Toilet, Toilet Seat, or Potty?

rovingminstrel · December 2014

What did you decide to use with your kids (girls in particular)? Stand-alone potties make sense at home, but I can't imagine lugging one around everywhere. But an adult toilet could be tricky to conquer when you're barely 3 feet tall... What worked for your kids?? DD is 18mos and still really likes playing in toilets... which is complicating my decision, lol. TIA!

ashiscute · December 2014

We potty trained DD at 26 mos and are working on DS at 27 mos. I've used the potty ring for both of them. There were a few days where DS wasn't pooping on the potty and I thought about doing the potty chair but he's figured it out.

At the beginning we've had to put my kids on potty and teach them how to climb with a stool. But they do fine up there.

beckcour · January 2015

We have an insert and a little potty. DD chooses which one she'd like to go on. It's worked very well. She's gotten used to the big potty but can still go on the little one when sometime else is in the bathroom. The little one is also convenient to slip under them if you do a naked day and they start peeing, instead of trying to run them to the bathroom. DD gets a lot of satisfaction out of dumping out her little potty too.

Edit -- DD is 27 months.

CageyMack · January 2015

Little potty, mostly. Easier when they are running around naked to get themselves to it independently. We have an insert for the regular toilet, and sometimes DS likes to use it (though I can't figure out what motivates the choice, besides novelty).

For out and about, we started early on with both kids to learn how to be held on a big toilet or on the ground to pee. Sometimes I throw a little potty in the back of the car, but most places have a toilet you can use. Man, I know where about 30 toilets are in our small town! And most stores won't refuse you and your toddler, even if they don't have a public bathroom.

Really, learning how to let them pee on the ground is a good thing, too, and saves a lot of drama. With DD she spent a ton of time outside at around 18months/2 years and learned how to squat and pee. Did I show her how? Yep. And she thought it was AWESOME! DS just learned how to pee standing up (and, yes, I help him not pee on himself), and it is RAD to have him pee behind the car if we are trapped out and about. Saves a lot of anxiety!

It really isn't that hard to teach a girl the same thing. With DD, we had her bottoms off, hold her under the armpits or around the ribs and you face each other. Do it right and her little bottom will kind of be pushed back, so she won't pee on her feet. "Shake your bottom," a quick wipe, and back in unders.

jennyelf · January 2015

Seat, I just had no desire to clean out a potty ever. The seat has worked out fine for us, we have a stool in the bathroom as well so that kiddo can climb up on his own. He stands on it to pee now.

When out and about, I got a 2 in 1 foldable seat. the sides fold and lock either flat as a seat or at 90 degrees to form a free-standing potty that you can attach a bag to in order to capture the waste. Kiddo seems very capable of holding it for quite a while, so I've never had to test the free standing mode, but as seat, it's nice and compact and fits in a diaper bag.

At 32 months, kiddo can now balance on an adult toilet pretty well when we use public restrooms.

rovingminstrel · January 2015

Thanks for all the advice!

sugarbear0524 · January 2015

We just went for it with DS. We put him in underwear from the beginning. He stood up from day 1 to pee. We took him potty wherever we were--restaurants, the mall, church, etc. He learned to go wherever he was.

It was (and still is, sometimes) a pain to do it that way but I think he learned it more quickly. He didn't have to make the transition to the bigger potty, to underwear, etc. separately. A lot of yucky laundry for a while but he is doing great now!

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