Potty training, step 1 – choosing a potty

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Although not mission impossible, I knew potty training wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. As usual, I started by reading couple of books – any parent knows that reading just one is not enough, always seek second opinion :).

They did agree on one thing – that training on a potty chair is easier for a child than training on a grown-up toilet, even with a child seat. The next decision was on a potty – what kind should we get? I asked my mom for advice and she said: “Oh, just get the simplest one” and I though – that makes sense. It should be easy to find and also won’t cost a fortune. Boy, was I wrong…

I marched in the biggest baby store in my town to quickly pick up a potty, swipe my card and be on my way… only to find that there are no “simple ones”. They are extinct, imaginary, they don’t exist any more.

All the potty chairs on display consisted of minimum 3 or 4 parts and took more than 5 minutes to figure out “what goes where”. At this point I should probably mention that I can disassemble and assemble back a computer (and yes, it will be working), so putting a potty together shouldn’t be much of a problem. Well, go figure…

But there was a lesson – I understood what I want and don’t want in a potty:

1. It shouldn’t have more than 2 parts because I will be washing all of them every day
2. It shouldn’t have parts that can pinch child’s skin
3. It should be stable enough not to turn over when a child sits down on it or stands up from it
4. It should have rubber bottom to avoid sliding on floor tiles
5. It should be high enough to make sitting on it comfortable.

I decided against the ones that play songs, make flushing sounds and otherwise distract the kid from the real purpose of his “visit”.

I also decided against the ones where the seat can be placed later on a grown up toilet because it surely won’t fit all toilet seats and in general because I no longer believe in “combo” products. If they are good for everything, they are good for nothing. For a promise of saving $20 later you are paying $15 more today and get one more part that needs washing – no thanks.

It’s hard to believe that choosing a potty can be so complicated. Anyway, having looked at about 15 different potty chairs, I’ve found The One. And the winner is ….
That’s right, Baby Bjorn Potty Chair.

Why: It has only 2 parts, easy to pull apart and put together, easy to wash (no “traps”), is high enough just like a little chair but is stable at the same time, has rubber bottom and doesn’t slide even on slippery floor and in general looks good. Oh, and last but not least the price – it costs the same as all the other “put-me-together-if-you-can” potties.

Just as I picked it up and was on my way to the register, a woman turned to me and said: “You won’t be sorry, it’s a good potty, my daughter loves it. It is also dishwasher-safe, I know it may sound disgusting, but every week I run it through dishwasher to clean and disinfect it properly”. And you know what? I think that’s a great tip (if you’re voting for “disgusting”, just pretend you didn’t read this :) )

And now over to the experienced potty-trainers: any advice on what I should be doing next?