Surviving Air Travel with a Potty-Training Toddler

Surviving Air Travel with a Potty-Training Toddler: What Every Parent Should Know

Three weeks after starting to potty train our toddler, we flew down to Florida for a week! Here is what we did to survive air travel with a potty-training toddler! 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 with my potty-training toddler.

For more Toddler travel tips check out, Top 9 Must-Haves for a Magical Disney Trip with Your Toddler

When we started potty training, my toddler was just under two and a half years old. I dove into the book Oh Crap! Potty Training—literally on day one. I knew when we were going to start, but I hadn’t gotten around to reading the book in advance. I had heard a few tips but quickly felt lost. So, I speed-read that night! Our holiday trip was already planned, and canceling wasn’t an option. We had to figure out how to make it work.

View from the plane! Traveling with a potty-training toddler

By the time we were leaving for Florida, my toddler was doing fairly well! We had reached the stage where she wore pants with no underwear. In case you’re unfamiliar with this method, it’s a progression. Three days with no pants, followed by a period with pants but no underwear to avoid confusion with pull-ups. She was on a “potty schedule,” sitting on the toilet every two hours.

Traveling, of course, can throw kids off their routines, so we prepared ourselves for some accidents along the way.

Our Travel Day Plan

Plastic bags: for any accidents, so we could store dirty clothes.

Extra clothes: one set for me and my husband, and two sets for our toddler.

Doggy pee pads: for added protection.

Pull-ups: just in case things got too stressful and we needed a break from the potty routine until we arrived at our destination.

Here’s how it went

Our flight left early in the morning so when we woke our toddler up, we had her use the bathroom. The closest airport is about a 30-minute drive, and we waited to have her sit again just before boarding.

The first flight was about 2 to 2.5 hours. During the flight, we took her to the airplane bathroom, but she didn’t pee! (Pro tip: If you can’t hear them peeing due to the noise, check the toilet paper when you wipe—it’ll tell you!) Not going on the plane made me nervous. As every potty-training parent knows, when your kid is on a schedule and doesn’t go, all you can think is, When will it happen? Luckily, she went as soon as we landed, and we were able to relax a bit.

Due to the short layover, we didn’t have enough time to take her to the bathroom again before boarding. She didn’t pee on that flight either. Once we landed, we rushed to the bathroom, and thankfully, she went. Now that we have taken a few more trips, we realized she simply didn’t like peeing on airplanes!

Our first travel day with a potty-training toddler was a success—no accidents and no need for the doggy pee pads. Although I was anxious every time she didn’t pee on the plane, I was proud of how well she did overall.

As expected, traveling disrupted her routine. She had two accidents the next day while we were at our family’s house.

The Rest of the Trip Traveling with a Potty-Training Toddler:

Things went smoothly for the rest of our stay—no accidents until the day we were leaving. That morning, 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 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! We kept to a bathroom schedule of making her sit on the potty. This time we did every hour instead of every two, and yet, she still didn’t pee on the plane!

Final Thoughts:

I never viewed the trip as a deadline for potty training. I knew we’d still be in the middle of the process while traveling. Instead of stressing over her needing to be at a certain point, we focused on being prepared.

For anyone embarking on potty training, I highly recommend Oh Crap! Potty Training (not sponsored)! What’s your best potty training advice?