# Do you let them pee in a parking lot?



## gretelmom (Jun 22, 2005)

Okay so my newly PL'd 4 year old (yes he learned late) couldn't hold it one more second, whipped it out and peed in the parking lot outside petsmart and Staples today... compounded by the fact that he had a "big one" (his word for erection) it was a bit embarrassing, but I tried not to show it because I'm proud he didn't wet his pants.

I tried to get him into the store fast to use the potty, but as I was unbuckling baby, he stood on teh step of the minivan and just let it loose while I was on the other side of the car. I KNEW it was urgent, but what could I do?

WWYD? I don't want pervs peeping at him but was I supposed to move him??? Make him stop???

TIA.


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## sbgrace (Sep 22, 2004)

I don't think there is anything you could have done differently. It sounds like he took you by surprise.

I have had to talk to my kids about not peeing out in the open. Seems that's a natural inclination for boys! So I'd have a talk with him about where it's a appropriate to pee.

That said, I used to carry a cup in the car for stuff like that..when it was an emergency and we just weren't going to make it fast enough.


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## Mama Mko (Jul 26, 2007)

If it's a true emergency (can't hold it one more second!) then I let him go in the grass by a sidewalk or something like that. I do have a travel potty seat in the car. I just take him out of his seat, put him on the potty seat, and he goes. No unbuckling of the other sibling. Makes it easier.


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## gretelmom (Jun 22, 2005)

I should put a little potty in the back of the minivan, it would be easy enough... He's getting so good at holding it, I just wasn't expecting it. It's quite funny in retrospect!


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## JBaxter (May 1, 2005)

I have 3 boys who have potty trained and we have peed MANY a parking lot. I usually told them to aim for the tire. FYI if you keep any empty water or soda bottle that works as a port a urinal


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## AllyRae (Dec 10, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *rebeccajo* 
If it's a true emergency (can't hold it one more second!) then I let him go in the grass by a sidewalk or something like that. I do have a travel potty seat in the car. I just take him out of his seat, put him on the potty seat, and he goes. No unbuckling of the other sibling. Makes it easier.

That's what we do with our PL'd 2 year old. No way would I let my kids pee in a parking lot (non-emergency situations of course) because I don't want creepos looking at my kids. So, I pull out the little potty in emergencies and DD goes in it (DS can usually hold it long enough to make it into wherever we're going.







: )


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## EdnaMarie (Sep 9, 2006)

Yes bt behind a car- and I have a girl. A potty is a good idea.


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## ShyDaisi (Jan 22, 2007)

I just had Micah do that today!







We are currently in the PLing process (day 3 -- yay!) and I was changing him out by the car when he said he had to go. At this point, when you gotta go, you gotta go, so I told him to go ahead and pee on the ground. I thought afterwards that it might not be a good idea to encourage that on a regular basis and that it might be a good idea to carry a potty in the trunk for a while. Though I never would have thought about the cup/bottle -- I will have to keep that in mind next time!


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## BunniMummi (Jan 28, 2005)

Yep, happens once in a while. He doesn't particularly want to pee outside (he is a pretty rules oriented kid) but occasionally things get desperate before we can get to a bathroom. It happened a lot more often that first summer after the diaper came off. He is much more reliable now but it still happens sometimes. The alternative to a little pee in the parking lot is a lot worse imo.


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## MCatLvrMom2A&X (Nov 18, 2004)

I tried to get ds to do that but he wont and it is a pain to try and find a place to go potty here in the area I live.


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## Mandynee22 (Nov 20, 2006)

I let him. DS prefers to pee in the woods when we go to the playground even though there's a portapotty because that's what the "baseball guys" do. And he pees on the side of the highway if he has to go then too.


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## treemom2 (Oct 1, 2003)

My DS pees everywhere! I do try to give him a little cover when we are in public places (behind a tree, next to the car door, stand with his back to others). Here is Japan it's pretty common to see men and children peeing at the side of the road, in the woods, etc. . . I think if you have to go and you aren't at the point where you can hold it yet then it's perfectly fine to go. DD's a little more modest about going in public, but if she has to go then we try to find a place for her to go that isn't so obvious (and we always carry extra toilet paper in the car and our backpacks).


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## Peony (Nov 27, 2003)

I keep a potty in the van now for DD2, but we still end up peeing outside at times. The park bathrooms are not open here yet (they don't open them until it stops freezing), and sometimes we are too far from the car to make it back so we just have to find a tree to go behind.


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## Bell (Jan 20, 2009)

If he really needed I wouldn't stop him. He's too young and can't wait so much.


