I am looking for advice on a good potty chair. My son just turned two and is a little curious about the potty and want to get him started but am not in a big rush. I just want to know what people have liked and why. We do have a seat to go over the toilet but he just seems too little for that yet. Thank you in advance.
My son never took to an actual potty chair. We even tried the over the toilet thing you mentioned. What he eventually did was learned to sit on it backwards and go. Backwards sounds funny, but they can learn to get on and off all by himself. And they have better balance, and are less likely to "fall in".
My son is 22 months, and I've only ever put him on the toilet with a potty seat. He does just fine, and he's kind of a pip-squeak (7th percent for weight and 15 for height). I used a potty chair for my first son on occasion, but really wasn't a fan of cleaning it out... especially for pooping! If you can get him used to the toilet, I say, go with that.
Jessica
We use a couple of things:
We got a kid urinal from One Step Ahead that my son loves because it is just his size and he can go like a big boy and I don't have to worry about the toilet lid slamming down on him.
We also have a potty chair - I don't think it matters much except that you have one that has a good "lip" in front for boys.
For the big potty, we have a Cushie Step Up Potty Seat with Step Stool. This sits on the toilet and they have a step and handles attached to help them up onto the seat and not fall in. I carry them in my store if you are interested - email me at [email protected].
Kelly
We actually had really bizarre experiences with potty chairs. The chair I bought for him was not built for a boy, at least, not my boy. It had the hole in the front, supposedly for his penis to point down into the bowl, but he didn't fit. The space from the backside of his bottom to the front of his penis was too wide (on my child, not the chair...my child is not overweight, and he was 2 when we first tried the potty chair) for his penis to fit comfortably in the chair. So...right away, that killed our potty chair idea.
We quit potty training when I got pregnant, and started up again at about 2 1/2. At that time, his daycare was also working hard with us (we didn't tell them at 2; it was just us trying it out) and since potty chairs are sanitary issues, they just used a stool and well, the stool, for all the kids, girls and boys.
That habit started, we found it easy to continue using just the toilet. Also, we trained our first son in Washington state, so we let him pee off the deck, year round, which is not a cruel concept in Washington in February. :)
With our second, we'll probably avoid the potty chair, also. The hard part is pooping; they can't relax if they have to support their bum. I think we borrowed one of those seats that fits on the toilet from someone for a little while, but again, daycare just had their regular seat, so he learned to cope with just a footstool as support there, too.
I can't recommend the Baby Bjorn potty chair highly enough. It is only two pieces and is very easy to clean. There is no edge, everything is rounded - so you dont' run into the problem that other potties have for boys, which is being too sharp. I think Babies R Us has it in white, but you can order other colors online.
I would give him options and see what he wants to run with. We got the Baby Bjorn potty chair which got good ratings for boys. We also have the family potty seat from One Step Ahead. When he started out he was almost 3 and is a big boy. While he fit well into the Baby Bjorn, because his friend went in the toilet, that's what he wanted to do. SO he started out using the family potty seat with his little opening to support him better. (We also had a nice stable stool for him to climb up on). This worked great. Then when he was more confident he wanted to use "mommy's seat." After the novelty of the new independence wore off, nothing seemed to get him to go. We even had him try the backward method...he was more frightened by that for some reason. And he did not want to stand and potty into the toilet or potty chair either. Finally my brother told me that they had success with the Royal Potty from Fisher Price. I was VERY reluctant since I thought he would have no interest in a potty chair that made music when he went. Well, we put it in the living room and it was a HUGE success. I had borrowed one, so we had to go out and get one. It is still his favorite, although he will go on anything now. The inserts you can set in the toilet and have padded seats with characters on are fun too. He can easily do it himself. There are also some folding insertsd you can use for public toilets if he is scared about falling in. Kids are all so different regarding their potty issues. Be willing to try anything, but you may luck out and not need to!
Good luck!
