Potty Seat or Potty Chair?

I started with the fancy stand alone potty that flushed and sang songs and the two times he tried to use it he peed all over the place and scratched sensitive parts because the thing didn't seem to be made to fit his little body.

I was fortunate that he was going through a naked stage and hated getting wet, so he just decided he wanted to use the big potty and he put his knees on one side and hands on the other and the little toilet got retired. He managed to hold himself up to go #2 as well, but he was self motivated so might have been unusual.

One word of caution with the big toilet .. one day i heard slam and screaming, really, really intense screaming. Both lids had come crashing down on him .. so if you use the big toilet with the stool alone, I would recommend buying one of the toilet seats that have hinges that only let the lids close slowly.

I have potty trained 3 of my own plus countless preschoolers when I was teaching. Little portable potties are disgusting and unnecessary and I never understood why people would ever want to use one. You have to clean them out ---eww!! Who wants to pour and scrape pee, poop, and wet toilet paper into the toilet when you can just train your child to go directly on to the toilet?? And I never understood what people who use those little gross potties do when they take their child out in public. I used one of those soft rings that fit on the toilet and a stool so they can not only get up on to the toilet to sit, but also as a place to rest the feet while pushing out a poop. My kids have never had a problem using a public toilet-- you just have them lean forward and hold on to you

We bought the potty chair first. With ours it could also be used as a seat on the toilet. We also ended up buying a seat specifically for the toilet-one bathroom, nice to have the potty chair for DS.

With your sons age, I would buy the potty chair now. Once he is usually it all the time and pooping, then I would buy the seat. For a long time the potty chair was just for peeing, the toilet was for pooping.

My boys were 2.5 when they were potty trained so they were tall enough to go on the big potty. They strattled the seat.
My daughter was 19 months when we was potty trained so she wasn't quiet as tall. Also she's very independent and insisted on doing everything by herself. She has a potty chair. I will admit the chair was easier because we just kept it in our living room the week of potty training and she practically potty trained herself!

my son preferred the one on the toilet at 2.5/3.5 yrs old.
my daughter is trained at 22months and fell off the big potty so we use the chair : )
we have the kind that can do both
i don't know the name though

C., i tryed both and i wish i would have used the potty seat from the start. the chairs i feel show them that it is ok to go to the bathroom anywere my daughter started hiding to go to the bathroom once i started useing the seat i was good i just hade to ask her evey half hr to and hr if she had to go then she started telling me.

gook luck ( let him pick out his seat pick like 3 then ask him with one thats whit i did)

I have a 22 month old boy and he showed very little interest in the stand alone chair that we have had since he was 15 months. We recently bought a Baby Bjorn potty seat to go on the toilet and he loves to get on and off..over and over and then pee on the floor! Make sure you get a stool for him to use to get on the toilet.

Potty chair.
I used the baby Bjorn. Great.
The thing with a potty chair is... convenience, and it is approachable by a young child. You can place it anywhere, where the child is, to get them used to seeing it... and adapting to it.
Then also, a child initially cannot "hold" the pee too long, before going all the way to the bathroom toilet... so they can have accidents. But with a potty chair, you can place it right next to/near them, where every they are, and it is easy to get to.

Both my kids have used it, to great success.
Then, when they have attained mastery over their biological cues and bladder... then you segue them to the toilet. Its not hard.
When they are "ready" they will be ready.

Remember, it is about taking steps... a process... not all expectations will be met at one time. One step at a time.
Potty training is in steps:
1) pee ability in the potty and the ability to "tell" you they have to go. Then mastery of that, consistently.
2) Pooping ability, in a potty and same as above.
3) Being able to "hold" it long enough to get to the toilet.
4) learning how to "wipe" themselves and having the maturity and motor coordination to do it, by themselves, well.
5) Night-time dryness/dryness during naps-.. which will not be attained at the same time as daytime potty training... and night time/nap dryness is biological based... and also has to do with the myelin nerve sheath development as well. Night-time dryness "ability" will not occur until even 7-10 years old sometimes. And this is normal.
6) Accidents will still happen... even if potty proficient. So its okay. Its normal.
7) ultimately, if a child is "ready" for potty training, it will be less of a battle and a torture for them. If the child is not "ready", it will take longer.
8) punishments/forcing them... will not help.

A GREAT thing to have.. .is a car potty. You can get it at like Amazon, putting in the search words "on the go potty." THIS has been a lifesaver for our family, and my friends... when the child has to pee and you are on the road or stuck in traffic and there is no bathroom in sight, nor can you get to a public bathroom fast enough

All the best,
Susan

Hello C.,

I've potty trained quite a few children in myt 16 years, I prefer the potty seat that fits on top of the toilet. Not only is it cleaner for the adults, but it also reinforces the use of the potty in the bathroom.

I find one reason children have accidents is because they become so engrossed in their activity they forget to go to the bathroom, so when they have a potty seat in their play area, (often parents put the portable ones there for ease of use), it doesn not teach children to be proactive, but lucky the potty is near.

Go for the potty seat.

R. Magby