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.

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 we did everything we could to prepare!

For more Toddler travel tips check out, What to Pack When Flying With a Toddler

View from my airplane window to the sun peeking through the clouds — View from the plane! Traveling with a potty-training toddler

The Start of Potty Training

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.

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.

Looking for travel insurance?
Check out SafetyWing!
Great for short trips or long nomadic trips.

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.
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.

My toddler sittingi n the window seat of the airplane reaching to touch the window

Our First Travel Day with a Potty-Training Toddler

Our flight left early in the morning so when we woke our toddler up, we had her use the bathroom. We waited to have her use the bathroom again until just before boarding out first flight.

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.

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.

No matter where you are traveling to, lugging baby gear can be a pain! Lighten the load and check out:
BabyQuip
The best baby gear rentals delivered right to your hotel or even your family member’s house if your staying with family like we did!

The Way Back

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!

Conclusion: Surviving Air Travel With a Potty-Training Toddler

After other vacations we realized our toddler just didn’t like going to the bathroom on planes. This changed during our 9 hour flight to Rome. No one can hold it that long!

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)!