Baby Bjorn makes a great chair. It's easy to clean and for child to sit down on. Also has a great shield for boys. We also have one from IKEA. Very simple one-piece that's also easy to clean and is inexpensive.
Baby Bjorn! Don't get one with a lid or movable pieces (like I did at first). They only want to play with the lid. Pea Pods in St. Paul has them in several colors and two sizes. This one is built right.
Hello and Good Morning :)
All kids are different but My son and daughter didn't like their potty chair- they wanted to sit on the "BIG BOY/GIRL" potty- Like Mom and Dad. Our Son was out of Diapers at 3 and our daughter by 2.... we used the M&M's go #1 get 2- go #2 get 4....I think that it helped??
I wish you luck- but I think "They are right!" When they are ready the are ready!!
Good luck- I wish you the best
Baby Bjorn!
I'm not quite where you are yet (my son's 20 months, so I'll be there soon) but I was just going to get one from IKEA. It's a more natural position for the child (sort of like how they crouch behind the couch when they need to you-know-what), and low to the ground, so it's easy to get onto. Also, it's all one piece, so it would be much easier to clean, I imagine, than all of these other ones with tons of parts. That being said, I am totally not looking forward to cleaning them!! I guess it's better than diapers, right? :)
Good luck!
Neither of our kids did well with a potty chair. I recommend a seat that sits on the toilet. They can't get up and down as easy and they think they are doing good by being like big people. Good luck.
My daughter never liked her potty chair and wanted to "go on the big girl potty!" We got a potty seat that fits over the toilet and she didn't even like that at first! After one time of almost falling in the toilet without the seat, she now uses her potty seat without problem. She too is a small 2 year old and doesn't have any issues with the seat. We have a step stool that she uses to climb off and on the toilet.
Just let your son pick one out at the store. The more control they have over the situation the easier it is to train them. We all ready had a potty chair that my oldest picked out so my younger two did not get the choice. They were pretty difficult to start using it and wanted their own. I never backed down as I thought what a waste of money when we all ready had one, but then of course we ended up spending just as much on diapers waiting for them to give up and use the one we had. We had a fisher price one that would make sounds when they actually went in the potty, but the bad thing about those is that they like to hear the sounds so they will just stick their hands in the potty to make it sing to them, ish! Use something light weight and easy to take with you on trips too. Our daughter is totally potty trained, but will not use the toilets in restrooms or other peoples homes. She has to have her potty even though she only uses the big potty at home. I swear 3 year olds all have OCD, but thank goodness it is just a phase:)
yeah, definatly a potty chair is awesome - they can touch their little feet to the floor, and that makes them feel more steady. the big potty can be scary cuz they are unbalanced.
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2267519
this is the one i got for my son - and it is nice. the whole bowl comes out, no drawer bowl, or anything, and its really easy to dump and clean! :D
We had a potty chair with my first son. It worked, but I hated cleaning the thing. Especially after the stinky's.
With my 2nd son and my daughter, we got the kid size 'ring' that fits over the big potty. I helped them get on and off until they could do it on their own. I was in the bathroom with them anyway so helping wasn't an issue.
Good Luck!
Pam, Shakopee
mother to 3 kids (9, 7, 3)
1st time Gestational Surrogate due Jan 09!
I totally agree with the bjorn potty, the bigger sized one. I bought one for my son but he looked so big on it at like 20 months so I returned it and bought this one. He is almost 22 months now and has peed on it 5 times (we just moved so he lost interest lately), including the day I bought it. It has a wide, easy to clean bowl and they can see the pee since it is white (they have other colors). No pinching or lots of parts to clean or to distract them. Read the reviews at babies/toys r us and they are all good, thats how I decided to try it out!
We love the Baby Bjorn potty chair. Easy to clean!
I love the baby bjorn chair, the bigger one. We had a safety first one with a cushy seat and stopped using it. There were a lot of parts and the seat shape was too round I thought. The bjorn is easy to clean and it has a little back support. I think it kind of looks like a regular toilet!