Help! How to handle a 3 year old who might not be fully potty trained?

[pisymbol]

I have beautiful boy who is currently a healthy and very active 2.5 year old. My wife and I are thinking of planning our first cruise with him in March of 2020 on RC (Bahamas, Anthem of the Sea).

 

But here's the thing: My son is not potty trained as of today. He might be in March, but then again he might not be. Time will obviously tell.

 

This puts us in a bit of a bind because he will be just 36 months of age in March (maybe a week in given our current target booking date). So what does that mean? He needs to be potty trained to be in the Argonauts program (based on the RC website) but if he isn't then will he be eligible for the nursery?

 

We are willing to pay for the nursery but we want to be sure that a) they will take him and b) he will be mostly happy.

 

What do parents do with children who are in-between?

 

Any advice would be really appreciated!

 

Thanks!
 

Alex

Edited September 17, 2019 by pisymbol

[Clarea]

Maybe I missed it, but I did not see the ship you are considering.  Not all Royal ships have a nursery and/or a swim diaper splash area.

[pisymbol]

Apologies. You are of course right! First post updated. Anthem of the Sea.

Edited September 17, 2019 by pisymbol

[Grandma Dazzles]

Just FYI age is based on the first day of the cruise, so if he turns 3 during your cruise he would be considered 2. Also, potty trained means totally - no pull-ups, has to be able to wipe, and go to the bathroom independently.  Good luck!

[BNBR]

If this is critical for you to enjoy your vacation, I'd suggest going with Carnival as their programs start at 2 years old and they will handle diapers as well. They don't have the strict potty training requirements. This is for their standard, free camp with all the fun activities. 

 

The nursery on Royal is very much a nursery and may be miserable for a 3 year old.  When my youngest was almost 3, we had to use the nursery and he dealt with it for the most part but it was a fraction of the fun/quality of a full kids camp.  It's not camp. It's just babysitting.  In hindsight, knowing what I know now, it was unfair to him and I would have sailed Carnival, even if it's not as nice a ship as Anthem.

 

You don't want to put your active 3 year old in a tiny quiet nursery with no kids programs. That's not fair. Go with Carnival. 

Edited September 17, 2019 by BNBR

[pisymbol]

9 minutes ago, BNBR said:

You don't want to put your active 3 year old in a tiny quiet nursery with no kids programs. That's not fair. Go with Carnival. 

 

Carnival is pretty much out because we live only an hour away from Cape Liberty.

[pisymbol]

25 minutes ago, Grandma Dazzles said:

Just FYI age is based on the first day of the cruise, so if he turns 3 during your cruise he would be considered 2. Also, potty trained means totally - no pull-ups, has to be able to wipe, and go to the bathroom independently.  Good luck!

 

Yeah, I got that. But accidents do happen even when a kid is "fully potty trained".

[BNBR]

2 minutes ago, pisymbol said:

 

Carnival is pretty much out because we live only an hour away from Cape Liberty.

 

Dang. I guess it is what it is, then. The nursery, again, is very much a nursery. A few toys and the ladies will probably play with him a bit.  But it's not a fun kids program in any way. Personally, I would just wait and book a cruise when you are sure he can do the kids program. And I'm telling you this as someone who put my active almost 3 year old in the nursery, we wouldn't do it again. 

[pisymbol]

2 minutes ago, BNBR said:

 

Dang. I guess it is what it is, then. The nursery, again, is very much a nursery. A few toys and the ladies will probably play with him a bit.  But it's not a fun kids program in any way. Personally, I would just wait and book a cruise when you are sure he can do the kids program. And I'm telling you this as someone who put my active almost 3 year old in the nursery, we wouldn't do it again. 

 

I hear you. Hmmm, not sure what to do....I was hoping someone else might have more positive things to say about the nursery.

 

To be a bit clearer: We aren't interested in dropping him off every single day for hours on end while my wife and I go "play". What I'm looking for are occasional breaks during our stay where my wife and I can do something fun together (maybe some planned activity) while he is still a) safe and b) entertained.

 

Yeah, our window for vacation is pretty strict. If we miss it, we miss it, but that also probably means nothing in 2020 which kinda stinks.

