Ahh the glory of potty training–no diaper pail, no wet wipes, and the freedom to leave the house without the dreaded diaper bag.  Besides its convenience, early potty training is also tremendously earth friendly since you no longer have to deal with diaper laundry.  All is sunny and happy until your child declares a desperate urge to pee while you’re parked at a dingy gas station. 

Do you pack your toilet seat with you wherever you go?  Do you line the toilet seat with several layers of toilet paper and try to balance your toddler on the edge? 

Here is our family’s shocking solution that may just horrify some of our readers: We bring a small plastic yogurt container with us wherever we go.  When our son needs to urinate, we just pull down his pants and let him go in the cup.  Then we dump out its contents in the toilet and rinse it in the sink before we leave the restroom. Urine is sterile so it’s not a horrible health hazard and it’s quick and easy to rinse. I used to worry that people might look at us weird for cleaning out our container at the sink but really no one seems to notice.  If we’re far from a sink, we just place the lid on the cup and clean it out when we get home.  (Sorry if this sounds totally gross.  We are meticulous about making sure we clean it out ASAP so it hasn’t ever been a problem.)

Apparently, this isn’t a new idea.  My husband’s family is Thai and had a cup that was specifically made for this purpose when he was little.  I did find a similar American product called “My Pee-Pee Bottle” but it appears that our yogurt container works just as well.

So far our “pee-pee cup” has toured the state and has even made it to San Francisco, where it served valiantly in airport bathrooms, public libraries, and restaurants for our four-day trip. My son just had one accident during the whole vacation.  He likes being able to pee standing up instead of being perched precariously on the edge of foreign toilet seats and we like the convenience of simply pulling down his pants rather than having to take them off so that he could balance on the seat. 

Our next child, due to be born in just a few months is a girl.  I’m already grieving the loss of the pee-pee cup convenience.  Any ideas on how to use public restrooms with girls would be greatly appreciated!