Potty for toilet trained 3 year old

[AnnaNotElsa]

This is partly inspired by the potty in the cafe thread. Someone said that toilet training was about learning to use a toilet and it got me thinking.

Basically, I have a newly 3 year old and a new born. The toddler has been toilet trained for about 6 months but I have kept a potty in both her play room and bedroom so that if she needs to go either at night (she has a stair gate on her room due to old house/steep stairs/tiled floor/dog) or during the day when I am feeding the baby she can without having to wait for me. She can just about get on the (upstairs only) toilet by herself but it takes her a while and sometimes she gets stuck and needs help. She prefers to use the toilet if she can but will use the potty when there isn’t another choice.

What is your opinion on this? My plan was to phase them out by spring time. Do I need to ditch them earlier?

YANBU - Keep the potty for now
YABU - Ditch it ASAP!

For now I would keep doing what you are doing because it seems to be working well for you.

Potty training is a process. It's not just teaching them to use a toilet, it is teaching them to recognise the sensation they need to go before they go, then to hold it long enough for them to get their clothes off and find somewhere appropriate to go. The most sensible way to do this is to have a potty as close as possible for the begining stage and for when you might not be able to help immediately, ie with gates and a newborn. I haven't seen the cafe thread, and I think potty use in an actual cafe or supermarket aisle which I've read about a few times, is crossing a line, but at home I think a potty is fine for a good while especially if you don't have a downstairs toilet. With all of mine there has just been a point where I've felt they were too big to use a potty downstairs, generally it's happened gradually, I've encouraged them to use the bathroom when we have guests and then 'lost' the potty altogether once I know they have good enough bladder control and aren't having any accidents. I think this has been between 3 and 3 and a half.

We had a potty in Dts room until they were 4 as the stair gate stayed on until then. V steep stairs and dog. Didn't cause them any issues at all. Friends with a downstairs bathroom have done the same.