Unforeseen circumstances- potty training

[Mighty Girl]

Ok, finally got the little one almost completely potty trained. It took forever and a day, taught me countless lessons in patience and understanding, and is now saving us money from not having to buy an endless supply of pull ups. (She still wears them at night, but that means a small package lasts us a month! YAY!) We're trying to clear our final big hurdle which is going #2 in the big potty. Which I'm told is a totally normal fear.

Then we went to the mall. It was really cold out and I was just trying to give her some distractions. I forgot about one major thing.

Auto. Flush. Toilets.

Damn those things! And damn the people who make them necessary!! All she did was shift a little on the seat and sure enough it flushed with turbo force, sending her flying off of it mid-pee and clinging to my leg.

Now when she enters a stall, if she sees anything that looks like that, she immediately backs off and says she doesn't have to go. I now know where most of the "regular" toilets are in many places.

And the auto-faucets?? What's up with those things? If it's a busy day and lots of people are using them, the water comes out practically boiling. Whoever engineered that little detail should be smacked with a shovel. I can't count how many times I've went from one sink to the other looking for one with cooler water.

[kerrisan]

. . . Which I'm told is a totally normal fear.

For Mom or child? :lol:

And heck, even I was a bit freaked out when I first used an auto-flush toilet at age 19. Must be fun explaining it to a toddler. *mental note for her own eventual children*

[Kara]

We HATE those damn toilets. No matter how much we mentally prepare our 4yo that it is going to flush, she screams and wails every time. Then, of course, she doesn't have to go anymore. She is absolutely terrified of them.

We went to the mall last week and she had to potty. My SO had to go too, so she took her to the ladies' room at Sears. Everything was fine, until another woman apparently got up and her toilet flushed. This startled our daughter, and she began to scream. Which, of course, caused her own toilet to flush. I went in with the boys in a cart to rescue her. 20 minutes later, she was still hyperventilating.

[ThePhoneGoddess]

Okay, so I was just talking to my sister and I asked her about this. Her two kids are young and were potty trained in the last couple years. She told me that she learned to keep a thing of post it notes in her diaper bag, you just stick one over the laser sensor while the kiddie is using it and it should keep it from flushing. Hope that helps.

[NightAngel]

The sticky note idea is good! I always just put my hand over the sensor.

You could try taking her somewhere with an autoflush toilet and have her stand outside the stall. Go into the stall and just jump forward and backward making it flush over and over- laugh really hard like you're having a great time.
Pretty soon she may want to get in on the fun.
It's hard to be afraid of something that's funny.

Then whenever you visit one it can be a game. When she's done using it (and her pants are up hopefully-LOL) then she can jump forward. You'll just have to remember to laugh every time. ;)

[BookstoreEscapee]

Man I remember the days when I would flush the toilet and run out of the room! :lol:

We have auto-everything at work. Sometimes the water will come out really hot and then get cold after a few seconds and then get hot again...really annoying. The auto-flush is nice though cuz even with them some people still manage to be disgusting (though I work in a small area so it's not too bad, usually). Luckily the ones we have aren't too sensitive. I hate when you make the slightest move and they flush on you when you're not finished.

[XCashier]

Auto. Flush. Toilets.

Damn those things! And damn the people who make them necessary!!
Amen to that, sister! I hate those damned things. They always flush at the wrong time and never at the right time. You close the stall door, FLUSH! You put the paper gasket on the seat, FLUSH! Another one, FLUSH! You finally get one down and sit quickly so it doesn't get sucked away, FLUSH! You shift slightly on the seat, FLUSH!

Then when you finally finish...it doesn't flush. You wave your hand in front of the sensor...no flush. And of course, the worst ones are the ones that have no manual button, so you can't flush them.

Whoever invented those needs a swirly or ten in the auto flush! :devil:

[Lyra]

My son is hella afraid of these things. The post it note is an awsome idea, and I will try it.

