On our short list of potty training essentials, the Potty Train Gang recommends starting off with a potty chair AND a potty seat for your little one. Why both? When you're first getting started with potty training, it's really helpful to have one of each on hand so you can offer your child both and see what they end up liking the best. Most children begin with the potty chair and then transition to the potty seat placed on the regular toilet. [See 10 top potty chairs and potty seats]The potty chair is a safe and convenient way to introduce your little one to the idea of using the potty. Placed right on the floor, there is no precarious climb onto the large toilet using a step stool. This not only keeps them safe, but also eliminates the possibility that your child is turned off to training because he or she feels scared or unsafe.
The potty chair has the added benefit of mobility - you can bring it right to that special corner where your child likes to hang out and do their business! The chair can also be placed strategically so you child can sit on it while watching a T.V. show. Sometimes the longer a child sits comfortably on the potty the greater the chances are that they'll produce something in it. Let's face it, television can be an effective way to capture little attention spans for more than 10 seconds in a row! Watching a show that your child enjoys while he or she is sitting on their potty also creates a positive association with the potty. The more your child likes the potty, the more likely and the more often they will sit on it and be motivated to use it!
Once your child moves on to using a potty seat placed on the big toilet, you'll most likely be jumping for joy because there's no more messy clean up that goes along with a potty chair! Even if your child goes to the potty seat very quickly, you may still find the potty chair useful as a car or travel potty when you're out and about. Toileting and travel... that's a whole other can of worms!!! [Do I need a travel potty?]
What did your children like best when they started potty training - the chair or the seat? Do you have any advice for other parents trying to decide what to get for their little potty trainees?
Neither of my children did much in the potty chair, although they USED it a lot... sitting, reading a book, watching TV, etc. Even though they didn't go potty in it regularly, i still feel like it was an important part of the training process. We have an elmo soft potty seat that they both used a lot. It seemed comfortable for them and i could even bring along and use it in public bathrooms!
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