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## Alyantavid (Sep 10, 2004)

In that case, yeah I'd let my kids do it too. I would try to get into a store, but if its a real emergency, I don't see any problem with it.


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## tanyam926 (May 25, 2005)

My ds2 does that sometimes but I try to remember to ask when we enter a store if anyone has to go. But hey, an emergency is an emergency!


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## AutumnAir (Jun 10, 2008)

DD's not really potty trained yet, but I would have no problem letting her pee outside in an emergency.


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## *Aimee* (Jan 8, 2007)

I have a little baby bjorn seat in the back of my car that he pees in, but I'd totally let him if he needed to and we were pottyless.

not related but kinda, the other day he started cheering "HOOORAY!" and I said "what are you doing?!" and he said "Peeing on a tortilla, what are you doing, Mama?".

He had taken a tortilla out of the fridge, set it on the floor and peed on it...









Boys!


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## sapphire_chan (May 2, 2005)

Start parking next to grassy knolls whenever possible.


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## loraxc (Aug 14, 2003)

Okay, I have an honest question--why does it seem like it's always boys who do this/need to do this? I have a boy, but he's one, so I don't know. DD has never needed to pee anywhere weird. If she needs to pee and we're out, we go find a store or gas station or something. But we also always have her pee before we leave the house.

Are little boys more prone to "urgency"? Do they feel their body cues less? Is my DD a freak in that we have not had an emergency so dire that she couldn't hold it a few minutes?







Or is it that we subconsciously believe it is "okay" for boys to pee outside, in parking lots, etc? I wouldn't be worried about creeps, but I would feel sheepish about him peeing where someone could step in it!


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## paakbaak (Jan 24, 2007)

my kid always pees where and when he gets the need to pee. i personally don´t see anything wrong with a kid peeing in the grass, by a tree...nothing wrong at all. i personally prefer that to dirty bathrooms. i think there is enough time ahead to teach them, when they are older, that the y shouldn´t pee in public. but at this age, no problem!


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## paakbaak (Jan 24, 2007)

loved the tortilla story!!!


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## fresh_veggie (Jan 27, 2009)

It does sound like he surprised you! Haha.

I hear the story often - when my older brother was about 4, he had to go pee while at the beach. My parents didn't want to have to take him up to the rental house, so they told him to go "pee in the water!". So he goes and stands in ankle deep water, drops his trunks, and pees in the water. My parents just rolled their eyes and explained when he was all done.

I think guys are more prone to peeing in 'nature', whatever that means. All I know is that when DH and I go hiking, he HAS to mark his territory at least once in the wild, when I don't have to go at all (and I'm the one drinking all the water because I get wayyy more tired). It's cute when he writes my name in the snow and has me come look, though...


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## treemom2 (Oct 1, 2003)

I personally would much rather pee in nature than pee in a dirty, stinky restroom. There's one beach near our home where I will never pee in the bathroom. . .I'd rather go in the ocean or find a tree to squat behind.







:


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## Mandynee22 (Nov 20, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loraxc* 
Okay, I have an honest question--why does it seem like it's always boys who do this/need to do this? I have a boy, but he's one, so I don't know. DD has never needed to pee anywhere weird. If she needs to pee and we're out, we go find a store or gas station or something. But we also always have her pee before we leave the house.

Are little boys more prone to "urgency"? Do they feel their body cues less? Is my DD a freak in that we have not had an emergency so dire that she couldn't hold it a few minutes?







Or is it that we subconsciously believe it is "okay" for boys to pee outside, in parking lots, etc? I wouldn't be worried about creeps, but I would feel sheepish about him peeing where someone could step in it!


I have a girl and a boy (9 and 2 1/2, both potty trained). My DD has peed outside when she needed to but I avoided it as much as possible because it's just not as easy. If she had to go, I would walk into a convenience store and beg to use the "NOT A PUBLIC TOILET". Let's face it, when a girl squats to pee, she gets pee on her LOL
With DS, I'm more like... "fine. How's this tree work for you?" Because he can pee, shake it, and be done.
As for creeps, I'm not worried at all. Not really worried about anyone stepping in it either, to be honest. Dogs pee all over the place and pee doesn't stick to your shoe. Not to mention, people don't usually walk up against walls and tree and the grass on the side of the highway


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## Redheaded_Momma (Nov 8, 2006)

Yes I do. I usually have him pee in a cup and pour it out but if I don't have a cup I open both front and back doors and stand behind him so he cannot be seen by any creeps that may be lurking around, which I am not worried about.

