Just potty trained 2 year old and driving to Florida

[Anonymous]

We just potty trained our just turned 2 year old but we are now driving to Florida (16+ hours). He’s good at holding it in the car but probably needs to go every 1-2 hours. We don’t want to stop that often. He can however just go on side of road but we’ll be on a highway mostly and that’s not the safest. Do you recommend sticking him in diapers and explaining it’s just for the car ride? Has anyone done something like this recently?

[Anonymous]

No I would not put back in diapers. Put a towel under his butt in the car seat, pack a potty in the car and take breaks. I bet he can hold it more than 2 hours.

[Anonymous]

Yes, you will need diaoers/pull-ups. Last thing you want is to have an accident in the carseat on a long trip. It might cause some regression but it's far better than the alternative.

[Anonymous]

We took a long car trip after potty training our DS (2.25). He pretty adamantly opposed the diaper when I told him it was a long car trip and that he should wear one just because he was new to using the toilet. He ended up having an accident in the carseat (even though it hadn't been that long) and then puking because he got so upset. What a mess. After that, he begged me for a diaper

I recommend a diaper while explaining to them it's just in case you can't pull off the road in time and he needs to go. Then immediately change him out of it and back into underwear as soon as the driving is over. This is what we did and had no regression.

[Anonymous]

I would do a pull up just in case he falls asleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, you will need diaoers/pull-ups. Last thing you want is to have an accident in the carseat on a long trip. It might cause some regression but it's far better than the alternative.

This this this. A 16 hour car trip with a 2 year old is nightmarish enough without a trashed car seat.

[Anonymous]

Get a travel potty and make frequent stops.

But also use diapers for the nap times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He’s good at holding it in the car but probably needs to go every 1-2 hours. We don’t want to stop that often.

You are playing with fire. Pull over every 2 hours. He will probably be pitching a tantrum and having a meltdown after 2 hours anyway if he's awake because he's 2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a travel potty and make frequent stops.

But also use diapers for the nap times.

The potette is your new best friend. Do not go baking to diapers. Watch out for quick naps.

[Anonymous]

I've done the trip to FL many times, with 2yos'. I'd bring the little potty but I would also use pullups-you never know when there could be a traffic backup that prevents you from exiting to use the potty.

None of my kids regressed from wearing the pullup on the road. Of course, back to undies once we got to our destination.

[Anonymous]

This might get criticism but our 4 year old still wears a pullup as a "travel diaper". One messy incident pre-COVID when we were on a plane descending and trapped in our seat when he yelled out "potty!!!" and there was nothing we could do to get him to the bathroom...decided right then and there we would do travel diapers No problems or confusion when we get to our destination and a lot more pleasant trip for Mom and Dad.

[Anonymous]

We used pull-ups only for this and we called them, “road trip underwear.” It always worked. It’s all in the marketing with a 2 year old.

[Anonymous]

Is he still in diapers overnight? We always leave for long car trips in the evening, and treat it like a normal bedtime routine, so there's no confusion.

Both my 5 yr old twin boys are potty trained, but one just moved to wearing undies at night two weeks ago, and the other still completely soaks his overnight diaper each night.

If your LO is just 2, I'd just calmly explain that he might fall asleep on the long drive, and matter-of-factly put him in PJs and a diaper for the ride.

[Anonymous]

We did about an 8 hour road trip with our 3 year old who had been PT’d for about 6 months by that point, and we put him in a pull up just in case. He didn’t have any accidents though. We just said, this is just for the car just in case you can’t quite make it to the bathroom and he accepted it.

[Anonymous]

DO you use diapers at nap/bed time? I would 1) put down a puppy pee pad on the car seat, not a towel, and pack extras so you can just trash them instead of have pee soaked towels in your car all the way to florida and 2) use a diaper (if you do so at nap/bedtime) and just say on long car rides you can fall asleep even if its not nap time, and so we just need to be sure you are covered. if you're awake and you need to pee, let me know....and then I'd stop when he needs to pee. Your ride will be longer. You will survive.