A Little Potty or a Toilet Seat??

I am a toilet seat person! It takes up less space, is easier to clean up, etc, etc! You can even take it with you when you want to. And no real transition from it to going without.
Good luck (and may patience be with you!)!

I personally find it easier to teach my son to use an adult toilet with a seat on it (cushy and with handles), than to have him go in a bucket (basically) and have to clean him and the bucket. Why deal with dumping waste from one container to another when on a real toilet you flush and you're done? I think my son's seat is by First Years and was inexpensive at Wal-Mart. He has been using it since 9 months and has never had a problem - other than sometimes being impatient because there are so many more interesting things to do than sit on a toilet! Good luck.

I think potty vs. toilet seat really depends on the kid. My daughter LOVES her baby bjorn little potty. She's 3.5 and still prefers to go on it. They're both pretty cheap (bjorns about $10, insert about $5), so maybe you could give both a try?

K..

My son prefers the toilet with a padded potty seat with handles. That way, when he poops, he can hold the handles (his feet do not reach the floor, but they need something to brace themselves against). The best potty seat I found is Winnie the Pooh, and I got it at Babies R Us.

It's great because it is padded, has handles, and has a more rounded pee guard than the rectangular one that usually comes with padded seats. He won't use that kind of pee guard at all because it presses into his legs. You HAVE to get a pee guard, though, because otherwise pee will be everywhere when they sit down. He stands to pee unless he has to poop. And we keep the bigger baby bjorn in the car in case he has to potty on the go.

In public restrooms, we always go to the handicapped stall, and he stands on the rim, leans forward, and holds onto the silver bar. That way he doesn't touch the toilet.

Hi K.,

I'd suggest the toilet seat insert...it's easier to transition then when it's time to use the big toilet only. Just be careful about the 'cup' used with little boys...get one that is flexible and tall enough to do the job. I made the mistake of buying a smaller one and we had a mess to clean up.

Good luck...maybe you should look online first and save yourself some running around. I bought the first one at WalMart and was not pleased after I opened it up. I think it was a specialty baby store where I finally found one that had a tall enough cup.

W. Q

Oh yah...get a small step stool also. It's easy for him to independently climb up plus his feet aren't left dangling as much.

if he is interested in the adult potty use that to your advantage...saves you a step in teaching him to use the little one and then re-teaching on the adult one...follow his cues though...my daughter loves the adult potty but feels very awkward on it and it really freaks her out...so i choose my battles and enjoy the fact i would rather clean out the little potty than her pants...each child is their own person.

Since my son was all ready interested in the big potty, I got a potty seat so I wouldn't confuse him with a seperate one for him ya know? It works out well when he decides to go potty!

My best suggestion would be to get one of both and see which one he likes the most. My son loves the little potty seat you put on the big potty but every kid is different.

Walmart has a 3 in 1 seat that you can use either on the "big potty" or by itself. The base becomes a step stool when the top it on the toilet. It wasn't very expensive either.

My son started training at day care and they had him stand to pee. He was 2 to 2 1/2 while he was learning. They kept telling us he would go for them and then he would get home and we would sit him on the potty and he would not go. Once we found out he was standing and would let him stand at home, he was trained in no time. We tried to let him stand with the little potty, but that was messy. We had him stand on a step stool and he would hold onto the toilet seat (while it was up) and then we didn't have to worry about him 'aiming'. Good luck!

My daughter has preferred using a toilet seat insert (Dora was her choice) as opposed to a potty chair. Some kids prefer the smaller size potty chair though because the larger one scares them. It really is up to your son. It sounds like he would be okay with the toilet insert if he is so interested in the adult toilet. One piece of advise though, if you do get a potty chair, do NOT get one that makes music or has fun designs, just get the plain one. I got one that was animated because I thought my daughter would be more interested in using it-she was, but using it as a toy not a potty chair, she wouldn't sit on it to go potty, but she did use the plain jane one I bought one or two times. She prefers the insert now though because she's more like mommy. My daughter started training about six months ago and it has been very slow, some days better than others. My best advise would be not to push things to hard (unless he is older, like 3 or 4), he will let you know when he is ready to be completly out of diapers. Good luck!

