Hold off on potty training?

[um5xno1]

We will be going on our next cruise with a 25 month old. Should we hold off trying to potty train until we return? We have heard that some young one's are scared of the toilets on the ships due to the loud and different sound they make. Also, we are thinking that with potty training comes accidents, and would we really like to be looking for places to change a baby in a unfamiliar country.

 

BTW, if you cannot tell, we are also first time parents....haha!

 

Thoughts?

[cb at sea]

If your child is ready, go ahead! The toilet doesn't make any noise until you flush, so just don't flush with baby on the john....(it may suck him right out of the ship!!!!--Just kidding!)

Some will bring the potty-seat that the child is comfortable with.....

 

I would much rather have a partially trained child on vacation than having to haul tons of diapers!!!!

[Kerry's Girls]

I do have to say, it was much easier travelling with my twins when they both were in diapers because we could just go, go, go without always having to worry about where we may be able to find a potty, etc. Of course, you can always train and then keep them in pull ups just in case (this is what I did with one of my little girls on our last trip since it's sometimes so difficult to get to a potty on time, and then you have to deal with changing clothes, cleaning up, etc.).

 

There is a little folding portable potty with it's own disposable bags that I got at Babies R Us and I take it EVERYWHERE. It was great in Egypt because not only did we not have to find a potty - we knew that our own little one would be clean. I keep it in my car usually to avoid having to suddenly look for a public bathroom.

 

Of course, if your child is potty trained, they get to use the pools. But I wouldn't stress over it either way.

 

Best,

Mia

[uppitycats]

We will be going on our next cruise with a 25 month old. Should we hold off trying to potty train until we return? We have heard that some young one's are scared of the toilets on the ships due to the loud and different sound they make. Also, we are thinking that with potty training comes accidents, and would we really like to be looking for places to change a baby in a unfamiliar country.

 

BTW, if you cannot tell, we are also first time parents....haha!

 

Thoughts?

 

Well, if he's NOT potty trained you are still going to have to "be looking for places to change a baby in an unfamiliar country"...

 

So if he's ready, then go for it! And yes, just don't flush the potty with him on it, as that can indeed be scary.

[poppan]

...so take this for what it's worth -- very little!

 

I never flush any toilet (conventional or ship) with them on it, because they don't let me. They want to do the flushing part themselves. I guess that's part of what's "fun" about the potty.

 

My kids were a little older -- they were 2.5 y.o. and we were mostly potty-trained when we went on the cruise. I brought their potty with us and we always went back to our room to go potty. We did use the "public" one once or twice when DD had to go in the middle of dinner in the MDR -- but it's harder and I can't say I really recommend it. You just find yourself in the ladies room chanting "don't touch anything, don't touch that, don't touch, don't touch..." -- a nightmare for a germaphobe like me.

 

On the ship they wore underwear and if they had an accident we went back to our room to change.

 

Onshore they wore pull-ups so I wouldn't have to worry. It's kind of anti-potty training advice, but there were times when they would look at me and tell me they needed to pee, and I couldn't find anywhere to go, and had to tell them that they should just pee in their pull up and I would change them.

 

Anyway... if you think your child is ready, I think you could go ahead and try potty training if you're inclined. But my experience with potty training was that it didn't happen in one weekend like the books promised -- we spent months. I think if I had waited till they were older (I started when they were around 26 months) it might have gone faster, because friends who trained later reported spending less time on it. So in conclusion, in your shoes I would wait till I came back from the cruise to potty train.

[poppan]

Also wanted to add, you either pack a mountain of diapers or you have to pack a mountain of underwear/pants, or at least I did. I didn't want to run out of clean pants because of accidents. And although we were mostly potty trained, I still had to bring pull ups for naptime and nighttime.

[Kerry's Girls]

Also wanted to add, you either pack a mountain of diapers or you have to pack a mountain of underwear/pants, or at least I did. I didn't want to run out of clean pants because of accidents. And although we were mostly potty trained, I still had to bring pull ups for naptime and nighttime.

 

Boy THAT is the truth. I packed twice as many pieces of underwear as I thought we'd need and still ran out. Ended up handwashing underwear and pants for the last few days/the trip back - but of course nothing ever got completely dry - ugh. Very good point.

 

Best,

Mia

[Angeleyes1382]

We will be going on our next cruise with a 25 month old. Should we hold off trying to potty train until we return? We have heard that some young one's are scared of the toilets on the ships due to the loud and different sound they make. Also, we are thinking that with potty training comes accidents, and would we really like to be looking for places to change a baby in a unfamiliar country.

 

BTW, if you cannot tell, we are also first time parents....haha!

 

Thoughts?

This would depend on how long you have before you cruise. But personally I would wait until after returning. A lot of times when young children have been potty trained recently and then there is a disruption in their schedule or environment they regress back to prior to being potty trained. Then you have frequent accidents or the need to go back to diapers or pull-ups. If your child is REALLY exhibiting a lot of signs that she/he is ready, like an increased interest in the potty, recognizing when he or she has used the restroom, and/or going off to a private area to do his or her business AND you have at least a month until your cruise I would be more likely to consider potty training. But of course you still run the risk of regressing. You know your child more than anyone, so whatever decision you make good luck.

