Travel potty only?

[Henachoko]

Morning mums,

I'm a FTM so I feel a bit lost. Looking to start potty training when DS turns 18m and was wondering if I can get away with purchasing a travel potty only (My Carry Potty).

So we would be using this at home as his potty and then bringing it with us on trips. Am I missing something in my ignorance that means this would be a bad idea? I just don't want to have to get 2 pottys if 1 will suffice.

Because we're starting relatively early I'm assuming he will be too small for a good while for those Toilet seat contraptions so this is what I imagine we'll be using for quite a while for his toileting.

Thanks in advance for your help

Many thanks
X

If you've got a very small house or flat and only one bathroom I guess it could be okay. Our DS still doesn't want to go on the big toilet and we've just bought a third potty for home use because it's getting annoying to keep having to move the potty between the downstairs loo and the family bathroom so it's there when we need it. A basic potty costs a fiver or less, and is easier to rinse out in the sink than the Carry Potty, which is good for going out but a bit cumbersome to rinse out because of the lid. DS also loves picking his potty up and tipping the wee into the toilet, which he couldn't do with the Carry Potty. Also it's quite compact and slightly more awkward to wipe their bum than with a normal potty.

So my vote would be: get a normal potty as well, and if you don't want to buy one, facebook is full of people giving them away because they've finished with them.

They're significantly more faff to clean than the ordinary sort.

Get a basic potty too. There is so much more to a decent travel potty - lid, place where the lid and base fit together, bulky surround. When the child misses, which they will, especially if they miss time it and don't get full down before it all dribbles..., everything will get covered! A cheap basic potty that's just one piece of smooth plastic will be a 100 times easier to clean!

A potty is less than £20, why are you so reluctant to get a proper potty for home?? Travel potties are faffier to empty and clean and less comfortable to sit on. For boys you need to make sure they can sit far enough back so they don’t spray wee over the side - a large potty with a clear front and back helps.

Thank you for the responses. 4/4 saying to get 2 so I suppose that's what we will do.

Husband doesn't like the idea of 2nd hand anything to do with toileting and I didn't want to buy 2 big plastic items if I only needed 1.

I'm surprised to hear about wee spilling out! Thank you for the warning 😆

If it’s an eco concern remember other people may not mind second hand so you can always pass on to appease your conscience! Our travel potty was from a neighbour and we’ll pass it on soon. (My weird dislike is secondhand pyjamas.)

Lidl often have pottys and they’re quite robust. I didn’t bother with a travel potty. If we were in the countryside they had a wild wee or just open a nappy out in the potty, it’ll absorb/contain everything and then put the nappy in the nearest bin.

We had a travel potty that was a seat with space to put a liner, but to be honest we practically never used it as a potty. In a built up area like shopping or a café, I'd just put the seat on the loo and sit my son on the big loo with the seat, on a country walk, we'd wild wee behind a bush!

If you’re concerned about excessive plastic items, consider getting a bog standard one, and wait and see if you actually need a travel one.

Their selling point is that they’ve got leak proof seals so you can carry the contents around with you. Plenty of people manage to raise children without carrying plastic tubs of bodily fluids around with them. Normal potty’s are generally a single type of plastic, the travel ones are made from multiple different materials so more challenging once they enter the waste stream.

Get a basic potty and toilet seat for home from a supermarket. If my 2 year old needs the toilet when we’re out then I just hold her when she sits on the toilet.

Get a normal potty first, cheaper and easier. We never used a travel one despite training a similar age to you.

There's a foldable seat you can get for out and about, cheaper and easier.
https://amzn.eu/d/04OxHTf0

We didnt have any potty.
Straight to toilet (with a fixed seat - so we had lid, toddler sized seat, adult sized seat all in one) and a 2 step stool. Frankly, I didn't want the kids getting used to weeing anywhere other than the bathroom - at which point there is a device designed for toileting purposes - one which us pretty much self cleaning too!
So, if you really don't want one, totally possible without.

We did this with DD1 and I got sick of emptying it, sounds silly but it’s more hassle due to the lid. Won’t be doing it with DD2, who incidentally is small and manages the toilet seat contraption fine now at 16m. She is keen to sit on the toilet though so I guess that is part of it which your DS may or may not be into. Saves making the transition from potty to toilet too which took time with dd1.

So I got the travel potty, a normal potty and toilet seat insert with handles (which is also portable). My DS decided himself to point blank refuse any potty with a vengeance, but went straight for the toilet. So both potties were a complete waste of money and space here. The normal potty was used maybe twice when we went camping and the travel potty never.

I invested in a double step so he could reach the toilet himself.