How to Travel With a Potty-Training Toddler
Three weeks after starting to potty train our toddler, we flew down to Florida for a week to visit family. Here is how we survived air travel with a potty-training toddler and what we learned along the way.
I want to start by saying that every child is different, and potty training looks a little different for every family. I’m simply sharing my experience and what I did when it came to traveling while potty-training my toddler in hopes that it helps you out a little.
My husband and I are experienced travelers and fly often. Our toddler had even flown multiple times before this trip, just not while potty-training. Flying with a toddler in the midst of potty-training was new territory for us so I’m sharing everything we did to prepare and helpful tips and tricks we learned along the way!
Photo Credit: Theresa Bauman
How to Travel With a Potty-Training Toddler
It’s not as scary as you might think!
We were three weeks into potty-training when we traveled and I felt that was soon and it went well overall but, I wouldn’t take a trip any sooner than that after just starting potty-training.
You need the time before the trip to learn your child’s cues and rhythm so you can better plan out bathroom breaks.
Potty Training Before a Trip
Before you start potty training I highly recommend the book Oh Crap! Potty Training. I knew when we were going to start potty-training, but I hadn’t gotten around to reading the book in advance so sped-read literally on day one. It was extremely helpful, but I suggest reading it before hand!
When we started potty-training, our holiday trip was already planned, and canceling wasn’t an option. We had to figure out how to make it work and I’m happy to report that it was all good!
Preparing for Travel
As your potty-training, look out for your child’s cues so you can start to recognize when they need to go. Maybe they start wiggling a little more or shaking their leg. This way when your on the plane, train, or in the car, and you see that little cue, you know it’s time to get to the bathroom.
After a few days of potty-training and kids get more comfortable with it, you might notice a “general timeline” or “cycle” of when they need to go. For my daughter she generally whet every two hours. Just keep a mental note so when your traveling you can mentally prepare to find a bathroom in that time frame.
Traveling can throw kids off their routines, so prepare yourself for some accidents along the way and while on vacation.
Photo Credit: Theresa Bauman
What to Pack
- 1-2 Plastic bags: for any accidents, so you can store dirty clothes.
- Extra clothes: one set for you, one for your partner, and two sets for your toddler.
- Doggy pee pads: for added protection on the plane. (We ended up not using them but I was glad we had them!)
- Travel Potty Seat: a small fold-up potty seat that suctions to the top of normal toilet seats. This helps a small toddler feel more secure on the toilet.
- Pull-ups: just in case things get too stressful and you need a break from the potty routine until you arrive at your destination.
How to Plan Your Travel Day
Whether your traveling by plane, train, or car, have your toddler use the bathroom before you leave your home every time. Below, I’ll go over a general plan for each mode of transportation!
Plane
Depending on how far the airport is from your home or hotel, you may want to have your child use the bathroom when you arrive at the airport and before you get stuck in a long security line.
When you get to your gate, look for the nearest bathroom and point it out to your toddler. This is helpful in a few ways, it lets your toddler know that there is a bathroom nearby and that you both know where it is. This also alleviates any fears or panic about how close a bathroom is when your toddler needs to go.
Just like leaving home, I always have me all family members use the bathroom before boarding. Sometimes, it can take a while for the pilot to turn off the fasten seatbelt sign.
Make a mental note of when your toddler used the bathroom before boarding. This is when your going to apply your child’s “general timeline”.
For example, my daughter’s “general timeline” was her going potty about every two hours. So if she went to the bathroom at 5:30AM before boarding our plane at 6, I would have her use the bathroom on the plane around 7:30am.
Pro tip: If you can’t hear them peeing due to the noise, check the toilet paper when you wipe, if it's wet you know they peed!
The length of the flight and if you have a layover might make a difference here. If you know you have a short layover, try to have your child use the bathroom right before the plan starts descending (if your new to flying, this is generally 30 minutes before the flight’s scheduled landing time).
Some kids don’t like to potty on flights, so always use the bathroom after landing.
If your child is like mine, and held it through a two hour flight and didn’t have time to go during our layover, you can pull out that doggy pee pad to put on the seat of the next plane just in case!
She was fine by the way, and didn’t have an accident. YAY!
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Train or Bus
Long train or bus rides usually have bathrooms on board so you don’t have to worry about timing as much as flying.
Just keep an eye on those cues and their “general timeline” to avoid an accident.
Photo Credit: Theresa Bauman
Car
When planning a road trip with a potty-training toddler, take extra time to plan out bathroom breaks every two hours or so.
Two hours is a good rule of thumb anyway for everyone to get up and get the blood flowing when sitting in the same position.
If you know you are hitting a stretch of road with very little rest stops around, you might want to consider bringing a potty chair. You can pull over and have your toddler use the potty chair in the trunk of the car or even the front seat!
Photo Credit: Roc Bauman
Dealing With Accidents
The biggest fear about traveling and potty training is accidents. And rightly so!
I can admit they are frustrating and sometimes even embarrassing, like when your toddler wets their pants three times in one hour right after you told the host of the apartment you rented on booking.com she was potty-trained. Yep, that happened!
If your child has an accident, ITS OK! Trust me, it will happen, and most people are very understanding.
We’ve even had people offer to help clean up the area while we cleaned up our toddler. Depending on where you are, like a hotel or restaurant, they will want their housekeeping staff to use cleaner to clean up the mess, rather then you just wiping it up.
When your toddler has an accident while traveling, deal with it just like you would at home! Make them sit on the potty to make sure they are done, then clean them off and change their clothes.
This is where the plastic bag comes in handy so you can carry wet clothes until you are able to wash them.
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FAQs
Why did my child have an accident? Could it have been prevented?
Not always! But sometimes, you can look at what they ate or drank right before the accident and understand that their little system just couldn’t hold that much.
One morning before our flight home, she ate an entire container of strawberries (which acted like a diuretic), and she couldn’t hold it. She started peeing every 30 minutes. Despite our best efforts, she had two accidents before we even left for the airport.
On the way to the airport, she had another accident. At that point, we decided to switch to pull-ups for the remainder of the travel day. We were running low on spare clothes!
Should I limit how much they drink?
Here’s what I learned, make sure your kid is hydrated so they do have to use the potty. BUT not TOO hydrated that they have to go more frequently!
Can I use pull ups?
It’s totally ok to switch back to pullups on your travel day if things aren’t going well. You can go back to potty-training when you’re at your destination! Just be careful not to confuse your toddler by not potty-training for a few days or your whole trip. One off day while traveling won’t hurt.
Phot Credit: Theresa Bauman
Recap: How to Travel With a Potty-Training Toddler
Knowing that potty-training is a process (that literally everyone has to go through) is a good mindset to have no matter when you travel after you start potty-training.
Traveling can throw kids off can accidents may occur and that’s ok! It doesn’t mean it’s a setback. Remember to give yourself and your toddler grace in those moments.
Instead of stressing over her needing to be at a certain point in potty-training before traveling, focus on being prepared.
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