Peeing on ground, car wheel, trees, grass, etc.

[SaveTheWild]

So I am wondering if I am weird about this or if others do it too. With both my girls (my potty trained 3 yo and my lazily ec'd 6 mo old) when we are out and about and they need to pee I go to a somewhat private place, pull down their drawers and hold them up so they can pee. My older dd has done this pretty much everywhere, and we have names for it (grass peep, tire peep, parking lot peep, etc.)

Sanitary? I guess I am unconcerned about it. It is just a little bit of kid pee, so who cares if it is in a parking lot. I would also way rather have her pee in the parking lot than in a public restroom most of the time.

But I feel like I don't see other people do this much, so I came here for a weirdo check. So, am I a weirdo?

[JMJ]

My baby poops a lot, so much that I have to assume that any particular time I let her go, she might just decide to poop too. I would be really uncomfortable with leaving poop, even just ebf poop, just anywhere, so I only potty her in bathrooms. If I could trust that all she'd do is pee, from a sanitation perspective, I don't have a problem with a baby peeing anywhere a dog pees, but I'm not sure I'd have the guts to do it.

[desamom]

I am a "late-starter" to EC (started when DD was about 13 months old) and we only recently abandoned diapers completely (she is now 18 months old).

I have also been thinking about the peeing wherever in public question because I know that when she says "pee pee" I have to act fast! Personally, I have no problem with kids peeing anywhere that dogs pee (just like previous poster said), but it's been hard for me to actually do it. I find it easier when it's dark i.e. the other night in the stroller on the way home she said "pee pee" and I took her out and held her in a pile of leaves on the side of the road. Previous to that she had said pee pee when we were en route somewhere (again in the stroller) and I just told her we were going as fast as we could and I raced to the nearest cafe, which was about a 2 minute walk away. I felt funny letting her pee on the sidewalk that time.

So I guess this is just to say that I think it's totally fine, but I personally find it easier to do it in some places over others. Like I would not hesitate in the park, but might have a hard time on the sidewalk, ya know?

[theboysmama]

Originally Posted by SaveTheWild

So I am wondering if I am weird about this or if others do it too. With both my girls (my potty trained 3 yo and my lazily ec'd 6 mo old) when we are out and about and they need to pee I go to a somewhat private place, pull down their drawers and hold them up so they can pee. My older dd has done this pretty much everywhere, and we have names for it (grass peep, tire peep, parking lot peep, etc.)

Sanitary? I guess I am unconcerned about it. It is just a little bit of kid pee, so who cares if it is in a parking lot. I would also way rather have her pee in the parking lot than in a public restroom most of the time.

But I feel like I don't see other people do this much, so I came here for a weirdo check. So, am I a weirdo?

My guess is that lost of people do that and you just don't notice bcs they are somewhat descreet or not blatant about it. My kids pee a lot of places usually out of the way for hte older ones. I pee the baby a lot right before I put her in the car so it is usually in a parking lot between parked cars and I try to make sure no one is looking. I pee her in gutters also. It allows me to be able to sit on the curb and dangle her between my legs and then it isn't that obvious what I am doing plus gutters are yucky. We have had a few surprise poops and I just clean those up like I would if I was walking my dog.
I think it is completely your comfort level although I don't know what the legal implications of public urination are. I like to be completely ignorant in that department.

[lisavark]

I do it all the time and have peed DD pretty much everywhere. We recently switched to underwear full-time during the day so waiting till we find a bathroom is really not an option anymore! But I've been peeing her all over the place ever since we started EC--so pretty much her whole life. She went through a stage when she would ONLY pee outside...at that point I was taking her out in our backyard to pee. Before that we lived in an apartment and all my neighbors got used to me peeing her out in the courtyard. My lovely neighbor that we shared the deck with didn't mind at all when I peed her in their potted plants!--although I tried to avoid that.

I usually look for a grassy area and try to be discreet about it, like close to the car or behind a tree. I actually look for grass when I park now. I used to feel a little self-conscious about it, but honestly, I don't think people notice. The other day I peed DD at the playground, and I wasn't too discreet about it, really--just went near some bushes and peed her with my back to the playground and her facing the bushes. I came back to the swings and a mom there asked me if I was the mom who runs the local Diaper Free Baby group (I am). I laughed and asked if she's seen me peeing DD. She was like, no, I just recognized you from seeing you before--you were peeing DD? So she *knew* I was an EC'er and still didn't notice what I was doing. Which made me think that people probably aren't usually watching too closely what you're doing with your baby when you're being a bit private about it. Generally, I bet they imagine you're changing a diaper, and they don't want to glimpse some poop!

