Anyone skipped the potty and went straight to toilet?

[zuzkah]

Just thinking of skipping the potty as my ds is refusing to sit on it. Has anyone done this and went straight to using a toilet seat? Please talk to me about pro and cons. Thanks

Yep my eldest now 5 refused to sit on the potty at 2 years so i didn't make an issue of it.
Then just b4 he turned 3 he just said he wanted to sit on the toilet & virtually trained himself as he was ready to move on.
Saves u emptying & cleaning potty.
You don't have to teach them to do it in one place them teach them another.
Afterall grown ups don't sit on pottys!
Also he only weed sitting down for a week, then wanted to do it like daddy standing up!
They like flushing it away too.

However not as easy to get to quickly if u have to get upstairs. We have one up & down so not a problem for us.
You will need a training seat or they will fall down the loo!
A big toilet bowl can look scary for some I would imagine.

We didn't have a potty for any of our boys, as DD was such a nightmare. We had one of those step/ toilet seat/ handle- in- one which stayed permanently on the toilet.

Don't know if you can still get them because DD2 is asking for the potty and I just don't want to go down that route.

The pros are that you don't have a potty to empty, with the potential of spillage/ smells etc. I think the only con would be not being able to get to the toilet in time?

neither of my boys used a potty. one wouldn't sit on the effing thing and the other wanted to be a "big boy" so didn't bother with it either. Fortunately dd came along and was able to use the five-year old, unused, potties

p.s. boys wee everywhere. It is therefore relatively irrelevant whether you choose for them to miss the potty or the toilet when weeing
Invest in lots of bathroom wipes and cleaning products instead....

yes, DS trained late (3.5) and wasn't very interested in the potty he was more interested in copying me on the toilet. The only disadvantage I can think of is that as mumface says they may need to be able to hold on longer to make it up to the loo in time!

DD1 was more interested in toilet than potty as she had seen her slightly older cousin using the toilet. I was thrilled because it meant no more cleaning out potties. But, at some point she got spooked about the falling in/ flushing thing and we took a giant step backwards.

She was only 2 at the time though, so it might be less of a problem if your DS is older.

ds2 has just trained and very rarely used the potty preferred to copy ds1 and precariously balances on tiptoe to reach waving his willy around as he pees standing up - the joys of boys!

ds used potty about four times (and always in the garden (he still likes an al fresco pee now...) Stool to stand on? (thou he always sat originally...) Aim isn't bad, unlike some other boys (and MEN) I know...

My dd is using the loo some of the time,she won't use the potty,which is a bit of a pain as we have a tall thin house on four floors and the kitchen is at the bottom so it is a treck up the stairs every time and obviously half the time she doesn't make it in time,or refuses to climb the stairs etc. I have no idea why she won't use a potty,she just says she wants to use the loo.We have a special seat as I also have a four year old .I think if your house is more sensibly arranged then just using the loo is fine,probably better as then there is no persuading them off the potty at a later date to deal with.

yes we never bothered. With a downstairs loo there just seemed no point, and we'd always popped him on the loo before a bath anyway.

don't bother with the toilet seats that fit under the loo seat though, they're useless - particularly for boys ! I like the padded ones, you can get cheapy ones for about £6 in boots

Never bothered with a potty for either of mine. Potties seem slightly revolting to me.

All four DCs didnt like the Potty. We tried but it was easier to use the toilet. (Our potty tipped over too easily to our liking!)DD used it for a bit but soon went onto the toilet, didnt like the flushing though.

DD#1 was not that keen on the potty and basically used the toilet, but we did find she was also not too keen on the type of potty - standard cheap mothercare potty initially. My mum bought her a fisher price musical chair type potty to see if that would encourage her before she sat on the toilet and she was a lot more comfortable sitting on that and whilst she didn't really use it as a potty it was much more sucessful than a standard potty for us. I would also say that the chair bit comes apart from the catching part and you can use it on the toilet as a seat for them, and it still makes the noise. It did prove helpful to us, but I think we would have done ok without it too.
Meanwhile, the standard potty did eventually get used - useful to keep in the car for urgent situations at the roadside and once DD#1 had been happy using the loo/toilet seat etc she was actually ok with the "cheap" potty for those sorts of situations.

Thanks so much for all your stories.
My ds is 21 months so not that worried yet about toilet training. Although I think he might be ready as he can hold on a bit and then pee when asked to before a bath. He wees standing up though with my dp holding a container in place. So I though we might try the toilet seat for him to get the idea at least. Our house is small so toilet always close. The worry is when we are outside...
We have the simple mothercare potty which just seems so small and uncomfortable. Maybe we ll get a chair type one?
Thanks puffylovett, I'll check out the Boots one.

Hello, can anyone say what is best as trainer seats go. I am looking for two features (which I believe are key) in ONE product.