[Grandma Dazzles]

5 minutes ago, pisymbol said:

 

Yeah, I got that. But accidents do happen even when a kid is "fully potty trained".

 

I agree!  I think it can depend on the staff and the ship.  Some may say they are out and cannot return; others might give them a second chance. Heard people say best thing is to take them to  the bathroom yourself  before dropping off, and not to leave them there for too long a period of time. I agree he would have much more fun with the kids’program than the nursery. Hope it works out for you. 

[BNBR]

3 minutes ago, pisymbol said:

 

I hear you. Hmmm, not sure what to do....I was hoping someone else might have more positive things to say about the nursery.

 

To be a bit clearer: We aren't interested in dropping him off every single day for hours on end while my wife and I go "play". What I'm looking for are occasional breaks during our stay where my wife and I can do something fun together (maybe some planned activity) while he is still a) safe and b) entertained.

 

Yeah, our window for vacation is pretty strict. If we miss it, we miss it, but that also probably means nothing in 2020 which kinda stinks.

 

"Entertained" is the tough one. They do have some toys and what not, and the staff did try and keep mine entertained. It may be sufficient for you. Not sure.  

[pisymbol]

This seems kinda promising:

 

 

I'm surprised I didn't see in my first search. But yeah, everyone seems to be on the same page that the Kids Camp program is amazing for a potty trained 3 year old.

 

I HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT: Just make sure he poops in the morning, and let him play with the other kids and hope he just gets a little wet here and there in case he isn't fully potty trained yet. And thanks!

Edited September 17, 2019 by pisymbol

[cujosmom]

You have approximately 6 months to get him potty trained. Both of my boys were potty-trained by 2 years of age. If you and he work at it, he should be completely trained by the cruise.

[BNBR]

2 hours ago, cujosmom said:

You have approximately 6 months to get him potty trained. Both of my boys were potty-trained by 2 years of age. If you and he work at it, he should be completely trained by the cruise.

 

It's not always that simple. It's kind of offensive when you act like it's just the parent not trying. My oldest was potty trained super fast.  Before 2. My youngest just flat our refused until he was 3.  We tried everything. Every technique and suggestion we could find. It wasn't going to happen. It's just the way it is sometimes and kids are different. 

[Gatordad815]

We boarded the Oasis of the Seas on our son’s 3rd birthday, so he was definitely the youngest kid on the ship. We were really concerned he wouldn’t be potty trained as he just wasn’t getting it at all. But we worked overtime at it during the 3 months leading up to the trip and he was pretty well trained by the time we got on board (though we were still worried about accidents).

 

When we dropped him off, we always took him to the bathroom to empty out on the way in. We also asked the staff to remind him to go if too long passed without him going and they told us they always remind the 3 year olds to go. We also tried to check in on him regularly Even before we picked him up.

 

He did have an accident one night and the staff were very easy going about it-even gave him Adventure Ocean shorts to change into and they didn’t even call us to pick him up early.  I think they know the difference between a trained kid that has an accident and a non-trained kid. Or maybe they were just really nice...

 

Sorry I cannot comment on the nursery as we did not use it. I understand your dilemma well as we had the exact same dilemma last year. Fortunately it worked out well for us. I hope it works out as well for you-good luck!

[nalatrixie74]

This was many years ago, so of course things change.  They told us our 3 yr old had 3 chances, if after the 3rd accident he wouldn't be allowed back.  He was potty trained,  but didn't wipe well. We had him go before dropping him off and he did well mostly.  One night he didn't wipe well, they asked his older brother to help clean him up and my son said 'no way!' They called us and were very kind. They gave him some clean shorts while they waited for us to come down.  Just try to work with him if he's ready.  Good luck! 

[pisymbol]

1 hour ago, nalatrixie74 said:

This was many years ago, so of course things change.  They told us our 3 yr old had 3 chances, if after the 3rd accident he wouldn't be allowed back.  He was potty trained,  but didn't wipe well. We had him go before dropping him off and he did well mostly.  One night he didn't wipe well, they asked his older brother to help clean him up and my son said 'no way!' They called us and were very kind. They gave him some clean shorts while they waited for us to come down.  Just try to work with him if he's ready.  Good luck! 

