Pottying on the Go: The Travel Potty

A travel potty is a potty chair or potty seat that is specifically designed for traveling and pottying on the go. Is it absolutely necessary to have one? That depends. Many regular potty chairs can be used as a car potty, while potty seats that you use at home can be stashed in a large sized diaper bag for use on public toilets.

Potty chairs like the Baby Bjorn, for example, have a removable basin that you can place a plastic bag in for a liner and then re-insert in the potty chair. Voila, perfect little car potty! When your child is finished using it, just remove the plastic bag and throw it away. Many parents like having a car potty like this available for when they are out and about with little ones who are training or new to the potty. It is more comfortable and sanitary than the large public restroom toilets, plus it is immediately available when your little one has the urge to go.

If your child is more comfortable using a potty seat that fits into a regular toilet, these can also be used for pottying on the go.  Seats like the Disney (Cars or Princess) Soft Potty Seat are portable enough to place in a plastic bag and keep in your diaper bag for use in public restrooms. Just be sure to bring some anti-bacterial wipes to clean off the seat when your child is finished with it, and stash it back in your bag!

The nice thing about some travel potties is that they have the advantage of being especially lightweight and compact. If you are going on a trip where you need to pack very lightly in order to carry everything, you should consider a travel potty such as the Kalencom 2-in-1 Potette Plus instead of your regular potty chair or potty seat. You may prefer something like this anyway if you are out and about a lot with your young trainee. This seat is small and stash-able while still being sturdy enough when it is set up properly. Be sure that the legs click into place, otherwise the seat could collapse when your little one sits down on it. Many parents find that plastic grocery bags with napkins inside can be used as a liner instead of the more expensive replacement bags that need to be specially ordered.

Public restrooms are one of the big challenges involved in potty training. I'll never forget an experience my older son and I had in a public restroom one time... he was probably three years old and was sitting there in the potty seat that we had placed on the big toilet. In typical 3-year-old fashion, he began touching everything around him and I quickly reminded him with my best 'whisper yell' not to touch anything. He instantly pulled his hands away and placed them both directly into his mouth with an expression that said 'Sorry Mom, I forgot!'. I managed not to throw up, cleaned his hands off, and carried on. That's what we do best as parents sometimes, just carry on...the best we can!

How do you handle pottying out and about? Do you have a favorite travel potty that has worked great for you and your child?