How is it less work? Well, when you miss, it's the same amount of work as changing a wet diaper, unless you're home and doing diaper free... then it may be more or less work, depending on your flooring. ;-) When you catch, it's WAY less work, because you just pull up their pants, dump the potty (or flush the toilet or rinse the sink or whatever) and go on about your business. And the amount of time total you spend changing diapers, especially poopy ones, is MUCH shorter... most of DS's peers are still peeing and pooping in their diapers :-(, and we've been totally done with that with VERY few exceptions for a year and a half! So it's more work up front, for less work in the long run.
I did carry our Little Potty around for a while, when it was the ONLY thing DS would pee in. ;-) Then he started rejecting it completely, but he was also big enough to stand up, so he could pee in the bushes just fine. ;-) I've never had a negative comment about him peeing in the bushes or on a tree; I do try to be discreet, of course.
Once we were using the ONLY strip of plant-like substance available, which was actually in front of an apartment building (up against the building, not a parkway), and this made me very nervous. I got even MORE nervous when a couple walked out of the building and right by us! And they did comment, to each other... the woman said, "Que lindo bebe!" and the man agreed. ;-) ("What a pretty baby!") It helps to be in a diverse urban area. People are just less fazed at seeing people do things differently, I think, because it happens all the time.
And, of course, now that my son is 3 (and since he was... hm... 19 months or so), we haven't had to carry anything or do anything special. We just take him to the toilet. Well, ok, we had a bit there where he would only poop being held over the sink :-(, but he rarely pooped outside the house. When he said he needed to, if it wasn't feasible to use the sink (I'll only do it if it's a private one-off bathroom, so I can wash it thoroughly before anyone else gets there), I'd tell him it was the toilet or hold it. He never had an accident, though he usually refused the toilet. ;-) After we moved into this house (when he was a bit past 2.5), my husband managed to teach him to use the toilet for pooping instead of the sink. Still don't know exactly how he did that!
I did carry our Little Potty around for a while, when it was the ONLY thing DS would pee in. ;-) Then he started rejecting it completely, but he was also big enough to stand up, so he could pee in the bushes just fine. ;-) I've never had a negative comment about him peeing in the bushes or on a tree; I do try to be discreet, of course.
Once we were using the ONLY strip of plant-like substance available, which was actually in front of an apartment building (up against the building, not a parkway), and this made me very nervous. I got even MORE nervous when a couple walked out of the building and right by us! And they did comment, to each other... the woman said, "Que lindo bebe!" and the man agreed. ;-) ("What a pretty baby!") It helps to be in a diverse urban area. People are just less fazed at seeing people do things differently, I think, because it happens all the time.
And, of course, now that my son is 3 (and since he was... hm... 19 months or so), we haven't had to carry anything or do anything special. We just take him to the toilet. Well, ok, we had a bit there where he would only poop being held over the sink :-(, but he rarely pooped outside the house. When he said he needed to, if it wasn't feasible to use the sink (I'll only do it if it's a private one-off bathroom, so I can wash it thoroughly before anyone else gets there), I'd tell him it was the toilet or hold it. He never had an accident, though he usually refused the toilet. ;-) After we moved into this house (when he was a bit past 2.5), my husband managed to teach him to use the toilet for pooping instead of the sink. Still don't know exactly how he did that!
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