Potty Recommendation please! And introduction ritual...?

Hi 2-4 Mamas! I want to buy some potties for my 21-month olds to just familiarize them with the potty. I'm very lax and in no rush to toilet train but I'm also ready to expose them to the potty and introduce the whole concept of using one.

Is there a certain brand you would recommend. I see they range from inexpensive to ones that cheer and play music...what worked for you? Also, how did you introduce it? I was thinking of before baths, having them sit on them every night and maybe reading a story to them sitting on them with diapers off?

Thank you for any recommendations!

 

We have a couple of the Baby Bjorn potties and they work just fine. I have no complaints. In retrospect, I think any little potty probably would have worked just as good for about 1/2 of the cost. We also have something similar to this that we bought at home depot, but it has yet to get much use. My girls definitely prefer their little potties.

We have had the potties around since my girls were 18 months old or so. I would give them the option of sitting on them before bath, but never forced the issue. Then around 3 weeks ago, one of my DD's took the lead and now she is pretty much trained. My other DD just started showing interest within the last couple of days, and she is now doing really good as well.

Good Luck!

 

I had some sort of musical potty and a Baby Bjorn potty. Much, much preferred the Baby Bjorn potty. The one with music would just play music, not necessarily when my DD's pee'd in it. So the batteries came out pretty early on.

We just had them out, if they would sit on them I'd let them. If not, I did not push.

 

if you have an IKEA near you they have great cheap ones for $4 or less! they are similar to the Bjorn.

Good luck, I'm trying to start soon too.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70141228

 

I second the Ikea potties. They are just like the little Bjorn potties and at this price you can get as many as you might need.

 

We started with a Summer Infant potty & a talking Elmo potty...around 18 months we showed the potty to the kids, kept them around the house for the kids to see and fiddle with. Probably around 20 months, they started sitting on them at regular times and I would say within the past month my DD has been pretty consistent going pee in it and DS has peed in the potty off and on since 23 months.
Good luck!

 

We have Baby Bjorn potties and toilet seat rings. They're more expensive than some, but worth it. The cheaper musical/gimmicky potties are usually less stable, harder for the parent to empty, and downright annoying!

If we had an Ikea nearby, I would have bought theirs, which are really similar to the BBs.

 

I have two baby bjorns which the boys like but they equally use and like the little froggy potties that you can get at Walmart or Target too. Both have a good front lip for containing pee from the boys...

 

We bought potties when the boys were almost a year and a half. I would definitely recommend one with a urine splash guard for boys otherwise pee gets everywhere. We got the one that plays music, but I think any potty will do. I just started showing them what to do, and even sat on it myself to really make the point (didn't pee in it, of course.I would ask them once or twice every hour if they need to go potty, but never forced the issue. Getting the potties early so they can get used to them helps. Also, letting them go naked helps. It is hard to ignore bodily functions when they can see it happening! They are fully potty trained now at 27 months. I even carry a potty in the trunk of the car for emergencies. That has been a lifesaver! Good Luck.

 

We had these & LOVED them. They got a little 'creepy' when they would sing without anyone peeing on them, but then we realized that you have to dry the sensors off really good when you rinse the pot. My boys LOVED making their potty sing! There's an on/off switch on the bottom, so when the music novelty wore off, they mysteriously stopped working !!! We had a generic 'Circo' brand one from Target that didn't work well for us since my boys needed a higher shield, but otherwise seemed decent for a cheap cost!

 

I bought this one at Walmart. I think I paid like $9 for it. AND...we have this one too....that my SIL past on to us. I honestly like the little cheapy froggy one from Walmart the best. It certainly works better with boys as far as splashing. Also, it is has alot less parts and easier to clean.

 

I'm like the crazy potty mom - I think I bought 5 potties like a loser, but that means I've tested the whole gammut (is that how you spell it - I can't spell a darn thing anymore)... Anyway, these are my picks:

Baby Bjorn potty for starters - perfect for boys because of the elongated seat. I found for most other potties the seat/hole was too small and my little guys (who have always been in the 95th percentile or more for their age) just couldn't get the hang of squeezing in the boy parts to keep the pee inside. That means the first two potty seats I bought were sold at yard sale and then bought the bjorns have been very happy with them.

For standing up to pee, which is how my little guys started to potty train out of the blue 1 month ago... I used the Wee Man Urinal potty, which you can find at www.pottyscotty.com. It's a little bucket of sorts that clips to the edge of the toilet at the perfect height so they could pee standing up with absolutely no effort whatsoever. No spills or messes and it all went in the wee man. It has a little hinge so you can dump it right in the potty and then flush. My only issue with this potty helper is that my boys want to dump it themselves, which results in a little tiny bit of pee going on the edge of the toilet and on the wee man itself. Much less messy than standing on the stool and holding the parts, etc. starting out standing up and well worth the $15 price tag though. You can also find it at amazon. We use the wee man now when we travel to see family, etc.

My favorite potty product, which we use every day is the Peter Potty Flushing Toddler Urinal (I told you I was a crazy potty mom) - but let me tell you - they were fully trained standing to pee in less than two weeks. This thing is about $40 and can be found on amazon and I think at One Step Ahead. It has quick assembly and a little reservoir of water on top with a flush button so they can "flush" their pee after they are finished, which completely negated the stickers and treats we were using before. The pee and water goes down a drain like in a real urinal and into a drawer, which you can empty out into the toilet with no mess at all. Now they fill up the water reservoir themselves and run to the potty for "big boy pee pee time"

Finally, my favorite product for traveling potty needs is the Fisher Price Folding Portable Potty. It's kind of triangle shaped and legs fold in and comes with a carrying bag that doesn't look pottyish at all. It uses small trash can bags (like the kind you would use to line your bathroom trash can - or you can use grocery bags for that matter) and some absorbent pads you stick to the inside of the bag to absorb the pee. After potty use, simply tie up the bag and drop in the trash. We keep one in our van at all times. The potty comes with bags and absorbent pads, but after you run out you can use grocery bags and cheap maxi pads like we do and you are all set. This one is VERY difficult to find but EVERYONE asks me where I got it while I'm out. I just found it online at Kohls for $30 - it's called the Fisher Price Potty on the Go. It looks like it's being discontinued because all the other sites say it's unavailable.

Anyway, I clearly have a problem with buying potty accessories... but my boys are both completely trained now at 2 yrs 7 months and it was super easy for the most part, so I guess it's not a big deal... much cheaper than their college bills will be I suppose

Good luck!

 

If we're talking TRAVEL potties, we LOVE this one. It takes regular gallon ziploc bags, so it's cheap to maintain. The side containers hold everything you need...bags, wipes, spare undies, etc. Awesome! We keep it in the truck at all times. Just used it today, actually!

As for the rings that actually SIT on the potty, I HATE them. My boys could never tuck well enough, so they'd either pee OVER them or, just under them so that it came out under the seat itself. What a mess. Now that my guys are fully trained to stand up, they use the seats to poop & are ok tucking. That took quite some time, though. I don't know how people train boys with those things....