Welcome to the third post in the Camping Chronicles. We’ve talked a whole lot about staying warm. Now we are switching gears entirely to potty training. I had to start this post off with this photo. Cause why not?! We all need a few more laughs when it comes to potty training. If you are in the middle of a potty training adventure, then maybe you cannot laugh…yet. I get that. We have all heard, “Potty train your kid in one day!” And for most of us, we glare in resentment. Moving out of diapers is an ordeal. If you are like us, you set a start day, you prep for it, with potty books, new undies, and lots of carpet cleaner. We then clear the schedule and plan not to go anywhere [as much as possible] for at least 3 days. We stay near the potty, we talk potty, we force fluids, we dance when there is success, and we callous up those knees cleaning up the accidents. To be honest, I have nothing to complain about. My two older kids haven’t been that hard to potty train. But what was hard? When I was itching to get back outdoors, to a park, to a pool, camping, hiking, anything… I had no idea how to handle my dysfunctional potty-er. Honestly, I still have no idea how to handle them…I just survive them. How we do it: At the end of the day, we just aren’t willing to forego our outdoor adventures for urine. And there are a few things we do that have helped. We bring those extra outfits, we scout out the nearest restroom, we plan for accidents. We ask, and ask, and ask if they need to go to the bathroom. But most of what we do involves the froggy potty. Let me make an introduction: This froggy potty is one of those indoor items that we repurposed for the outdoors. If we go camping? It comes along, cause face it, those outhouses are 1. dark scary holes that send most toddlers into tears and 2. often too far away for those 5 a.m. potty runs with a 2 year old. My daughter still calls them the “can potties” and when I first asked her to use one, she had a complete panic attack followed by an emotional break down. It. was. not. happening. My son was a little more adventurous and when I explained you go bathroom in a big hole in the ground, he exclaimed, “That is totally awesome” and tried to get a good look down. Anyways, save yourself the hassle and the freezing cold mornings by putting a potty in your tent and emptying it in the morning… after your coffee, and after the sun peaks over the horizon. And not only camping! We have a friend who just stuck it in the trunk. So those first park play dates or outings, you have a travel potty with you on the go.   Consider diapers at night: We aren’t a Pull-ups family. My kids thought they were the same as diapers, and they basically are. But consider them for the night times, or just return to diapers at night. One accident is a camping catastrophe. They wet the sleeping bag and I guess you spend the night in the car? I don’t know…I’ve never taken the risk. Use your yard to teach them “peeing in the woods?” Do a test run of potty-ing outdoors before you are on the trail. We didn’t do this…There is a 90% chance of your kids needing to pee while on a hike. We weren’t prepared for this. We casually marched him into the forest and told him to just pee. Well, maybe it is just our kid, but he freaked! He couldn’t relax, he didn’t get why it was ok to go on the ground here, but not at home. Which…led to an accident and we were walking our little pee soaked toddler back to the car. Which leads me to the obvious : Don’t forget those extra clothes. Even on a hike. Especially on a hike. Get a kid potty with a lid! Choose a kid potty that has a lid and removable parts for washing. Often we’d have a kid go late at night and it would sit there in the tent till we emptied it in the morning. Gross. But much grosser without a lid.