How to Leave the House While Potty Training: What Worked for Us

One of the most intimidating parts of potty training has nothing to do with actually getting your toddler to use the potty. It’s figuring out how you’re ever supposed to leave the house again.

What if they have to pee in the car? What if there isn’t a bathroom nearby? What if they refuse to use a public toilet? And, of course, what if they have an accident in the middle of a store, restaurant, or airplane?

We potty trained my son at two and a half using the three-day potty training method from Big Little Feelings. Within a few weeks, we went from barely leaving our house to taking a two-and-a-half-hour road trip and then a five-hour flight.

The biggest thing I learned was that I didn’t need to wait until I was confident he wouldn’t have an accident. I needed to be confident that if he did have one, we could handle it.

If you’re just getting started, you can also visit my Potty Training Hub for everything we used, what worked for us, and more tips from our experience.

Affiliate disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through one of my links, at no additional cost to you. I only share products I personally use or genuinely recommend.

How We Started Leaving the House During Potty Training

We intentionally chose a long weekend to potty train. It was New Year’s weekend, it was raining, we had no plans, and there was no school. Our son was two and a half and showing signs that he was ready, so the timing felt right.

We followed the Big Little Feelings three-day method. We stayed home for the first two days, then on day three we started practicing very small outings. We didn’t get in the car or attempt anything ambitious. We simply walked around the block for short periods without a Pull-Up.

Those little walks helped both of us get comfortable with the idea of being away from the potty. Instead of thinking we needed to immediately tackle Target or a restaurant, we could practice leaving home somewhere we knew we could get back quickly.

Then it was back to school.

We made sure he used the potty before we left the house, asked him again when we arrived at school, told his teachers what we were doing, and continued reminding him to tell someone when he needed to go. We initially sent Pull-Ups for nap time, but within the first few weeks he didn’t want them anymore and was staying dry during naps.

Our First Big Test: A 2.5-Hour Road Trip

The weekend after potty training, we had a trip planned to Big Bear. Suddenly, we were going from walking around the block to spending two and a half hours in the car.

I was definitely nervous.

We brought our travel potty, had him use the bathroom before getting into the car, and continued checking in with him along the way. When we stopped to eat, we asked if he had to go. He said no.

Of course, as soon as we got back onto the highway, he announced that he had to go.

We quickly pulled over, got out the travel potty, and discovered it was a false alarm. About 30 minutes later, he said he had to go again. This time, he really did. We pulled over, set up the travel potty in the back of the car, and he went.

And that was it. We handled it.

That experience helped me realize that leaving the house while potty training didn’t have to be nearly as complicated as I had built it up to be in my head.

Two Weeks Later, He Took a Five-Hour Flight

About two weeks after potty training, my husband flew with our son to the East Coast. It was a five-hour flight, so we decided to put him in a Pull-Up as backup.

Instead of calling it a Pull-Up, we called it his “airplane underwear.”

For us, that made it feel less like we were suddenly undoing potty training and more like we were simply preparing for an unusual situation where getting to a bathroom immediately might not always be possible.

He never even used it.

He was able to recognize when he needed to go and tell my husband. He even used the airplane bathroom instead of needing the travel potty we had packed in the diaper bag.

That trip was probably the point when leaving the house stopped feeling like such a big potty-training event. Within a few weeks, it was simply becoming part of our routine again.

What We Brought When Leaving the House While Potty Training

You really don’t need to pack that much. I wanted to have enough with me that an accident wouldn’t become a disaster, without carrying an entire potty-training supply closet everywhere we went.

If you’re just getting started, I also put together all of the potty training essentials we actually used at home and on the go. You really don’t need much, but having the right few things made the process a lot easier for us.

Here’s what we kept handy:

• Travel potty

• Extra underwear

• Extra shorts or pants

• Wipes

• Small dog waste bags for wet or dirty clothing

• Hand sanitizer

• A Pull-Up when we felt it made sense, such as a long flight or nap

We use a JOOL travel potty, and especially in those early weeks, I liked knowing we had it with us. If we needed to use it in the back of the car, in a parking lot, or somewhere without an easily accessible bathroom, we could.

I didn’t bother carrying disposable toilet seat covers. Once he was comfortable using a regular toilet, I would put toilet paper down when needed.

