Public toilets can be tricky when you’re in the process of toilet training your child. For a start, they may not be child friendly. Then there’s the issue of queuing, and then the toilet may be different from what your child is accustomed to. For many reasons, it’s easier to simply stick with nappies when you go out.
If your child has passed the active potty training stage, and is using underwear all the time, then it’s a good idea to plan ahead, by getting your child to use the potty before you leave the house.
Your child may say that he or she doesn’t need to go, but encourage him or her to try anyway – you might find that your child does need to go once he or she is on the potty.
Taking your child with you to public toilets while you are potty training can help too, because it will show your child that it’s okay to go to the toilet there. Prepare when you are out by taking your child to the bathroom when you arrive, not to use it, but to see where it is, and make sure that you’re always prepared with extra tissues and wipes. Remember, some public toilets are less well equipped than others!
Using handicapped stalls can help to provide you with extra room (a lot of the time these double up as family toliets anyway), and figuring out what to do when you are with a child of a different gender can be tricky, but you should never let your preschooler go to a public toilet unaccompanied.