 

How long did you leave him off if you don't mind me asking? I think my idea was 2-4 hours max. Again, even if he wasn't potty trained he'd be OK minus a little wet now and then. Again, this may not be an issue in 6 months.

Edited September 18, 2019 by pisymbol

[gumdrop44]

You need to potty train start now! Otherwise he can't go in any pool except the tiny baby pool that is outside. You need to be pt to go in the inside baby pool.  Read oh crap potty training and just do it. I trained my twins at 19mo and they were good to go on anthem at at 22 months! We used the nursery at bedtime only there's a few tots and they just went to sleep. If you just drop at bed time you cam enjoy your night and not worry about anything. Anthems a good ship but you do not want to go in diapers! I went the time b4 with diapers and it was so annoying. 

[cynt]

We took our niece who had just turned 3 and was potty trained but had occasional accidents. The staff was very kind. She had 1 accident the whole week. It was not a big deal. They didn't kick her out the remainder of the week. 

As others have suggested take him b4 camp and ask the staff to remind him to go to the restroom. For some reason I want to say they took all the kids regularly for a restroom break. But don't quote me.

[CruiseBride926]

5 hours ago, pisymbol said:

 

Carnival is pretty much out because we live only an hour away from Cape Liberty.

Cape liberty is our closest port also however we’ve also sailed carnival out of NY and Baltimore. I would take a little longer of a drive for something that would impact my vacation so greatly. We sailed on a carnival ship with my daughter before she was potty trained and she absolutely loved their kids club.

[pisymbol]

31 minutes ago, CruiseBride926 said:

Cape liberty is our closest port also however we’ve also sailed carnival out of NY and Baltimore. I would take a little longer of a drive for something that would impact my vacation so greatly. We sailed on a carnival ship with my daughter before she was potty trained and she absolutely loved their kids club.

 

I looked. AFAICT, there just aren't cruises sailing out of NY in the time frame I'm talking.

[lovescats5]

Not sure how you are potty training but with my granddaughter we tried those pull-ups and padded underwear and whatever else we could find and finally said we would just put her in regular panties and see how she did.  Never went back to anything, it appeared she just wanted to wear regular underwear.  If you are trying the pull-up you just might want to check out regular underwear for his.

[pisymbol]

Can we not make this thread about how to potty train my son or toddlers in general? It's minimally off topic and frankly, somewhat inappropriate when applied to my son. If my son is potty trained by his third birthday, great. If he isn't, he isn't.

 

I'm more interested in hearing testimonials from those who have been on cruises with children about his age who weren't 100%  potty trained to get an idea on its impact.

[Merion_Mom]

6 hours ago, pisymbol said:

 

I hear you. Hmmm, not sure what to do....I was hoping someone else might have more positive things to say about the nursery.

 

To be a bit clearer: We aren't interested in dropping him off every single day for hours on end while my wife and I go "play". What I'm looking for are occasional breaks during our stay where my wife and I can do something fun together (maybe some planned activity) while he is still a) safe and b) entertained.

 

Yeah, our window for vacation is pretty strict. If we miss it, we miss it, but that also probably means nothing in 2020 which kinda stinks.

 

1 hour ago, pisymbol said:

Can we not make this thread about how to potty train my son or toddlers in general? It's minimally off topic and frankly, somewhat inappropriate when applied to my son. If my son is potty trained by his third birthday, great. If he isn't, he isn't.

 

I'm more interested in hearing testimonials from those who have been on cruises with children about his age who weren't 100%  potty trained to get an idea on its impact.

 

I am a "frequent floater" who loves cruising, but perhaps 2020 should be a land vacation.   There is no reason that you should have "nothing in 2020".

[mayleeman]

9 hours ago, pisymbol said:

What do parents do with children who are in-between?

 

Any advice would be really appreciated!

 

I think your question in the OP allows for advice on the chances of successfully avoiding problems by completing the process in the time you would have if you book. You wanted to know what other parents do with kids in in-between stages--well, they complete it.