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AIBU?

to wonder why parents potty train rather than toilet train?

56 replies

choceyes · 29/04/2013 15:12

I'm in the process of toilet training my 2.7yrs old DD. Straight on to the toilet. She's doing great, only a week from starting training and 5 days of no accidents.
I never got the concept or usefulness of a potty (luckily neither DC did either). How do you clean it out? In the sink? With wipes? It's all a bit yeuk whichever way.

I overheard a conversation between some mums in a toddler group last week about how they are having difficult going from potty to toilet. Why not just use toilet from the start? I really don't get it.
Even the HV, when I went to the 2yr check up said to put her on the potty and when I said I put them straight on the toilet she said, no put them on the potty.
What am I missing?

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nenevomito · 29/04/2013 16:12

We use potties. DD is tiny for her age and falls into the bowl really easily . She uses the loo when we're out and about, but it requires someone to hold her or she won't go. With a potty she will happily use it without reminding.

DS just went straight to the loo, but he wasn't a tiny dot.

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MyNameIsInigoMontoya · 29/04/2013 16:15

We used both, but the potty was very useful at the start because she could just get it herself and go, even when she was still a bit small to be able to climb on the toilet easily alone, and a bit wobbly when on there. So if I was momentarily in the other room or upstairs and she felt an urgent need, she could just get started alone and then I could come and wipe. (She is quite independent-minded too about some things, so she preferred it!).

It was better for avoiding accidents too, as we could keep it nearby, so if she realised too late that she needed a wee, we just needed to grab it rather than getting to the toilet first.

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MrsOakenshield · 29/04/2013 16:15

we use both but DD can use the potty without help, our only loo (upstairs) is quite high and difficult for her to get on and off unaided. Also, she struggled with poos to begin with and squatting on a potty is a much better position to poo in than with legs dangling on the loo. She uses toilets for wees no problem when we are out and about, and does occasionally poo in the loo, but not often.

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Mintyy · 29/04/2013 16:18

I took a potty around with me for a few weeks (on the back of the pushchair in an Ocado carrier bag if you can believe!). Saved quite a few accidents, I can tell you. Where I live there is no public toilet at all on our high street.

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TheRainbowsEnd · 29/04/2013 16:22

I really hate potties. I would go to a coffee morning where a mum would get the potty out in the room for her son to use. Poor kid had no privacy what so ever.

I just find them gross. Mine progressed from nappies to pull-ups and then the toilet.

I'm don't want to have to clean out a potty 10 times a day or carry a potty of shit around me when I'm out.

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Fenton · 29/04/2013 16:23

We had trainer seats to go on the loo at home and a foldable travel one for when we were out.

The trainer seats do scratch the toilet seat though, be warned.

Poor baby babyheave falling down the toilet

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EssexGurl · 29/04/2013 16:23

My DD struggles to get herself onto the toilet at home. However, she can use the potty as and when she needs to. At nursery they have child size toilets which she can use. She uses either the potty at home or the toilet at nursery. Doesn't have a problem with either. Very few accidents. I don't see the issue, I'm afraid.

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BionicEmu · 29/04/2013 16:24

We've recently been potty training DS. We got a seat & step for the toilet, but he is just too dinky to use it. He's 2.5 years old, but still in 9-12month & 12-18m sized clothes!

The other thing is I have a 3 month old DD too. If I keep a potty in the corner of our large living room then DS can go by himself if I'm feeding DD. It's made him fairly independent tbh, most of the time now he'll just go to the potty and do it all without any help, except wiping.(it really is a large living room, & the potty's in a back corner. Due to the dog we have stair gates in place so it can be a bit of a faff getting to the bathroom - DS certainly can't by himself.)

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choceyes · 29/04/2013 16:24

This is all very interesting to read. Just goes to show how different children are and also what different toilet arrangements we have in our homes!

DD is tiny, 9th percentile in height and weight, so yes in theory she should be scared of falling down the loo, but she is a very independant sort and strong willed, so she is not scared at all, even though the other day she did fall down the loo as she refused to be held on to! Didn't bother her at all

We have 3 toilets in our house, all of them lowish, so easy enough to get on with a step and firm seats. But I do help DD on still.

Tatydevine- yes I guess 2.7yrs is not young, and lot of people start training earlier. I'm of the lazy parenting sort and thought I'd wait as long as possible to avoid accidents etc. I do get the wish to be nappyfree though. We use cloth nappies and OMG our washing load has nearly halved since DD stopped using nappies just a week ago!!

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vladthedisorganised · 29/04/2013 16:40

DD uses both here too. Our toilets are set quite high so need a jump to get on even with a step; she's quite happy once she is on but likes the independence of being able to take herself to the potty. When she's a bit taller she may give up the potty altogether.

