From potty to 'big toilet'

[Hilary]

Having now got to grips with using the potty for wees AND poos (finally) my three year old won't use a big toilet. He will at home because we have a little seat to go on it but when we are out, I have to take the potty everywhere - it was ok at first but 5 months on and it is getting a bit silly! I suppose I could take the seat everywhere instead but ultimately it is not a problem solved. Any suggestions? If I try to make him use a big toilet somewhere, he just refuses to go.

I too am a toodloo fan, it fits in my handbag and means that my dd always has a clean seat to sit on.

Hilary, any tips with getting to grips with poos on potty/toilet? My dd has been dry since December, but won't entertain doing the other on the potty or toilet. She seems happy to just carry on in her knickers. I have tried the promise of a Thomas sticker, but to no avail. Any hints?

Oh dear, maybe you are asking the wrong person! My son was dry at 2 yrs 10m but has only got the poo bit sorted now that he 3 yrs 3m! Everyone else's children seemed to have the lot sorted at about 2 and I thought I must be doing it all wrong.

He NEVER told me when he needed to do a poo, always did it in his pants secretly or waited for his night time nappy. I thought he would never get it right as he just didn't seem to care and would deny it to the end. However, I made a lovely star chart featuring a fire engine (his obsession) with a tall ladder on it. It had a moveable fireman on it who was going to climb up a rung every time ds did a poo in his potty. At the top was a cat to rescue. Also at the top (key point coming up) was a packet of milky buttons (I never buy him sweets so this was a real treat) The idea was that he got one for trying to do a poo on the potty, two if he actually did something. He also got to put a sticker on each rung.

I thought I had it sorted but that poor fireman went NOWHERE for weeks and weeks! If ds did it in his pants I would say, 'oh that's sad, the fireman isn't going to get the cat in time and you're not going to get any chocolate' and one day, I managed to get him on the potty in time when I could see he needed to and we 'caught' it and had a big ritual of fireman, sticker, chocolate. Even after that it was slow progress but two weeks ago, it just seemed to click with him and I heard the wonderful words, 'mummy, I need to do a poo' and he hasn't had an accident since even though he has had diarrhoea for three days!

Sorry that is so long winded but dh is doing bath time and I am making the most of the chance to type unaided by my sons!! Anyway, perhaps a themed star chart of something they like might work but at the end of the day, I just had to wait until ds was ready and try not to get cross in the meantime.

I hope that is not entirely useless to you. There is another thread somewhere about this (perhaps I started it myself) but I can't remember which one it is. If I find it I will tell you here.

By the way, I'm grateful for the tip about the loo seat thing, I'm going to hunt one down.

Hi , while on the subject can I ask for recommendations for toilet seats? I haven't a clue whether to buy one that fits over the toilet seat or one that goes under - any brands in particular? (think I'm going to get a toodloo as well!)

The one my mum got for my sister always rocked slightly and scared her, so want to avoid that!

babybjorn do a great adjustable toilet seat which ds found really comfy. I think we got our from John Lewis and it wasn't cheap - about £16 but worth every penny!(sorry, no pun intended!)

Lizzer - Indoors I use one of the soft seats which fit over the main seat, white with blue handles on the side. It came from John Lewis and is made by 'The 1st years'. Never feels cold, and if sitting for a while is required, I guess is pretty comfy.

Hilary, thanks for the advice, I will keep going with the stickers, but I am just resigned to the fact that when she is ready, she will do it.

I've revived this thread because although I have searched the board I have not found any answers to my particular quandry. DS is 2y6m and has been fully potty trained since Easter but always point blank refused to go near a toilet (or to wee against a bush etc).

Anyway I have finally managed (with the aid of a lolly) to get him to sit on the toilet with a trainer seat we've had for months. The only thing is that with the potty he can open the bathroom door, get the potty out, pull his pants & shorts down and sit on it all by himself. But with the toilet and step I have to lift him on and off. If I taught him he might be able to get off himself but there's several inches between his feet and the step and he's not particularly agile, also the trainer seat is not that stable. Is this a common problem or peculiar to my DS? Anyone any suggestions about how to get over it? I'm quite happy to ditch the current trainer seat because it only cost 99p from Wilko's.

My main issue is that I feel as though its a backward step because he could do the potty by himself.

I'm also planning on buying one of the folding seats out of GLTC as we're going to Tenerife in September.

Are you sure he really needs a trainer seat? My DD is a bit younger and we abandoned the trainer seat ages ago. She knows to "hold on" and just climbs on/off with her step (or by gripping the loo roll holder). The trainer seats to slip around a lot, DD never really took to it at all.

I was mean about potties, DD was dry at 18m and the potty was abandoned 2 weeks later (just find them as yucky as nappies). Presumably he has to balance on the seat if he needs a loo trip when you're out and about?

In my local lloyds pharmacy they have a special urinal for boys it clips on to the side of the toilet and I should think that most 2yr olds could reach it easily.

It might be worth a try.

Thanks for the ideas.

No Marialuisa he doesn't balance on a loo seat. Until yesterday he has always refused to sit on any toilet seat anywhere hence I've been trailing a potty around with me everywhere. On the rare occasions when I've not taken the potty (eg down to the local swimming baths) he has just insisted on holding on until he gets home usually with a slight damp patch.

Actually though you might have a point about not bothering with the trainer seat as it is just an extra hassle but there still seems to be a too big gap between the step and climbing up to the toilet seat.

Jenie that might be OK although I would have to persuade him to use it (might need another lolly). Because when its poos I'm needed anyway to wipe his bottom.

There's a folding toilet seat called Toodle-oo which I find very useful for travelling here . For at home we have replaced our ordinary toilet seat with one of these , which ds reaches with the help of a very sturdy step from Lakeland . It folds flat so would be perfect for travelling, I don't bother for day trips, but will probably take it along when we go on holiday.

Bozza, another good thing about the Lakeland stool is that it's rather higher than the usual toddler step, so ds's feet still reach the step while he is sitting on the loo.

boyandgirl - thanks that step looks great. Gives me an excuse to order other things I want from Lakeland too. Unfortunately though your other links don't seem to work for me.

www.thebabycatalogue.com - Perfectly Happy People for the folding seat
www.familyseat.com - the Rymax Family Toilet Seat (which, come to think of, we actually bought at John Lewis)

Toys R us do a seat that hinges onto your own seat which then enables you to lift it up and down similar to the rymax here - you'll have to type 'flip toilet trainer' in the search box. It's a much more friendly price too.

Thanks Boyandgirl - that folding seat is the same as I had seen in GLTC but much cheaper. Also thanks furball for the money-saving tip on the Ryman.

word-of-warning, Bozza, if the Toys R Us seat is thinnish, flatish plastic and your home seat is contoured, then it may flex or slide and your ds may not feel secure. That's why I went for the Rymax (also looks nicer )