DS is 2.5 and I figure he's going to have to pee urgently a lot. IT's better than wet clothes, carseats and dirty nasty bathrooms!


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## Bay Area Babe (May 15, 2006)

Oh yes. I'll hold him on the parking lot if need be, as private and out of the way of other cars/where people walk as possible. A couple of weeks ago I thought he just needed to pee, but then he needed to poop. We use a potty chair for #2 - the potette 2 in 1 seat and travel potty. I just can't hold him for the ten minutes he sometimes takes!

My thought is if it's anywhere a dog could do his business, it's fine for my son. Same rules apply to poop - gotta carry it out.


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## mamamille (Nov 30, 2006)

just wanted to add that much to my surprise all children and men pee in public here in madrid spain. I have to say that it is wonderful not to have to run into stores or use gross restrooms. I do believe that she has learned much quicker because of it. My friend (with 3 little girls) uses a camping potty that is great. She leaves it in the car.
I learned that if you crouch, hold your little girl facing out, and hold your little girl's knees up with her weight over your knees then she can pee without peeing on you or her : ) yay peeing in the woods!


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## AndVeeGeeMakes3 (Mar 16, 2007)

Yeah, I carry a potty in the car. I also carry water to rinse it away. I really have a sensitive sense of smell and it makes me crazy when I can tell someone's been peeing next to my car or on the sidewalk or whatever - so I try to "make it go away." I'm not worried about people checking her out - can't be bothered with that kind of stress.

FWIW, I've got a teeny bladder and have been known to pee in very public places myself. When ya gotta go, ya gotta go.







:


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## averlee (Apr 10, 2009)

I think it is perfectly ok for a child to pee in a parking lot. That is definitely preferable to peeing in the cereal aisle.
Cups and bottles make good emergency potties, but a coffee can with a plastic lid is great for in the car. You could put a wad of paper towels in there. Can be used for puke, too! But beware when crossing state lines- "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to open this can, please"...
Hooray! I'm peeing on a tortilla! Hilarious!!!


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## riomidwife (Sep 1, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Bay Area Babe* 

My thought is if it's anywhere a dog could do his business, it's fine for my son. Same rules apply to poop - gotta carry it out.

That's good!

Yeah, we have done a fair amount of parking lot peeing, and other atypical public places. We try to be failry discreet. We've ECd since birth, so when you gotta go, you gotta go! Baby pee is so small and usually less smelly, relatively, so what's the harm? I can't recall getting disapproving looks, but I hardly pay attention so who knows?


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## johnnagrrl (Jul 14, 2008)

I have come to the point where I let my son pee where ever. I mean, I don't let him pee in front of huge crowds or anything but if he has to go, he has to go. Usually, I stand him on the floor of our minivan and open the door and he just pees out of the door, so he's not exposed at all. He just turned 3 and still doesn't get the concept of having to hold his penis while peeing, so 90% of the time, either me or my husband end up helping to direct the flow. LOL But yeah, he pretty much pees everywhere. He was pretty proud of himself the first time he peed on the side of a highway. He loves peeing on tires and trees too. Boys. Gotta love it. I am thankful I don't have a girl, though, because I remember being young and having to maneuver into all different positions to pee. It sucks. I used to wish all the time that I could pee like a boy. Ha ha


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## beachmom5 (Dec 8, 2012)

mamamille said:


> just wanted to add that much to my surprise all children and men pee in public here in madrid spain. I have to say that it is wonderful not to have to run into stores or use gross restrooms. I do believe that she has learned much quicker because of it. My friend (with 3 little girls) uses a camping potty that is great. She leaves it in the car.
> I learned that if you crouch, hold your little girl facing out, and hold your little girl's knees up with her weight over your knees then she can pee without peeing on you or her : ) yay peeing in the woods!


When visiting some distant relatives in Romania last summer, I was quite surprised to see both boys and men peeing openly in public places and no one seemed to care. After meeting up with my Aunt and her boys frequently peed in public around us and although her husband spent little time with us, the times he was with us he too peed openly. Restrooms were not always available so eventually I reluctantly advised my boys to do as their cousins did. After a few days the boys became comfortable with it and eventually so did I. I never would have permitted them to do such a thing back home in America, but it was so convenient not having to look for restrooms all the time that after a week or so I stopped and just told them to do it on the streets as the other guys do.

I realized this is just a social issue and once I became accustomed to the site it around town and realized that no one else is taking offense to it, what they were doing was no different than what the dogs do in my lawn back home. Now we do have to be more discrete back home in America, but with that said, I no longer care where they pee.


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