Little Potty Vs. Potty Seat on Toilet

Well I have two boys and they both began with a little potty of their own. I would highly recommend the Baby Bjorn potty. Very toddler friendly with no sharp edges and cracks to have to clean out. No bells or whistles, VERY comfortable for them to sit in and so easy to clean. I keep a bottle of Clorox anywhere spray in the bathroom. I just dump, spray and wipe down with some toilet paper, wash my hands and we are done. I think it's important for them to be comfortable with both of the feet able to touch the floor. Then as time passed they moved onto the seat that sits onto the big potty.
Best Regards,
C.

I've used both. I put the little potty outside so when we were outside we didn't have to run so far and risk an accident. In the house I used a kid seat on the regular seat. I have a tiny bathroom (make that tiny house). Plus it was fun to "make it disapear".

although i had all girls..we used the litle potty seat and the big one only becuase if someone else is on the potty already and your little one needs to go..you know they need to go right then and there..and if they wait for the big one to be ready it may be tooo late.....the change in between will set them up for when you go to the store or a resturant...they will be prepaired for the size difference...go luck

I recommend showing him the options and asking him, and also being sure he's ready for it. We bought the little potties but cleaning was yucky, and they seemed more empowered by sitting on the big potty, so the little potty just sat around collecting dust for months. The best solution for us was waiting until our kids were really ready (actually telling us they had to pee or poop, and wanting to do it on the potty without our suggesting it, also when they could pull pants up and down on their own). Then we just took an Ikea stool and slid it under the toilet, and let them sit down on their own without the potty seat (same for boy and girl), directly on the big potty. The problem with the potty seats that fit into the toilet is that they move, and we found it was easier and cleaner to go "bare back" and just use the toilet with a stool. That said, a little potty is cheap, and you can just buy one to keep in the bathroom if he wants one, then see what he prefers. The key to potty training is to wait until they're ready, which may be later than when you're ready. Our daughter was ready at 2.5, but our boy was ready at 3.5. And literally, when they both decided they were ready, that was it. We went out and bought some exciting big kid underwear, and said goodbye to diapers forever! Of course there were accidents, but that's all part of the process...GOOD LUCK TO YOU!

If you use the little potty, you have to RETRAIN them to use the big potty. So unless you want to go thru all that again, skip his own little potty and use the padded potty seats that go over the big toilet. They will also more likely use public bathrooms if they are already used to sitting on the "big potty". Good luck!

we had trouble at first getting my boyfriends son on the big potty, even with the seat on it. so we got a little potty and he took to it right away. we brought it to his grandfathers house one day and accidentally left a part of it there. (this was about a month after buying it). obviously he had to use the seat on the big potty at this point. we never bothered getting the piece of the little potty back because now he likes going on the big potty.
i think it really depends on the child. some kids are afraid of the big potty. some like having their very own potty. some want to go on the big potty and feel like a big kid...so it really depends. if you try the potty seat first and he takes to it, GREAT! if he doesn't then it will always be there later for when he doesn't want his own little potty anymore and he's still too tiny for the grown up seat.

We have both, and we use both every day. We got the Fisher-Price Frog Potty chair at Walmart [Target also has it- it's around $13], which is a great potty chair! And a Safety 1st brand toilet seat [with handles on each side- definitely a great addition] to put on the regular toilet seat. Get a small step stool that wont slide on the floor. My son is 2.5 and with the frog potty or using the stool for the regular toilet, he can go potty all by himself now [depending on how tricky his pants are to take off].

By the way, as for cleaning the potty chair- if it's pee, it's no big deal. If it's poop, I've found that it is much easier to put like 5-6 wipes on top, and wipe/scoop it up rather than dump it. Then rinse it out. I used to rinse it out first but sometimes it doesn't all rinse off, and then I wipe it anyway, so it's just easier and less gross to do it in that order.

I went straight for potty seat. She's still in training, but right now in the intro phase. My daughter is 2 yr 4 mo. She still uses diaper, but whenever we are home before bath and before sleep/clean up time I would ask her if she would like to do it in her potty. Right now it's sometimes yes, sometimes no. Just today I saw her doing her big motion in diaper, asked her, and she said no. Yesterday, she was eagerly shooing me away from the toilet so that she can pass motion in her potty.

I kind of told her that the toilet she's using is hers and hers alone. She has a step stool for the sink. I'm thinking of getting another stool small enough but also high enough just for the potty so I don't have to bend over to move it all the time. If the toilet are shared, then it may be a bit of a hassle, but in the end, he still needs to end up in the big potty with a potty seat. A hassle of putting away is still better than a hassle of cleaning up poo.

I also feel the potty seat are more comfortable because they support better.

Good luck. I'm going to the next phase...big girl's panties at home.

