Mum's The Word - May 17, 2016

William has had it sorted indoors for a couple of months now, but it seemed rather mean to expose him in the middle of a freezing cold downpour, so we haven’t dared try potty training outside in winter.

So with the warmer weather, I decided we should finally brave the task outdoors.

I thought I carried enough baby paraphernalia around when William was first born.

But I hadn’t taken into account all the stuff you need for potty training outside – countless changes of clothes, nappies and wipes just in case it all goes horribly wrong and, of course, a potty.

And ours is pretty huge.

I still haven’t remembered to buy one of those foldable ones, so I end up chucking it inside one of the those massive bags for life – yet another bag to lug around. Oh joy.

I played it safe the first time and went into town, where I knew there were at least three family friendly toilets within two minutes’ walk of each other – or even less if we ran in a really desperate situation!

And he did brilliantly – using his potty in the toilets of a popular department store.

After that success, we’ve been to Stanley Park and crouched behind a tree (William was doing the crouching, not me!), gone to a singing toddler group, enjoyed a two-hour walk in the Lakes (having a stop-off in the lay-by of a dual carriageway on the way) and even done the big shop – without any accidents.

William has even enjoyed a spot of bird-watching while sat on his potty.

Who said men couldn’t multi-task?