The only additional problem, is he is High Functioning Aspergers, and has issues with loud noises, so anyone else's toilet flushing in the bathroom is cause for a mini melt down. :o

He's seven. We spend a lot of time trying to remember to go BEFORE we leave the house, and when we are on long shopping trips, hitting the stores without sensors before the ones with sensors. :rolleyes:

[FuzzyKitten99]

my oldest still has issues with #2 in the potty as well. He does near-perfect for #1 both at home and preschool (only 3 accidents since he started in sept)- even has mastered peeing in the big potty standing up like daddy, but when he is at home, and he has to go #2, he just doesn't want to go on the toilet for some reason... oh well, he has another year before he goes to kindergarten, so I figure he will get it by then.

[greensinestro]

I think the first time I ever encountered auto flush toilets and water faucets was at Disney's Contemporary Resort. It took me a moment to figure out the faucet being I was looking for the knob. To me, it's a great idea being you have people who have funk and crap on their hands, and you probably would not want to touch a knob they touched. I never had the water boiling hot though.

As for the toilets, yes, sometimes that is a pain dealing with when it flushes right underneath you for no reason, while you're still sitting there. On the other hand, it's the slobs out there who do not flush when they're done that have caused this invention to come to fruition.

[Jester]

Thanks the gods I'm an uncle! :worship:
Thanks the gods I'm an uncle! :worship:
Thanks the gods I'm an uncle! :worship:
Thanks the gods I'm an uncle! :worship:
Thanks the gods I'm an uncle! :worship:
Thanks the gods I'm an uncle! :worship:
Thanks the gods I'm an uncle! :worship:
Thanks the gods I'm an uncle! :worship:
Thanks the gods I'm an uncle! :worship:



It's hard to be afraid of something that's funny.

Tell that to all the people who are deathly afraid of clowns.

[qaxons]

Automatic doors I'm fine with, easier to manage carts and heavy bags.

Automatic toilets saves me having to flush, and I don't mind if it goes off when I'm already doing what I'm there to do.

Automatic towel dispensers are the best invention ever, when they work.

I absolutely, with every fiber of my being, despise automatic or "timered" faucets. They never last long enough, leaving me with hands covered in soap, or the sensor is so twitchy I have to be actually outside the stream of water to have water flowing...

Air dryers are another story all together...

[NightAngel]

Tell that to all the people who are deathly afraid of clowns.

Clowns are creepy if you really think about it or you could just read Stephen King...

[Jpurple]

We need to take more lessons in public washroom design from the Japanese. My daughter and I have explored all sorts of them in the four months we've been here, and they all FUNCTION PROPERLY! Right down to the heated toilet seats... the toilets flush when they should, the faucets work just right, the air dryers are set up so that even very short people (ie, my daughter) can use them, etc. Some of the toilets even play music or make a false flushing sound so you don't have to hear other people.
The only problems are: only cold water faucets, and many public washrooms inlcude both 'Western' and 'squat' toilets, which we learned to loathe in Thailand. I have very quickly figured out how to tell the difference between the Jpaanese labels on the two types of toilets, because my daughter HATES squat toilets (and I'm not fond of them either)
Good luck to all toilet-training parents, and just remember, no matter how bad the public toilets are, at least yours are labeled in English so you can find them!

[XCashier]

Automatic towel dispensers are the best invention ever, when they work.
I don't know about that. The ones at the mall only dispense about three inches at a time, and you have to tear it off before it'll dispense any more. Sorry, I can't dry my big hands with only three inches of paper towel!

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Okay, so I was just talking to my sister and I asked her about this. Her two kids are young and were potty trained in the last couple years. She told me that she learned to keep a thing of post it notes in her diaper bag, you just stick one over the laser sensor while the kiddie is using it and it should keep it from flushing. Hope that helps.

Oh, smart idea! I hadn't even thought about this problem yet, though I am in the process of toilet training my daughter right now. I'd be livid if something like this scared her and caused problems for her.

These things have scared the hell out of ME. I can't imagine being a tiny kid trying to learn and already being nervous.

The post it note idea is BRILLIANT!