So we're in full potty training mode at our house. It all started so innocently about three months ago when Tot #1 was 18m old and came across a copy of Alona Frankel's classic "Once Upon A Potty." After initially skipping through most of it, all of the sudden Tot #1 got REALLY into it. We had to read it every time she took a nap. And every time she went to bed. I'll admit we - as parents - got a little into it too. We used some WiteOut to replace the name with our daughter's and to fix the terms to be those we use (I just never grew up saying "pee-pee" and didn't really want my daughter to...).
This of course, means new gear...
We started with the classic. This is a great, basic, easy to clean potty chair. Not too high so it's not scary - at just 20 months, Tot #1 can sit down by herself on it. The "bowl" lifts out so you don't have to carry the entire chair everytime they go. It also has a nice high back so your tot can sit back while you all wait for his/her moment.
We keep our potty on a plastic drop cloth that we previously used under the highchair. Even with the best intentions sometimes you just make a mess.
We keep a basket of books, Huggies Clean Team flushable wipes, Pampers Easy Ups, and "big girl undies" next to the potty. More on "undies" vs. pull-ups in a later post.
Next we bought a couple of the these seats to put on our regular toilets to get her used to the concept of going on a real toilet. The
hole is very similar in dimension to the aforementioned Potty Chair so the transition between the two - from a tush positioning perspective - is fairly easy.
We recently came across these while on vacation and they were a big hit with the Tot. Maybe it is because she loves ducks. Maybe she just associates it with vacation. Either way, if it makes her want to use the potty we're pretty psyched. If you can put up with the goofiness factor, it is about $10 cheaper than the Baby Bjorn seat. You just have to live with a slightly goofy yellow duck in your bathroom (a little more expensive, but it also comes in pink or blue). But since you end up owning a potty seat either way, does it matter if it's a little goofy? Probably not. Besides anything that makes your kids want to use the potty is a plus, right?
