets a couple of months ago. I just always offered the public toilet and if he was scared or refused, we just went outside and went potty on a bush, tree, rock, etc. He overcame his fear with time--about a month and he then all of the sudden was fine with them. I say, don't pressure him, offer the public potty, and let him pee outside. He will come around.
Good luck!
My oldest had the same fear when she was 2 yrs old (she's now 4 1/2). Reading all of the relpies really suprises me - I didn't realize that this was such an normal issue! As some of the other moms said; I would flush over and over to show my daughter that it was ok and that nothing was going to happen. I would even sit down (with a paper seat cover) and let her sit on my lap. It only took about a month to get her over the fear.
During naps I would have her potty right before she laid down and also put a pull up on her for the nap only. Once she woke up I would have her go potty and put her big girl panties back on. She would get very excited if her pull up was dry!
I must admit that I'm shocked by the moms that allowed their little boy to pee out side on a rock, bush or tree! I pearsonally would never teach my little one that this is ok. I think it would be better to work through a fear than teach that. Just think if your child was female. What would you do then - teach them to squat?? Just my two cents.
My mom told me that I was like that when I was a little kid. She said that what she did for me was bring along baby wipes and she would wipe down the seat and tell me now it was just like home. I guess that helped me go as a kid and it might work for your son. Good luck!
Hello! Sorry, I do not have advice for this particular issue, but I read a tip somewhere, where that mother kept a pad of sticky notes with her to cover the eye of the motion sensor that is on many public toilets to make them flush on their own. The sticky note will not allow a flush until removed. Hopefully this may help or prevent any fears for that reason!
Good luck!
Hello I went thru the same thing with my daughter and now she has to use every bathroom at every place we stop. A way that I am working with my son to go is I have took away his little training toilet and have gotten one that sits on the toilet. I also have put cherios in the toilet for him to aim at while sitting and I can take them with me to any restroom and it seems to be working. And about keeping dry during nap is make sure they use the restroom prior to laying down.
