Potty Training Toilets

Starting out with potty training is exciting for you as a parent, and it will likely become a frustrating time at least for a little bit. Most kids don’t just decide that one day they’re going to start peeing on the toilet. It requires a lot of work and a dedication from you as a parent, and there is often plenty of frustration that comes along with it - we’ve offered some tips that may help as well.

In order to help your child feel comfortable going to the bathroom, and so that they can do it themselves, you’re going to need to get something for them to use to pee in. Kids are too little to sit on the large toilet in your bathroom without falling into it. While they can be taught to sit on the toilet without issue, it’s going to require additional work on your part. Furthermore, many kids are scared to sit up on the toilet with the large hole in it. You don’t want to further complicate potty training for your kids.

Outside of just sitting them directly on the toilet you have in your home (which is an option if you must), there are really two options that you can choose from when looking at toilets for potty training: a dedicated separate potty chair for them, or a potty seat which goes on top of the existing toilet.

Potty chair

A dedicated potty chair is a separate little seat that your child can sit down on and go to the bathroom. It sits on the floor, and is small enough that a child can simply pull their own pants down, sit down, and do their job. You don’t have to be in the bathroom to help them, and you don’t have to worry about them falling into the toilet or playing in the toilet.

There are a lot of different models of these toilets, and ultimately they’re all pretty similar. The kids pee (and poop) in the potty, and then you must put that into the main toilet to flush it down. There are models that fold up so you can take them with you, or there are larger dedicated ones. We have 3 different models in our home, and we have no issues with any of them - our son uses them all without issue.

There are two major downsides to these dedicated potty chairs. The first is that they can get quite gross - you have to make sure you’re dumping the waste out after your child does their deed, and oftentimes you’ll need to use some extra water to make sure it’s clean. If you don’t, then they will get really gross (stinky). You should teach your child to pour them out, but they also don’t always do a great job and it can lead to additional messes.

The other downside is that when you’re out and about, your child won’t really know how to use the big toilets you find in public restrooms. This can be frustrating for your child and for you.

Potty seat

The other option is a potty seat. This differs from a potty chair in that it’s simply a seat which goes on the top of your existing toilet which makes a smaller hole so your child won’t fall through. You put it on for your kid to sit on, and then pull it off when they’re done.

A potty seat is an excellent idea as it teaches your child to sit directly on a toilet (granted a smaller hole), and there’s no big messes to clean up afterwards. They simply do their thing right into the toilet, and then they just flush it when they’re done. You also don’t have to teach them something else later - using a big toilet as they’ll already know how to do it.

The downside is that you’ll always have to be around early on in potty training. Your child may not be able to actually get onto the toilet by themselves, and so if there’s not someone to help them up on the toilet, then they’ll be stuck. You may end up with an accident as it simply takes more time to get it setup.

Additionally, some kids may simply still be scared to sit high up on the toilet. In other words, it may take your child longer to learn to go to the bathroom if they are scared of sitting so high. We have a potty seat like this, but our son generally doesn’t use it. He was scared to death of it early on, whereas he’d sit on a dedicated potty chair without issue. We do pull it out to use from time to time, but he still prefers the chair to the seat.

Conclusion

Ultimately, teaching your kids to go to the bathroom, and be done with diapers will be one of those times that you can celebrate as a parent (especially if it’s your last). Make sure you have the right tools for the job - you want to get your child going to the bathroom in the toilet without accidents as soon as you can. Everyone will be much happier once that’s the case.