Potty Training - San Jose, CA

They have the character toilet seat toppers. We have a dora and my daughter loves it. I highly recommend them. I started my daughter on the potty chair and it was really hard to get her to start using the toilet. And it also makes it harder to use public restrooms.

Get a potty chair that looks like a small toilet - my kids loved it...and use an insert on a regular toilet. Any of these cutesy potty chairs have no meaning to a small child.
Make it easy and simple.

Good luck

+B+

We use the baby bjorn potty. It is simply (no songs/music) but it is really easy to clean.

I agree that it depends on what your daughter feels comfortable on. I have twins girls, and for one, she liked using the potty with the songs (even after I turned off the music--sometimes it would go off and make music on it's own which was weird). I think that potty helped her get comfortable going potty outside of a daiper. Plus, it's low to the ground and her legs aren't hanging off. But for my other daughter, she didn't like that potty and preferred going potty on the seat that goes on the the big toilet. It's from Target, the Dora seat with handles. They both use that one now. I prefer it too--much easier to clean, and it doesn't take up any room or batteries! They use a step stool to reach it and can still go potty by themselves. It's a sturdy plastic toy box for bath toys made by "The First Years". It's nice and wide so they can safely turn around while standing on it.

I don't like all the fancy potty chairs. They are more of a distraction than anything. I used The First Years potty seat that sits on the toilet (just make sure it has handles) and the cheapest one that sits on the floor. Sometimes when they are really little hanging your little legs from the toilet can hurt their legs when they are trying to go poopoo so I let them sit on the potty chair on the ground. I also use the one on the floor to start potty training. I'll put it in the kitchen so it reminds me to ask if they have to go potty and I can always see if they are trying to go.

As for all the bells and whistles we always do a peepee dance after. Mommy jumping up and down singing that he peepeed in the potty is much more fun than a perfectly pitched woman singing about peepee!! Plus you can buy both potty chairs for less money than one of those fancy ones.

They have little seats that you place on top of your regular toilet which prevents the little bottoms from falling in. My daughter loves it, and I do too. I don't have to clean out a small toilet!

I think it's a bit of personal preference and what suits your child's temperament best - I know if we had any potty chairs with those literal bells and whistles it would've scared my kids more than it would've encouraged them to use the potty.

Personally I like the one-piece Baby Bjorn "Little Potty" - it looks sort of like a plastic dog dish with a splash guard LOL. Easy to take with you to the park, out in the back yard, and even as the "emergency potty" in the trunk of the car, and no hard - to - clean little cracks and crevices. For easier clean up you can just put a piece of toilet paper on the bottom and then you can just turn it upside down over the toilet to drop the poop in. For use away from home, one tip from another parent in my twins club was to put a plastic grocery bag *over* the potty before sitting your child down on it, then you can just bag up the business for disposal. One of the clerks at Rockridge Kids in Oakland recommended this one because he said that he's known many kids who would get distracted by the multi-piece potties and would do things like pull out the different pieces and put them on their heads.

We decided to stay consistant with the daycare provider also. She uses a toilet seat topper, so that is what we bought. Our 19 month old son is doing very well with the pottying. We also can kind of guess when he will poop each day, so that makes it easier. He has been going in the toilet at her house for 3 weeks now, with only one accident which is a miracle because our 7 year old did not get potty trained until he was well past 2. They go at different paces. The seat we have has Diego on it, and I think they are great because you don't have to clean the mess up and it gets them use to a regular toilet, so you don't have to do a transition to the regular toilet afterwards. My two cents. Good luck.

I am not an expert, but I have 4 kids 20,17,14,3. I was reading your questions and notice you are about to have another baby. I was told and followed the advice to NOT try to potty train while bringing a new baby in to the home. However, if she is learning it at school, I would go with what they are doing there. Let her go at her own pace. If you try to make it happen she may resist more during the adjustment of new baby. I have had many pottys and I would love to throw the baby potty in the trash because I am tired of cleaning it. I am switching to the type that goes on top of the toilet seat with a stool. As for the musical and fun toilet, I think I want them to learn it is a place to do business, not play. Maybe a book while learning to sit. I have friends whos kids want to just sit and play with the toilet. Your going to be busy and maybe she should learn to get it done and get out of the bathroom. hope this helps and good luck.

I would definitely recommend consistency. Do what the daycare is doing because you are SO right about cleaning out the little potty. Also, if your daughter decides to be industrious and clean it herself, you could end up with a big mess.

Have her help you pick out a special stool and little seat that fits on your regular toilet. If you involve her, she is more likely to stick with it. Good luck!

My daughter is the same age. I have a little stool that I sit on in front of the toilet and a little toilet seat (Munchkin I think, white with purple handles) that goes on our toilet (there was no way I was going to clean out a little potty). When ever I notice my daughter starting to make that face I pick her up and put her little but on the toilet. I sit on the stool across from her and we play with the TP and look at books. When she makes something we celebrate with a song. If she gets tired of sitting there before she's done I just put her diaper back on and don't make a big deal about it. She made her first real poopie in the potty a couple of weeks ago and we had quite the celebration.

I have a 17 month old, who isn't potty trained, but I've been working with her since her 1st birthday. We got her the seat for the regular toilet and a video called "Potty Power". She loves the video and the other day told me "pee-pee" while touching her diaper, which turned out to be soaked. I'm hoping it happens more often. As for the seat, it's an Elmo one, just like the Dora one, and she as been asking for 'Elmo' since she was just 13 months old so I sit her on it, even with her clothes on. It's easy to clean off, too, so she can play with it. They also have fold up seats and plastic seat covers, that are larger than the paper ones, for your diaper bag once your daughter gets trained.

We also like the Bjorn potty seat. It hangs on a hook in our bathroom, and our son can take it down and put it on the toilet himself. It fits very securely on the toilet.

Now if only our son would actually use it more! This won't be an issue for your younger child, but our nearly 3 year old is too big for many of the stand alone potty seats out there. The potty we have comes apart, converts to a stool, makes flushing sounds, and gets treated like a toy.

the bjorn potty and potty seat are by far my favorites

Dear Candy,
Both of my children had potty chairs.
Boy, let me tell you, they sure had a great time dragging them all over the house and stashing toys in them. They never did sit on them. They wanted nothing to do with that. My dad built a stool for my daughter so she could get up on the regular toilet. My son used it, and I imagine my grandkids, when I get them, will use it too. They both learned to go on the big potty, but that's just what worked for them.
I hope you get some good responses because I can't really advise you in the potty chairs department.
However, I think it would be a good idea to get a sturdy stool to keep in your bathroom so your daughter gets used to it at home and at school.
Best wishes!

Hi Candy,
Depends on the child. Our son was scared of the large size of the regular toilet seat, even with a topper on it. We used the Baby Bjorn potty with the removable container and did not find it difficult to clean. It didn't have any bells or whistles and really didn't need any. Most kids pee in the potty before they are willing to poop in the potty, which means that you might not have that many poops to clean out of a potty, if you choose to use one, before your daughter is ready for the toilet. If your daughter is not afraid to go on the regular toilet (with or without a topper), by all means skip the potty. With the regular toilet, a step stool is a great idea both for getting on to the toilet and for having something to put their feet on while pooping. Pooping with one's feet dangling is not easy!

our 17 month old uses the the adult toilet with a potty insert. he also has a his own little potty that i keep in the living room or kitchen. this way i can give him a 'pottytunity' while he's playing without interrupting too much. also, he has started to take himself sometimes when he is nakey butt, which he doesn't do so much with the adult toilet. we have the pimp Baby Bjorn one.