The only way we got our son to use any potty was by letting him sit on the regular toilet seat backwards, facing the tank. he felt safer that way and he had hated the little pee caps on the plastic potty seats. we spent money trying every kind of seat to buy and he never liked any of them! i'm hoping his little brother uses some of the ones we spent good money on!

the only thing our little potty has ever been used for is a step stool. our son only wanted the potty seat, and our daughter has NO interest in potty training at this time.

I'd say whichever they're willing to use, but I'd personally prefer the little potty seat!

I started out with a little potty but then it was gross having to clean it constantlly; so I switched to the seat that goes on the potty. It really does depend on the child...but eventually he/she will have to learn to use the regular potty anyhow...so my thought is to not add extra steps...just start out with the potty that goes on the toilet. :)

This may be unpopular, but I say neither. My boys are learning by sitting on the back edge of the regular toilet seat. It keeps the mess to a minimum, and if you are out you don't have to worry about bringing any equipment because they are used to a regular seat. Both the little potty and the seat on the toilet made a mess any time they peed. Now we just use the little potty as a step for hand washing. I say save your money. Good luck.

I trained my daughter on the "big potty"m then one day she had an accident cause her brother was using the potty & she couldn't hold it. She had a royal cow cause she went on herself...needless to say I learned my lesson...we have a little potty for times when someone is using the potty & 1 of my kids needs to go!

We have a little potty for downstairs and a potty seat upstairs. My daughter loves to use them both. We spent most of the time at the beginning just using the little potty because she could get on and off it herself. She was only 16 months when she started potty training and I had just had my 2nd daughter, so it was important that she be able to do it by herself. The cleaning wasn't too bad, just dump into the toilet, rinse with water, then clean with some sort of cleaner. Good luck and happy potty training!

I haven't read all the responses, so this may be a repeat, but pediatricians really say that if a young child is going to be sitting on an adult toilet, that child needs a stool under his/her feet. Basically (and forgive the technical detail), if they can't brace their feet against something, they can't force the poop out, and this leads to all sorts of intestinal upset.

Aside from that, I'd say it's important to choose something your son feels comfortable with and that he "owns." My own son never liked the potty seats -- they felt a little unstable to him, and when he was starting a big, new, scary thing, he really wanted his feet planted firmly on the ground. But some kids love them -- just take your son to Target or wherever with you, let him choose the potty, let him "decorate" it, etc. Good luck!

I used the potty seat on the toilet. My thought was, why teach him to go on the little potty only to have then teach him to go on the big potty. I was looking for the shortest path to potty training. With that said, I also waited and let my son rule the show. We started talking and showing him at 18 months and offering him the opportunity to use the potty and just kept really talking about him using it when he was ready. Got to the point where he'd just keep telling me that he'd go "when he was a big boy, but not just yet" I let it go at that and allowed him to take the lead according to his interest,which he did on and off until he was between 2.5 and 3. All of a sudden he said "I'm big now Mommy" and just took off going on the potty from there. We did use a reward - b/c once he really took interest they were doing that at school but once his "reward" was done, I didn't replace it. It was the EASIEST thing ever and theres not much I can say has been easy with my son - LOL! We are working on nightime trianing now too but again, letting my son run the show which basically means, no pull ups at night and either he wakes up soaked or he doesn't. He hasn't woken up in the middle of the night yet either way. ??? I think when he pee's, if he does, that its more toward morning anyway, but he's at a 50%/50% rate right now of being dry and wet. My suggestion is, let your son take the lead and you guide him positively along his path.

potty seat for sure! My daughter had/has both and she once used it to stand on, make it tip over (after she peed in it) and pee went everywhere! Gross!
My daughter is 2 1/2 and she's already stopped using the potty seat. She'd rather "be big". Saves me the cleanup! :)
Good luck!

I brought the little potty....thinking my daughter would find it interesting and use it but she thought it was more of a toy than a potty. She never used it and we ended up buying the potty seat. The potty seat is great...no cleaning and she like it more. I would suggest you to get the potty seat.

Some kids love a potty. My son has absolutely no interest in it. We got him a toilet seat from One Step Ahead. It folds up like a step stool, and also like a step stool it has a step, so he can climb on by himself and also have a place for his feet when he's sitting.

Good luck!
B.

I have a family seat on the toilet in my home daycare and LOVE it! It's a regular toilet seat that has a smaller seat attached on the same hinge. When not in use, the smaller seat fits up into the lid and stays out of the way, but little ones can just pull it down when they need it. I think potty chairs are gross and unnecessary, except to keep in the car for emergencies. I tried a removable potty seat for a while, the kind that fits on top of the regular toilet seat, but they get pee on them and drip when removed. I have potty trained dozens of kids on my family seat and have had great results all around. Good luck!

My first 3 hated and refused to use the potty seat and it just ended up as a step stool--which was it alternative use anyway. My 2 yr old is being introduced to the potty. It is funny becaus my husband bought a potty seat the same day I bought a on the toilet seat. It was kind of a contest to see what she preferred. The small seat is currently in the basement because it kept getting in the way. She will not sit on it.