[MyMoses]

As others have stated, it really depends on whether or not your child is ready. I think some people just think, my child is now 2 so time to potty train. Some kids are ready at 2, but many will not be ready until late into their 2's and possibly 3. If your child is showing many signs that their ready, then go ahead and start. If not, then by all means wait. I can't imagine having to deal with a potty training toddler while on vacation if I didn't have to. My dd is 27 months and is currently showing very few signs that she is ready. I am planning to wait until she is definitely ready. I'm actually very grateful to have her still in diapers for our cruise next week. It'll be much easier.

[alise007]

Like others have posted it really depends on your child. We started trying to train after 2 yrs with our son but he didn't "get it" til he was 3 1/2. Or they might get part of it but still refuse to say poop in the potty. I have friends with kids that think potty's are scary but will use the little plastic ones. Lots of kids will go and hide in corners or closets to do the do. There are way tooo many variables! IF they are showing interest it won't hurt to try before the cruise but don't stress about it.

 

OR look at it this way--would you prefer to wash clothes on your cruise or change a pull up. Our daycare required pull ups once they got to the 3 yr old room so the kids could help and if they could make it to the potty and stay dry--then great you only used 1 pull up that day. I don't feel my son used it as a crutch. Once he physically understood what he was feeling he didn't want to pee in his pull up or underwear.

 

He woke up from a nap late on Thanksgiving driving back from WVa to our hotel having to use the bathroom--good luck finding a place in rural Va at 11pm! We told him it was OK to pee in his pull up. He was soo upset and crying because he didn't want to go-and amazingly he HELD it til we found a 7-11. It broke my heart.

 

Travel with kids and bathrooms or diapers will make you very creative! I now have 1 in each situation.

[Citizen Jane]

Put me in the "wait until they are ready" group. DD didn't pee at night from the time she was 6 months old (crazy, I know). She also pee-pee trained by probably age 2 at daycare, though not with good control until about 28 months. However, she liked to do the "run-around-the-corner-hide-and-poop" consistently from the time she started wearing pull-ups (around two). When did she really potty train for everything? When I told her we couldn't go to Disney for Grammy's 60'th birthday (just after DD was 3) unless she could poop in the potty, because I wasn't willing to deal with an accident in her cotton panties at Disney. She literally trained herself in 48 hours.:eek: [i knew she was ready because she was not having that many accidents, but when she did it was because she was ignoring the signs or not wanting to deal with it.]

 

Seriously, though, if there are signs of being ready to start, take pull-ups. If not, diapers. But, if you are working into underpants either way make a deal that it is pull-ups or in the potty for the cruise but don't torture yourself with poopy undies!!!:)

[um5xno1]

Thank you all for your thoughts, I will consider them all...

 

I believe we may start training soon based on what you all are saying. My DD is 22 months now, but just yestreday announced, she had to go #2, squatted, completed the business, then said "c'mon Daddy, need clean diapie."

 

As far as swim diapers go, she has never pooped in a swim diaper ever, and she is pretty regular on her schedule, so we are confident we can take her in the pool sans diaper for a quick dip, no probelm. If there was a H2O zone or something where she would be playing for a longer period of time, I would have to swim diaper her, so she couldn't go.

 

Once again, thanks everyone for your thoughts, I think we may start potty training next month (23 months) to possibly have her ready for the cruise.

[pms4104]

Thank you all for your thoughts, I will consider them all...

 

I believe we may start training soon based on what you all are saying. My DD is 22 months now, but just yestreday announced, she had to go #2, squatted, completed the business, then said "c'mon Daddy, need clean diapie."

 

As far as swim diapers go, she has never pooped in a swim diaper ever, and she is pretty regular on her schedule, so we are confident we can take her in the pool sans diaper for a quick dip, no probelm. If there was a H2O zone or something where she would be playing for a longer period of time, I would have to swim diaper her, so she couldn't go.

 

Once again, thanks everyone for your thoughts, I think we may start potty training next month (23 months) to possibly have her ready for the cruise.

If your child is not completely potty trained and is not completely out of the diaper stage ... do not take her into the pool! It is not permitted!

 

There have been posters here who mentioned the pool having to be closed for cleaning for an entire day due to accidents in the pool. Do you want to be the person responsible for that?

[alise007]

Thank you all for your thoughts, I will consider them all...

 

I believe we may start training soon based on what you all are saying. My DD is 22 months now, but just yestreday announced, she had to go #2, squatted, completed the business, then said "c'mon Daddy, need clean diapie."

 

As far as swim diapers go, she has never pooped in a swim diaper ever, and she is pretty regular on her schedule, so we are confident we can take her in the pool sans diaper for a quick dip, no probelm. If there was a H2O zone or something where she would be playing for a longer period of time, I would have to swim diaper her, so she couldn't go.

 

Once again, thanks everyone for your thoughts, I think we may start potty training next month (23 months) to possibly have her ready for the cruise.

