Beware the public bathrooms!

So, I thought after my 3 year old was fully potty trained, life would be easier. WRONG!

Instead, now I worry about those nasty bathrooms in parks, restaurants, airports, and malls. Or what about the lack of bathrooms?

I sit in pretty bad traffic everyday with my commute and Alexis always picks the most perfect location to absolutely "HAVE TO GO NOW MOMMY!" moments. You know, like the moment you just merged onto the freeway after the metering lights, cut across 4 lanes into carpool, and then BAM! She has to go.

Or, when we just sat down at one of the old not so sure how you passed inspection restaurants but the food is oh so good so you go anyways and your kid has to go potty.

Well, those situations has happened more than enough times so I've determined the real reason why I have an SUV. And all parents should know this, so your kid can go potty in the trunk! Yes, the trunk of my car has now turned into a port-a-potty. Before you say gross, let me explain how this works.

What you will need:
1. Portable potty (which I don't recommend for the car) or Ikea's children's potty.
2. Portable potty liners with ties so you can seal it.
3. Wipes (us parents probably have 3 packages in the car anyways)
4. Tinted windows
5. Rubber cargo mats
6. Hand Sanitizer

Alexis currently is the perfect height for my trunk. After some trial and error, this has been the most practical and clean way to go about it.

1. Always have your potty pre-lined. You may not have time to get it ready when your child HAS to go. I put them in right after I toss out the old one.
2. Place the potty in the middle of the trunk and have it face out so when your child sits down, she's facing the door.
3. Place your child in the trunk and get them set up to go.
4. Once they sit down, determine how much privacy your child needs. If you need to, close the trunk. Stand outside the car but make sure your child can see you and you can see them. This is why you need to position the potty so they can see you and feel safe.
5. Once they are done, make you sure instruct them NOT to get up. You need to help them get up because sometimes the liner sticks to them and you risk spillage. GROSS
6. Help them get dressed and tie up the bag while your child is still in the trunk. This will keep them safe from running around the parking lot or where ever you pull over while you clean up.
7. Throw away bag if there is somewhere to dispose it and reline. If there is no where to dispose it, keep the tied up and triple sealed bag in the potty. This will happen. For the exact reason, I use the full size potty so I have somewhere to keep the waste in case of situations like this. The portable potties do not allow you to store this in emergencies and you're stuck with this bag. Don't litter!

Ikea's potty has been perfect. We used it in the house to train and now we moved it into the cars. If they are going in the trunk, you want stability and the full size Ikea potties do just that. Baby Bjorn makes a similar one but much more expensive.

If you don't have an SUV, I open both doors from the same side and place the potty in between. This creates a temporary privacy wall.

SAFETY TIP: When you get out of the car to use the potty, roll a window down. You don't want to get locked out of the car or lock your child in the car. Do this regardless of how smart you think your car is. Yes, I know most cars don't lock if the key is still in the car. But, if your key is low in battery which it happened to my husband once, the door can still accidentally lock. Luckily, he had no child with him.