How We Handled Public Bathrooms

Public bathrooms became their own challenge because our son was initially scared of the big toilets and all the noise.

For a while, we would actually bring his travel potty into the public bathroom and let him use that instead. It gave him something familiar while he adjusted to being in an unfamiliar bathroom.

Eventually, he became comfortable using the regular toilets. When the flushing noise scared him, we tried to make it funny rather than turning it into something he needed to be afraid of. We would cover our ears together when we flushed and say, “It’s so loud!”

Little by little, the grown-up potty became less intimidating.

What We Did When He Had an Accident

Accidents happened, and we tried very hard not to make them a big deal. One thing we learned is that pee and poop potty training don’t always happen at the same pace. Pooping in the potty was harder for our son to get comfortable with, which I’ve written more about in my poop potty training article. So if your toddler is doing great with pee but still struggling with poop, that doesn’t mean potty training isn’t working.

If he seemed uncomfortable or embarrassed, we reassured him that accidents happen and that there was nothing to be embarrassed about. At the same time, we still wanted to help him understand what to do differently next time.

We would say something along the lines of, “Okay, next time, try to remember to tell us earlier when you have to go potty.” Then we would clean him up, change his clothes, and move on.

Having extra clothes and a bag for the dirty ones made those moments much less stressful. An accident didn’t mean the outing was ruined or that potty training had failed. It was simply something we dealt with.

My Biggest Advice for Leaving the House While Potty Training

Rip the Band-Aid off.

You don’t have to start with a two-and-a-half-hour road trip. Take a walk around the block. Go somewhere close to home. Make sure your toddler uses the potty before you leave, identify where the bathroom is when you arrive, and keep your travel potty accessible.

There will probably be false alarms. There may be accidents. Your toddler might announce they need to pee approximately three seconds after you pass the last convenient bathroom.

That’s okay.

The goal isn’t to guarantee that nothing goes wrong. It’s to know that if something does happen, you have a travel potty, clean clothes, wipes, and everything else you need to handle it.

I found that the more confident we were about leaving the house, the easier it became for our son too. Within a few weeks, we weren't thinking about every outing as a potty-training outing anymore. We were just leaving the house.

Frequently Asked Questions About Leaving the House While Potty Training

When can you leave the house after starting potty training?

We started with very short walks around the block on the third day of potty training. I liked starting somewhere close to home so there wasn’t much pressure. From there, we gradually returned to our normal routine.

Should you use a Pull-Up when leaving the house during potty training?

We generally practiced leaving the house without a Pull-Up, but there were situations where we used one as backup. For example, our son wore one on a five-hour flight shortly after potty training. We called it his “airplane underwear,” and he ultimately stayed dry and used the airplane bathroom.

What should you bring when leaving the house while potty training?

Our essentials were a travel potty, extra underwear, extra pants or shorts, wipes, hand sanitizer, and small bags for wet clothing. Having those basics with me made me feel like I could handle an accident without it becoming a huge ordeal.

What if my toddler is scared of public toilets?

Our son was initially nervous about large public toilets and loud flushing sounds. We brought his travel potty into public bathrooms until he was more comfortable, then gradually transitioned to regular toilets. When the flush scared him, we would cover our ears together and make the loud noise into something funny.

Do I need a travel potty for potty training outside the house?

You certainly don’t have to have one, but ours was incredibly useful. We used it in public bathrooms while our son was getting comfortable with larger toilets, and we kept it available during road trips in case we needed to pull over quickly.

What if my toddler has an accident in public?

Try not to panic or make it feel like a huge deal. We reassured our son that accidents happen, reminded him to try to tell us sooner next time, changed his clothes, and moved on. Packing extra clothes, wipes, and a bag for wet clothing makes the situation much easier to handle.

The Bottom Line

Potty training can make leaving the house feel intimidating because suddenly you’re thinking about bathrooms everywhere you go. But you don’t need to wait until your toddler is completely accident-free before you start living your normal life again.

Start small, know where the bathroom is, bring a travel potty if it makes you feel more comfortable, pack a change of clothes, and expect that there might be a few mishaps along the way.

For us, confidence didn’t come from knowing our son definitely wouldn’t have an accident. It came from realizing that if he did, we knew exactly what to do.