Hi everyone! I am thinking of potty training my just-two-year-old daughter next month. I almost went with the "Contoured Cushie Step-up" (#12421) at OneStepAhead, but that had mixed reviews (some said the seat slides around, some say the ladder isn't stable?) so I was wondering if anyone here has it and likes it? It's a stepladder connected to a Potty Seat that sits on the regular toilet seat. My daughter is in daycare and they will be pottying her on a regular toilet that's a little shorter than ours which is 15 inches plus the seat. Or I could buy a kid-sized small seat that is built into the lid of the the regular potty seat, but that isn't padded (neither is the seat at daycare, though.) Would it be better to have the little stand-alone potty with the bowl you have to empty? Are there any options I'm forgetting to consider? I want some sort of consistency between pottying at daycare and pottying at home. Many thanks in advance for your advice... *Peace*! :)
Personally, I don't use the potty seats or chairs. The seats are all lose or have gaps and I don't like the idea of emptying a potty chair. My kids have all done great with using the regular toilet assisted by a step up so they can put their feet on something for balance. Good luck!
Get the ring that sits on top of the big potty that can be taken off when an adult needs to go. Your daughter will need to be used to sitting on a regular potty anyway, why add an extra step to training? Have a little stool to help her step up if she is short. I have trained some kids that don't even need the ring and can learn to balance on the big potty straight away. See what she is capable of. When you go out you are not going to carry around some potty chair, so ultimately it just makes more sense to teach them on a regular potty and that they need to be flexible, because every potty is different. What are you going to do in the middle of Walmart when she has to pee right now mommy! LOL.... Besides cleaning poop out of a potty chair every time they go is gross, why not just flush? I would also ask your provider, I am a provider and I would never use a potty chair here--yuck! Buy the cheapest seat you can find ($5) for the top of the toilet, she only be on it a few months at most before you will go with just the regular toilet. Remember--this is just something she poops and pees on =)
I do daycare, and get my kids on the big potty ASAP (from the get go if I can), but some of these just turned 2 year olds are freaky with the big potty. If you go for a stand alone, my fave is the Fisher Price Froggy Potty (about $12 at Target or Walmart..2 pieces, formed nicely, no sneaky spots for leaks, etc), or just get an IKEA one if you have an IKEA nearby (one piece, cheap..under $10 I think).
Another option at home is the Potty Pal.
http://www.pottytrainingconcepts.com/Flip-Toilet-Seat-DRE...
Its toilet seat for oval or round bowls....and it has a 3rd insert to your seat..its part of the flip up lids. There is the regular seat, a thin seat reducer for little bodies, then the lid. I understand that out in public we need our kids to be flexible with potty arrangements...but at home teaching independence with it might be better, or at least something to consider. If they can go easier by themselves (with something like the Potty Pal) and for you isn't any extra clean up but one more seat-layer to wipe down with that cleaning disposable wipe equaling a few more seconds of your time...might be worth it.
