When E.C.ing Tommy's older sister, the family took a trip of over 2000 miles, one way, when she was just 14 months old. So Tommy isn't the first baby in the family for whom potty considerations were a priority on vacation. The trips with Tommy were handled in much the same way as the trip with his older sister.
As with all of infant potty training, the key is being relaxed. There are bound to be misses and one needs to plan ahead of time not to get frustrated or angry, but to remember that these are babies and wet panties are not a cataclysm. Also, there is no reason to feel guilt for using diapers. While it is TM's opinion that the long term, constant wearing of diapers is unhealthy, she doesn't believe that a few hours or even a couple of days of constant use is particularly dangerous.
The biggest problem with going diaperless in the car is protecting the padding on the child restraint seat. Unfortunately, this state (and probably yours, too) has draconian laws mandating that parents keep their children restrained in "approved" safety seats at all times. NOTICE: Rant to follow in 3... 2... 1....
If TM were to restrain Tommy in the self same child seat, in our home, for 20 hours straight, and the government nanny state found out about it, there is no doubt that TM would likely have her infant removed from her family due to "abuse". However, if the said infant is buckled into the "abusive" devise for 20 hours straight while riding in a vehicle, it is somehow not "abuse" at all... but proof of loving care. END of rant.
So, while driving down the highway, if Tommy needs to pee pee, it would be a violation of the law for TM or one of Tommy's older siblings to remove him from his restraint and hold him over a receptacle to catch the pee. Instead, in order to lawfully catch the pee pee, Tommy's Papa would have to bring the vehicle to a stop. Since Tommy goes pee pee about every 20 minutes when he is awake, this is not really an option for a long car trip. Therefore TM is resigned to Tommy going pee pee in the seat.
Therefore, the question is, what to use to catch the pee pee? For the most part, Tommy wears a disposable diaper in the car seat. But another option is to leave him diaperless and put a diaper or waterproof pad under Tommy and change that out when it gets wet. At every stop Tommy is removed from his seat and offered the opportunity to potty, either in the little potty chair, or over a toilet or sink.
Which brings up the question, what type of potty is good for travel? TM has been very pleased with her purchase of a Bebe Jou Potty from Target. It looks like this:
It is unknown if Target still sells them, as they are now carrying, at least on their website, the very popular BABYBJÖRN Little Potty
. Another option for babies that can sit up is the toddler toilet seat that sets on top of a regular toilet seat. The First Years Soft Trainer Seat
Since Tommy uses this type of seat at home, TM makes sure to pack it along when traveling. It isn't used so much during the actual travel, but at the destination.
Our Bebe Jou fits very neatly under the seat of the family van and the van never leaves home without it. Even the older children who are completely toilet independent use it when a real toilet is too far. It also serves nicely for those ladies who wouldn't dare put their heiny close to the ground in an emergency, but can squat over the little potty with ease.
Here you can see how the small potty fits under the middle seat and our 4 year old poses on the front passenger seat pretending to use the potty. Even in a crowded parking lot, this method provides complete modesty for the little lady.
After the potty has been used, the contents can be dumped under a bush, or on a rainy Oregon day, the 2 or 3 tablespoons of urine can just be dumped in the parking lot.
Upon arriving at your final destination, you have to decide if you want to just diaper for the duration or attempt to EC in a strange environment with potentially hostile witnesses, such as strangers, grandparents and distant relatives. For the most part, TM prefers to EC as much as possible without sweating the situations where it might be too cumbersome. Obviously Tommy's comfort is a high priority and forcing him to wear his products of elimination exclusively for the benefit of grown ups is sort of selfish.
During the weekend trip to Idaho, Tommy's family was set up in a nice hotel. With two rooms and plenty of space to spread out, it would have been easy enough to practice EC in the same manner as at home. But because TM didn't want to pack a bunch of cloth diapers (Tommy's normal attire, worn with a diaper belt as seen here ) she elected to keep him in disposables while taking him frequently to the potty.
The next weekend, however, Tommy and his Mommy and Papa left for a week long business trip to fabulous Las Vegas, and TM had no intention of keeping Tommy in diapers for that length of time. So, she stayed up until late into the night the evening before the trip in order to sew up 10 pairs of split crotch pants. Unlike cloth diapers, the pants dry easily after being rinsed out in the hotel sink. In the hotel room, Tommy was diaper free, wearing only the split crotch pants. For excursions out of the hotel, he was diapered. Here is the view from our 12th floor hotel room.
