I am potty training my third child right now. There is one tip that has helped me through all three children when taking them to the bathroom in public restrooms. A smart friend and mother of three taught me this valuable little tip years ago and I’ve used it ever since!
Actually we were just out last night at IHOP for kids eat free night and my 2 year old gave me that “look” and said, “I neeeeed to go!” If you have a potty training little one you know that you have very little time to think, you just pick them up and rush to the nearest bathroom! So I did, and as soon as we got into the stall I saw it… the automatic flushing toilet. I don’t know about your kids but mine get scared to death when they have a toilet flush while they are in the middle of using it. The awesome mom who taught me this trick said she came up with it after getting sprayed by her panicked son when an automatic flush scared him. She told me to start carrying sticky notes in my purse.
At first I thought, “What?!” She went on to explain that when I am out with the kids and there is an automatic flushing toilet just pull out the sticky notes and place one over the sensor. Ta-da! Now my sweet potty training boy will not be scared while trying to go by a flush.
Just remove it and toss it into the trash when your little one is done and it will flush as you leave. Now I always have my a little pad of sticky notes in my purse. Seriously this simple little tip has helped make potty training in public restrooms much better. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Johanna
My Crazy Blessed Life! 
That’s a great idea. When my oldest was 3 and in the end stages of potty training, we went to Disneyland. All toilets were automatic flush. He refused to sit on them or anything…it was getting pretty bad because it had been so long since he’d gone. Finally I thought of a band-aid. I had a bunch in my bag in case of skinned knees and blisters…slapped one over the sensor and no problem. He thought I was awesome! I felt like MacGyver 🙂 I always have band-aids in my purse (I just get a box at the dollar store) and this trick has helped a lot since then with his younger brother and sister.
outstanding suggestion!
I always hang a piece of toilet paper over it, but I love the post it idea!
I carry post-its mostly because some of them are wall mounted sensors that are flat against the wall and you can’t always do the toilet paper trick 🙂
Great idea! Getting ready to potty train my 3rd…..can’t wait. 🙂 blessings to you!!
I stumbled onto your site by accident today and I had to smack myself in the head when I read this post. My child is now 9, but when we came to the United States, we were in the last leg of potty training (night time) and there really aren’t any automatic toilets in Europe. At least there weren’t any at the time! The first time an automatic toilet flushed while she was on it, you would have thought I was chewing her leg off. It became a very traumatic thing and she would scream like a bean sidhe, then hold herself straight as a board instead of cooperating and sitting on the toilet. “No! Mama, it will flush my butt!” Terror such as you’ve never seen or heard! Took us years to get her over it and I never thought to use a sticky paper to cover the sensor.