Oh, and DD is regular with her poops so I don't have to worry about that, but it's happened once or twice that she surprised me. I just scooped it with a wipe (we use disposable wipes when out) and threw it in the trash. If it ever happens when I stop taking wipes with me, I might be a bit lost...but that will probably not happen for a long time since they're so useful for washing hands and such.

[BarefootScientist]

I don't think the dog analogy quite works, because it's a baby/child, not a dog. Yk? Would it be ok for a grown man to pee there?

I do this to an extent, and mostly when my baby was tiny. Now that he is a toddler, we use the designated bathroom, unless we're out hiking or something. I think it's good to teach that there is an appropriate place to go potty. My DH does more of the "public places" pottying than I do, but always discreetly.

I think it's totally fine in the bushes at a park or something, but by a car tire in the parking lot is a little over-the-top, unless it's a tiny tiny baby. IMO.

[SaveTheWild]

Originally Posted by BarefootScientist

I think it's totally fine in the bushes at a park or something, but by a car tire in the parking lot is a little over-the-top, unless it's a tiny tiny baby. IMO.

SO I guess this is my question. Why is it weird/over the top? Is it because it is seemingly unsanitary? Beacuse kiddos nether regions shouldn't be exposed in public? Other reasons? I am not really that concerned about either of those things (well, I should change that to say that I don;t think that it is really all that unsanitary, and they are usually mostly hidden. only a little glimpse of tush is ever really likely). But I wonder if my standards of santitary and nudity are out of whack.

Now, I wouldn't pee in the parking lot myself. I guess it just seems different to me with kids. my oldest is three, but still seems little enough that it is ok.

[yamilee21]

As long as you aren't in Mobile, Alabama.

Many places have ordinances or laws against public urination; enforcement may be another matter.

[KermitII63]

Peeing outside

It doesn't bother me at all from a sanitary perspective, I just don't want other people to notice and think I'm nuts ;o) If I'm outside I'd rather offer him a pee than let him go in his diaper, since I use prefolds and usually carry him in the moby, so if it goes through it goes through to me. I try to be discreet about it though. And since he's just a few months old, it's next to impossible to clean his poo, it's too watery, but I do try to choose an out of the way location like a patch of grass by some trees or a bush. My husband takes him outside more than I do and doesn't seem at all concerned with public opinion, and you're right, no one ever seems to notice anyway.

[BarefootScientist]

Originally Posted by SaveTheWild

SO I guess this is my question. Why is it weird/over the top? Is it because it is seemingly unsanitary? Beacuse kiddos nether regions shouldn't be exposed in public? Other reasons? I am not really that concerned about either of those things (well, I should change that to say that I don;t think that it is really all that unsanitary, and they are usually mostly hidden. only a little glimpse of tush is ever really likely). But I wonder if my standards of santitary and nudity are out of whack.

Now, I wouldn't pee in the parking lot myself. I guess it just seems different to me with kids. my oldest is three, but still seems little enough that it is ok.

I'm not really sure what my problem with it is. Not really that it's unsanitary, maybe just because it is not done in our culture. I said it was ok for little tiny babies and you said you wouldn't pee in the parking lot yourself, so I think we are just drawing the line at different ages. To me, three is too old to pee in a parking lot. I wouldn't pee my 2-year old in a parking lot (although my DH might). JMO.

Edit: what makes it not ok for you but ok for your 3 yo? Is it that you are past puberty? Just curious.

[fiikske]

Hi, I've ECd my youngest daughter since the age of 10weeks. At that time, we lived in China, so it was very common to just go anywhere. I kindof knew the poop-timings, and most of the time we were at home or somebody elses home anyway, so enough respectable places...
But when we're out and about, we've done it everywhere already ;-) Parking lots, grass, bushes,... we do it discreetly of course... but we've marked our terrain that's for sure ;-)
By the way, my eldest is 6 years old.. and if the only thing we got is a parking lot, then the parking lot it shall be. Moreover, we're living in Belgium, and if you want to use the bathroom somewhere, you usually have to pay. Whether it is a child or not. Of course, it's not a big amount, but just the idea to have to pay for peeing annoys me. So I'm avoiding those places anyway...

KR,
Fiikske

[rissierae]

No, I don't think you're a weirdo! I let my son pee where ever it's convienient. I try to look for somewhere private (mostly for his sake). I don't know if other people notice or not. The only time I saw someone looking at us was on the side of the road just after we got off of the highway exit. And even then I was so oblivious that I couldn't figure out why she would be staring at us until I was back on the road driving again! I said to myself "Ooooh, she must have seen Lysander peeing!" hahaha

I think if people do see you pottying your kids (especially your baby), they will most likely be looking at the fact that your baby is peeing on command, not thinking about sanitary issues. And I actually think it's common for a kid of "normal" potty training age to go where ever because people understand that little kids can't always wait.