Feature one: stability (stays put on the seat and does not slide around) &

Feature two: handles, which is not that much for holding on to the seat when sitting, but more for getting on it without crawling all over the toilet to get on to the seat. DD is 2.5 years, but have watched her getting on chairs and does not want to see this over a toilet.

If there was a babybjorn trainer seat with handles, I will be hopping to the shop right now. Any tips? Thank you!

we didn't use a potty or seat for DS1 just straight on toilet, makes it less scary when they need to go when out and about!

he used a step stool to get on off at first

We had a potty for DS but both DDs went straight to the toilet. It was so much easier and cleaner.

You will need;
1)Padded toilet seat. Mothercare do good ones in both plain white and patterned. However, if you don't already have some, buy a bottle of dettol spray and you'll need some wipes to clean down the outside bit of the padding every couple of days.
*Do not buy those ones that fit under the rim. They are very uncomfortable for little ones and get very disgusting very quickly.

2)You need a stool. The best I have found are the nice cheap Ikea ones which are very sturdy but have soft pads on the bottom so they don't scrape your tiles either. The plastic ones from Mothercare are not as sturdy and have a tendency to slip.
*Do not consider buying the very attractive two step wooden ones. They look great but my girls found it very hard to drag them from the toilet to the sink and back as they are so much heavier. They also hurt like hell when you walk into them or drop them on your toes.

Good luck!

I wanted to do that with DS but as he was too small when we started at around 20 months, we had to use the potty. Wish we could have just used the toilet as I hate cleaning potties.

We've had no issue getting him to switch between using the potty or toilet after 1 week of potty training. Public toilets are another matter altogether, he hates them and so do I, although he finally managed to do a poo in a restaurant toilet yesterday, rather than holding it in as he usually does until we get home, so hoorah!

Thank you ladies, my question is if the trainer seat is better to be with handles or without. The one I have my eyes on (baby bjorn) is excellent as it attaches very solidly to the big toilet seat but has no handles. Don't know how important are these handles? Do they need to stabalise themselves while sitting? We don't, but we haven't got these tiny bottoms!

Thank you again.
Melito

Hiya, my girls both used the handles. I think they were good for two reasons. Firstly, balance; they definitely helped them 'feel' more secure especially in the beginning. Secondly, it stops them having to touch the seat when they get up as they just push themselves up by the handles which is good IMO.

I wouldn't say the Mothercare seats are an exact fit and they do move slightly but not at all really when the child is actually on the seat.

I have used the Baby Bjorn one at a friends house and it was also very good though my DD seemed nervous not to have the handles she was used to. Of course, that could be just because she was used to them IYKWIM.

Thank you very much, that's what I was after! Which f the seats with handles are most stable? Which ones did you use? Went to mother care today, they have 5 kinds with handles! And all cheaper than the baby bjorn, which is over twice more expensive and no handles! Thank you. I know we can't get everythng spot on, but mumsnet can help get pretty close!

Thank you! Melito. Xxx

DS is 2yrs8mths and have been thinking about potty training for a while (the peer pressure of all his 'girl' friends having been potty trained since the age of 2). I've sat him on the loo a few times, but he seems to be more excited with the loo than actually doing anything (though we have had a couple of 'catches' by putting him on at the right time). He's also enjoying wiping (sorry to go crude, I think he's discovered it's nice to do!). Wondering if this means that I should try the potty instead? I also don't have much patience, and don't really want to hang around in our small bathroom for ten minutes just in case he's going to do something...

At nursery, DS had to learn to use toilet as there were no potties. we have to bring in a potty if we want to do it that way, so DS has used toilet pretty much from the beggining. we made a special light switch so that he can put it on himself and as long as loo is really accessible - should be fine. Also we found as we were out and about a lot, it was easier for him using loos in public because it was normal to him.

When my DS was 2 I heard of an invention called a 'Wee-Man'. Yeah - I know! It was great though as it attached to the loo and was a sort of flip down container, which hung about half way down the front of the loo, so he could pee standing up, without needing to get on a step and then when he was finished you flipped it up and the contents went into the toilet. Don't know if you can still get them but mine was bought in desperation because the potties and toilet training seats were not high enough at the front and little boys' willies always shot their wee over the top! We had a spare that was kept in the car for wehen we went to the grandparents and other people's houses.
BTW I also wrote to Pampers and suggested they market a care mat type of thing that fit round the toilet pedestal, for boys with bad aim.... they did not reply, but I still think these would sell. Hope that helps!

Hi All
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
Has anyone tried the 3 day potty training plan by Lora Jensen?
The official site naturally sings it's own praises with positive testimonials, yet there is no price on it unless you register. I'd be interested to hear your opinions. Sounds marvellous but fear stressing my sweet 23month old girl to bits with a severe regime.
Many Thanks
mamagmama