My son is 2 also. He's got a potty chair all ready to go, but I'm also thinking of getting him a urinal that flushes. They have these at WalMart and ToysRUs and such. My brother is 12 years younger than me, so I helped with his potty training. I never understood the concept of sitting a little boy on a potty chair to urinate. It seemed messy to me. We just stood him up in front of the toilet, tossed in a Cheerio and told hin to aim. Worked for us.

Hi K.!
my son just recently got potty trained as well...we are actually still working on the overnight potty training. he will be 3 in february. we received the little potty chair as a gift and he considered it more a toy to play with rather than to potty in. i bought the toilet insert about a month ago...and it worked like magic. he loves to "hear" when he is going to the bathroom and the whole concept of having to flush the toilet. we also have a step stool for him to use so he can get on there by himself. he just recently started standing up and he uses the step stool for that as well. i believe that each child has their own way of learning...hopefully you can find the best way for your son. good luck!! :)

We used both for our son, but the little potty he quickly lost interest in - like yours, he was very interested in the toilet. And he wants to be just like us, not on a separate little potty of his own. So I would recommend the insert, especially since it was cheaper too!

My son wanted nothing to do with the potty until I taught him how to stand up to go, then he was pretty much good to go with in a week or so. But he was also just about to turn 4 as well, so he had the concept down, it was just a matter of him getting to go.

The best way I started both of my sons on potty training, and it worked great for me, is I would put them on the adult potty, but turn them around facing the tank. I would put some toys up there so it was like a little play desk and he would be content to stay until he went potty, at which time I removed him.

L. Reed

Hi K.,

I recently went through the joys of potty training and my 2 1/2 yr old is now fully "day" potty trained (meaning she still wears pull-ups at night). I personally chose to use the potty seat that fits into the adult toilet. My reasoning was because I had known kids that had used the separate potty chair and then wouldn't "go" anywhere but there and it became another ordeal to transition them from the separate chair to the adult toilet. I figured one major change was enough to deal with. The other things that concerned me with the separate chair was what she would do when we were out in public since the only option would be the adult toilet. Lastly, I did not want to have to clean it everytime she went. Every child is different and to be fair I've known children that were successful with both, it's probably best to just figure out what works best for him. Good luck!

I have a 3-yr-old son who was just potty-trained this past August (he was 2 years 10 months old at the time). So this advice comes from recent experience.

I would go with the little potty chair. If it weren't for that, we would've had to lift him up onto the adult toilet every time he had to go -- while potty-training, that was at least every 20 minutes. However, we had one with the removable rubber flap and hated it! That thing never stayed in place, so I ended up taping it. I was recently stressing over how to teach him to pee standing up 'cause then he could use the regular toilet. What happened was the tape came loose on the little potty and I told him it was broken so he HAD to pee standing up now... and it worked. :) And that has brought even more challenges (watching what he's doing, dripping on the seat, peeing on himself).

Anyway, I suggest the little potty chair to start with as, in our experience, he was able to get on and off by himself. Also, getting a little potty with the removable seat that can fit on the regular toilet is a good idea. That'll get him used to the regular toilet when it's time to switch.

I suggest you get BOTH. You will probably need a portable potty chair you can keep close by - and sooner or later he will need to get used to the big toilet. The toilet insert seats are a must in the long run, when he outgrows the little potty chair.

We had great luck with the Baby Bjorn potty chair: http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Bjorn-055121US-BabyBjorn-Potty...

It's comfortable, simple, and easy to clean. A lot of them have too many parts to clean and have a small, uncomfortable bowl. Only if you encounter big problems in potty training would I suggest getting one that plays music or anything like that. Too crazy and unnecessary!

hi K..... i started trrraining my son at 3 years old. i bought the little potty at first and he just picked it up and threw it on the ground really hard ( there goes $40 )....i then bought the Diego toilet seat for about $10, and he loved it, but you need to buy a step so he could get on the toilet. everytime he would use the potty on the toilet he would say "look mommy, i a big boy". so i would recommend the toilet seat one.....they sell it at Walmart at the baby section.......good luck!