Best Potty Training Seats

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Best potty training seats - picking the right one for your child.

If you've just started potty training or are getting ready to begin that process, you are no doubt in need of a potty seat or potty chair for your child.

If you've been looking around at your options, you know you have plenty.

So how do you choose the best potty training toilet seat for your toddler?

I've potty trained four chldren myself, two boys and two girls, and we went through several different potties and configurations over the years. Here are my thoughts on what to look for in potty training chairs or toilet seats.

Potty training seats - what you need.

First of all you want your child's potty training toilet seat to be safe and sturdy.

Believe me, you don't want your child to fall off their potty seat and frighten themselves (this happened to my child).

This can occur whether you choose a potty chair that sits independently on the ground or a potty training seat that fits onto the adult toilet. So don't pick from potty seats or chairs that are flimsy. They should be able to easily hold up your child's weight AND his wiggles.

We had a potty chair at one time that would come apart and be either a chair on the floor or integrate into the adult toilet. Sounds so practical, doesn't it?

Well, the potty seat that fit into the adult toilet didn't fit tightly and would move about. I wasn't worried about it falling into the big toilet, but it caused my son considerable anxiety about where it was going to slide next! Not so good. So obviously, the best potty training seats are ones that fit snugly into your adult toilet.

Secondly, you'll need to make the choice I just mentioned; do you want a floor potty chair or an integrated potty seat? As far as the actual potty training goes, it really doesn't matter. Kids train on either just fine.

It really has more to do with your individual child and what she prefers. If she doesn't show an immediate preference, then it really is up to you. A potty chair takes up more room on the floor but is easier for your child to get on and off, especially at first.

Integrated potty training seats

mean no dumping out the pee or poo since everything goes into the adult toilet right up front. Of course, you will need some sort of sturdy step for your child to use to climb up on the adult potty.

Make sure that step gives her a space to place her feet and push against for potty training bowel movements.

This brings up the third point on picking potty seats; you may simply have to buy or borrow more than one to give your child a chance to try out his options. If you have friends you can borrow from, all the better, but honestly many families have more than one potty seat due to the very real need of having a potty in each bathroom in their house.

Definitely buy a potty chair or toilet seat that is easy to clean. Look for smooth edges with no crevices for pee or poop to get into.

Make sure whatever the potty training toilet seat is made of can stand up to repeated washes with a disinfectant.

If you're looking at a floor potty chair, check to see how you empty the potty bowl. You'll want to be able to do this job one-handed and without knocking over the chair or spilling the contents.

Plus, consider how easy it would be for your toddler or preschooler to empty the potty chair bowl herself. At first you'll want to empty it yourself, but as your child grows and matures, emptying out the potty chair bowl can easily be transferred to her and will also give her something to think about when you point out that using the "big people potty" means no more emptying of the little potty.

The best potty training seats among travel, disposable and portable potties

After your child gets past the initial stages of potty training, you'll want to get mobile. Personally, I wish I had portable and folding

potties available to me while I was toilet training my kids.

Trankly, my boys would have LOVED these travel potties. Obviously, if your child feels that way, you can use that interest to your advantage while potty training.

There's no reason to hover around the house while potty training, once you are past the initial stages. I will give you a caution, however, that a child who is brand new to toilet training can't be expected to make a smooth and accident-free transition to travel potty seats.

Give her some time to practice her new potty skills at home where she's comfortable and make sure she understands completely what's required of her before introducing a travel potty.

But when she's ready, move on out!

Now, some parents don't use travel potty seats, but after more near accidents in cars than I care to remember, as well as the extreme "yuck" factor of using public restrooms with my little ones (who need to grab ahold of everything to feel comfortable in a potty outside of home), I strongly recommend you invest in some sort of travel

potty training training chair.

The cost is minimal compared to the tremendous advantages of having a potty training seat of some sort in your vehicle. This means you don't have to push your child to "use the potty" as much before you leave home.

Simply give him the opportunity to use his at-home potty chair before you leave, then remind him that when he needs to potty again, he'll get to use the car potty.

Very practical. Very common sense.

And for the ultimate in potty training convenience, there are even disposable potties

on the market these days.

Ready to use, fold up and dispose of, you may not need lots of these (most of the time, a regular portable potty chair will do fine), but having a handful of disposable potties in your car means not having to take even the travel potty when it's difficult to carry something that bulky.

You can pick from what you like best amongst these portable potties.

The point is, think carefully about your family's schedule and activities and what that means for your potty training toddler.

Remember, a huge part of potty training is about helping your child get relaxed with the process. A tense child means things do NOT happen on schedule, which means they WILL happen at some other time.

A pretty potty training toilet seat?

Yes, you can get one of those, too. You can get padded potty seats, musical ones, character potties and even decorator potty chairs that become a rocker for your child once potty training has past.

A

padded potty seat means comfort for your potty trainee.

Padded potty seats are sometimes warmer than their plastic counterparts, so if you have a child that bawks at the temperature of a cold potty seat against his warm bottom, this might be the way to go for you.

Again, make sure the padded potty seat is easy to clean.

A super fun potty seat is the musical potty seat.

Some of these potty seats make music when a child pees in them or some simply make noise when "flushed". Some start out as potty chairs and can be disassembled into potty seats for your older child, making them a good value.

No doubt about it, a musical potty seat will get your child's attention like none other.

Clearly the best potty training seats for your situation are the ones that work with your child's particular interests or temperament.

Character potties or seats

are an easy choice if you have a toddler who has a favorite TV character.

You'll get built-in help potty training your child when Elmo, Tinkerbell or Winnie the Pooh is waiting at her potty seat to encourage her to go potty.

I personally found that TV characters' influence only lasted a bit for my kids, so you'll have to think about your own child and how infatuated with a particular character he is.

That will help you determine if a character potty chair or potty seat is the way to go for you.

But maybe you're looking for something more interesting for your child.

Maybe you're even thinking down the road a bit. You know you won't need a potty chair forever.

But your child will always need a sturdy chair to sit on. Maybe even a fun rocking chair.

If that's the kind of reasoning you're using, you will want to look at rocker potties.

As much a piece of furniture as a potty chair, these potties are designed for both boys and girls and can even be painted in fanciful ways.

They are definitely a lot of fun and your child is sure to love them.

Of course, a good question is will they help potty train your child any faster?

That I don't know. I would not purchase them for that reason, but for the long term value of play and usage they will certainly provide.

One more thought on the best potty training seats.

You will have to be flexible at some point in the toilet training process. Kids frequently get attached or stuck on a particular product or way of doing something during potty training. I don't know why, but I think it has to do with control.

So you may purchase what you believe to be the perfect potty seat and your toddler loves it for two weeks and then won't have anything to do with it. Or the opposite occurs. Your child won't go on any potty chair but that one particular potty seat, leaving you to drag it everywhere you go.

Just remember, patience, hugs and flexibility will help both of you during this process. The more frustrated you are, the more frustrated your child will probably get.

Besides, when you're done with the potty training process in your family, you'll be the expert and can pass along that beloved potty training seat to another family just getting started.