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MummytoMog · 29/04/2013 16:47

No downstairs loo. 3 year old perfectly happy to use toilet with seat, but completely incapable of opening the stairgate to let herself out to go there.

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TenaciousOne · 29/04/2013 16:52

Potties are easier for us, I put our son on a toilet when we are out at grandparents but at 21 months he barely fits properly on a toilet so you end up with poo on the seat or/and him hanging on to you for dear life as he thinks he's going to fall in.

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Cloverer · 29/04/2013 17:24

We introduced both at the same time, but DS (just 2 and quite small) found the potty much easier as he had to be lifted onto the toilet. Also those first few days when you only have 30 seconds warning it was easier to have a potty downstairs than keep rushing upstairs.

We could maybe have gone straight to the toilet if I'd delayed training til 3, but I prefered to have a year less nappies to be honest!

He uses a toilet now when out and about, and little toilets at nursery (he's 2.8 now) but at home still prefers the potty. Also he has a gate on his bedroom door and has a potty in there in case he needs it in the night/first thing.

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Barbeasty · 29/04/2013 20:43

We started with a mixture of potty & toilet, but doing it when I also had a 4 week old meant a potty was essential for the many occasions that I was feeding the baby at the vital moment.

Like Cloverer, we have a gate on the bedroom so leave a potty there.

And yes, DD has been known to clean her own potty after use. First I knew that she'd even used it one time was a crash from upstairs. She had emptied it into the toilet then filled it from the bath tap to rinse it and empty into the toilet. But she filled it to the brim and dropped it on the floor. Not sure that makes it less hassle....

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butterflymeadow · 29/04/2013 21:07

Dc2 is potty training just now. He was screaming terrified of the big toilet, but happy to choose his own potty and can manouevre himself on and off it. I will worry about getting him onto the toilet when he is a bit bigger. I clean it with wipes and antibacterial spray.

DC1 similarly hated the toilet and I literalyy did have to cart her potty around, she refused to use anything else till she got the hang of the big toilet.

I don't see a problem, if you keep it clean and disinfected, with using a potty if that is what dc want. When they are confident, they will progress to the toilet.

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youmeatsix · 29/04/2013 21:22

i never got the whole potty thing either, we got a seat that fitted onto the toilet and a little step. never had any problems with any of our 3 with this method, i find a potty disgusting TBH, no need for them at all

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SuffolkNWhat · 29/04/2013 21:33

This reply has been deleted

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Gilberte · 29/04/2013 21:33

We still use a potty in lieu of a downstairs loo on occasion. My DD is 5 but my toddler is almost training so I have always had it around to encourage her.

In fact I had a wee on it the other day after DD suggested I use it when I took her in the bathroom for her bed time wee. I thought it would overflow but it didnt so might be handy if I ever get short when DH is in the shower. TMI I know.

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pointythings · 29/04/2013 21:47

We did both, and I had a foldable travel potty with disposable liners for the car as well. My DDs went straight to toilet 90% of the time when at home, but the potty was very useful when we were out in the garden.

The travel potty was enormously useful to me when I got caught up in a horrendous stationary queue of traffic on my way to work one day and had nowhere to go. And the DDs used it when we were out on archery shoots and nature called.

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DonDrapersAltrEgoBigglesDraper · 29/04/2013 21:59

We potty trained both, but made a very swift transition to the loo.

DD in particular, was quick to ditch the potty, moving fully to the loo after about a week.

I really dislike people whipping potties out for little ones to use in non-toileting environments. Although have only really encountered that as hearsay on here

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Sirzy · 29/04/2013 22:04

We don't have a downstairs toilet so having a potty to hand was useful.

We only have one bathroom so having a potty to hand for the "I need a wee NOW" moments is handy.

DS is 3.5 and uses the toilet all the time (other than when someone else is in the bathroom) but the potty certainly made it easier at the start. We also have one in the boot of the car for emergency wee stops!

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SingSongMummy · 29/04/2013 23:06

I suspect that most of the 'potties are disgusting' comments come from those who toilet trained well after the 2yr mark! For us, they were very handy at home when on a floor with no bathroom, or when I was breastfeeding the baby!

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candyandyoga · 29/04/2013 23:06

Mine potty trained at 2. Got it in a few days and used the loo too. Some kids like pottys, iT doesn't really matter does it!

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foreverondiet · 30/04/2013 00:51

In first week all mine spend hours sitting on potty in front of tv. Would have been less pleasant in tiny downstairs toilet - and some toddlers a bit scared of it. Depends on your house and your child. I always moved to toilet as soon as they got it, and had sufficient warning to get there!

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GreenEggsAndNichts · 30/04/2013 00:57

eh we have an avocado bathroom suite so the toilet is particularly dark looking inside. DS loves using the little toilet at pre-school but still prefers the potty at home.

I don't care, I assume we'll get him on the toilet soon enough. I was just happy he trained so quickly.

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