 

My DD will be 2 in April. She has been patting her diaper and telling us she is wet/poopie fairly regularly after the fact for a few months. We have her sit on the bjorn potty and usually nothing happens but if she does "pee pee" we get all excited and clap etc... so now when she sits on it and nothing happens-- when she stands up she claps for herself and looks so proud! At least she is interested! We have been putting her on it before we get her in the bathtub. Maybe I am too laid back about it but she can barely get her pants down on her own which makes it harder.

[Cru1s1ng2009]

Seriously they can not get in the pool. Each ship had 'deck police' and if they see a swim diaper it is Out You Go. No dipping their feet in, no splasing along the sides, nothing.

 

Potty train so they can play in the pool or you will miss out on a big activity. Not to mention the melt down everytime you walk by the pool and they see it.

[um5xno1]

If your child is not completely potty trained and is not completely out of the diaper stage ... do not take her into the pool! It is not permitted!

 

 

Thanks, noted. I understand the ramifications, I know my child, I know my childs behaviors or patterns. To dip her in the pool, I'm not talking an extended swim session here, with no diaper, on empty, I do not feel is a violation of the ships rules. She has never had a pool accident before, with or without a swimmie, so the pattern fits.

 

If a child wets the bed, but doesn't have day time accidents, are they banned from swimming bc they are not 100% potty trained?

[pms4104]

Thanks, noted. I understand the ramifications, I know my child, I know my childs behaviors or patterns. To dip her in the pool, I'm not talking an extended swim session here, with no diaper, on empty, I do not feel is a violation of the ships rules. She has never had a pool accident before, with or without a swimmie, so the pattern fits.

 

If a child wets the bed, but doesn't have day time accidents, are they banned from swimming bc they are not 100% potty trained?

I disagree with your decision to take her to the pool ... it is not permitted.

 

However, if indeed her toileting habits are so predictable, why do you put her in diapers or swimmers at all? I would think they would no longer be needed.

[um5xno1]

I disagree with your decision to take her to the pool ... it is not permitted.

 

However, if indeed her toileting habits are so predictable, why do you put her in diapers or swimmers at all? I would think they would no longer be needed.

 

I am not going to get into this with you....you came on my thread about potty training and stood on your soap box. Everyone knows the rules of the pool, and if I knew there was imminant danger I would not attempt a quick swim.

 

...and FYI, the reason we use swimmies at our pool area at home is which has a playground, sprayers, etc. When you put my daughter in a situation with other littles ones, in free play, contantly in and out of the pool over a few hours, she will use the swimmie. When she is with us, in hand, in the pool, taking a dip, she does not have a accident. Day at the beach-swimmie, 15 min cool off, we don't use one and have had no issues. Like I said before, we are talking a quick dip, not a extended swim time.

 

Now pardon me, I would like to have my thread back...you have hijacked this off topic.

 

Thank you.

[mom2isabella05cole08]

We are starting to plan our first cruise so I can't help with the cruise portion, but we made the mistake when our oldest was in the middle of potty training on going on vacation. The vacation wasn't the problem, it was the fact that we were doing a desitination wedding and I didn't want to take any more stuff than I had to take (I shipped a LOT of stuff out, but we still used 3 checked bags, plus one carry on a piece, and my wedding dress as a carry on) so I made the decision to not bring either the little potty or the ring that goes on the big potty (we used both because our daughter couldn't decide which one she wanted to use and would go between the two).

 

Now, she was only 23 months when we went, but unfortunately my decision to hold off on potty training while we were on vacation caused us some major problems. DD pooped on the potty for the first time the day before we left, she had been peeing on the potty for months with very few accidents in her pull-up. Because I didn't prepare to continue potty training on vacation, it took us nearly a DAY just to get her to pee. She wouldn't go in her pull-up and she was scared of the big potty. And she refused to go poop the entire week we were gone, which resulted in almost a year of her being on miralax because she wouldn't go poop because it hurt (because she'd hold it in).

 

So, if you start potty training before your trip, you need to bring whatever you're using on your trip. If you wait to start potty training, you won't have the extra stuff to bring with you.

 

Now, I'm also a firm believer that most kids will potty train quicker when they are ready. We didn't push it with DD and actually stopped when she got to the point where she was consistently going in her pull up and showing no interest in the potty because I wasn't willing to battle it out.

[ehough]

DD just turned 2 and we have found ourselves in the midst of potty training- she just kind of woke up ready one day. But honestly, I would not want to do hardcore potty training while on vacation. I'm lucky to get through Walmart without having to put her on the potty there!

 

And I don't even know what I'd do if I were, say, stuck in a van on an excursion and she had to go! Or on the beach with limited facilities.... I would just hate to regress and tell DD "You'll just have to go in your Pull-up".

 

I guess I wouldn't hold off on potty training, but I wouldn't push it, either. If she suddenly shows a lot of interest, go with it. If she is content to wear diapers for a little while longer, go with that!

[deepnite10]

keep diaper training..wherever your at..just because your on a cruise does not mean you can take a timeout on being a parent...

 

seems like its more of a inconvience on you than the child..:p