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It's time for potty-training, but we have trouble finding a good potty. We first bought one that plays music, but it's just to big, she basically falls down into it when sitting.

We looked for a long time until we found one that was better in that respect, but that one has a "pee-guard"-bit that is a bit to sharp and pointy and it looks like it would hurt to miss when sitting and end up on that.

None of them are heavy enough or have enough friction to actually stay if kicked even a little bit, meaning that they are very tricky to sit down on.

We don't really want to buy 10 different potties until we find one that works, so I want to know what to look for, and how a good one should look.

I once saw some "potty-thrones", which are big and expensive and look like ridiculous overkill. But maybe they aren't. What are experiences of those?

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    What's the point of a music playing potty? I mean, for the users, not the seller ;-) To be honest, after our experiences with toys of any kind playing music (or talking, or emitting any sort of sonic wave), I would rather not buy anything like that to my kids unless it is inevitable (and even then, I would remove the batteries as fast as I could ;-) Maybe the fault is with me, but I find all of them horrible, latest around the 200th repeat.
    – Péter Török
    Jan 8, 2012 at 20:58
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    @PéterTörök: The point is that it plays music after you peed, to make peeing fun! And the more musical toys you have, the less repetitious they get as the kid has a choice... :-)
    – Lennart Regebro
    Jan 8, 2012 at 21:32
  • My gut feeling is that training your child for an external stimulus might suppress her internal stimulus, while the whole point of potty training centers around recognizing (and acting upon) said internal stimulus. But I am by no means an expert - it would be interesting to hear what (if anything) the experts say.
    – Péter Török
    Jan 9, 2012 at 8:35
  • I don't think the music playing after do you do something counts as a stimuli that you act upon.
    – Lennart Regebro
    Jan 10, 2012 at 4:51
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    I have the musical potty chair and here's my experience: first, my kid picked it out. We opened every potty chair in the store (7 total) and the musical one was the front runner. However. Upon arriving home, he figured out that he could get the music to play by pouring water in there. The batteries were promptly removed. 6 weeks later he remembered it used to play music, and was adamant that he refused to poop till the music was back. When said poop finally happened, he had forgotten the ultimatum and was so frightened by the music he never used the stupid thing ever again.
    – Jax
    Mar 19, 2014 at 23:50

4 Answers 4

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Avoid anything complicated: you quite simply don't want to have to clean it.

We like the BABYBJÖRN Potty Chair: it is heavy, sturdy and easy to clean. It is easy to sit down on. Unfortunately the insert can stick to humid little behinds and come up with the child when she stands up. It is still the best option we've seen despite this flaw.

We prefer when she gets a stool and uses the toilet seat insert (our is also Baby Bjorn brand, and seems quite serviceable).

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  • Changing to this as selected best answer, because this is exactly our experience. You could probably superglue some weights to the bottom of it to fix the "sticky-flaw".
    – Lennart Regebro
    Oct 10, 2013 at 12:12
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    Or tape a small catch on the rear of the seat (tape works better than epoxy on plastic). Use a good quality duct or gaffer's tape.
    – Bryce
    Mar 20, 2014 at 5:11
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I had no idea potty selection was a challenge. We did what we always do: drive to our local outlet of a major worldwide Swedish furniture store. (I love going there, to me it's like a mini-vacation to Sweden.) They have a potty for just a few bucks. It's small, simple, and effective, and I highly recommend it.

  • The bottom edge has a rubber inset so it's totally slip-free. Even though it weighs nearly nothing, it doesn't slide easily without an occupant, and not at all during use.
  • The seat is flat and nearly circular, the edges all around are reasonably rounded.
  • The back rest is very low and seems to serve mostly as a symbolic indication for "place backside here". We don't lean back either, do we?
  • The front "pee guard" as you call it is also rounded and can't possibly hurt. A slight indentation on the inside doubles as a spout when emptying it.
  • The sitting height looks just right for small legs.
  • The bowl is completely hemispherical; fool-proof to clean with no place for muck to get stuck.
  • No indentations or ridges or artistic embellishments on any surface; it's just a boring potty. Easy to clean!
  • No moving parts, available in a handful of colors, fits in a dishwasher.

enter image description here

Tip: Towel dust and hairs are the bathroom's best weapon against non-slip parts. Check and clean if needed. Works well for us. If the potty slides around on the floor, try placing it on a textile bath mat with a latex underside.

(No, we don't put it in the dishwasher. But it would fit easily.)

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  • In fact, this is the second one of ours. I didn't say so, because I don't want to turn this into a shopping recommendation post. The edges is a bit sharp compared to the others I've seen, and it slides like it's on ice. But yes, it's the best one we've seen so far. IKEA's kids stuff generally rocks. Good list of other things to look for, though.
    – Lennart Regebro
    Jan 8, 2012 at 20:17
  • @Lennart "didn't say so" - sneaky :-) Perhaps the US model doesn't have that non-slip bottom edge? I added a tip to my answer.
    – Torben Gundtofte-Bruun
    Jan 8, 2012 at 20:53
  • Ours is made in Latvia, and has rubber, but it's not very good. I might try roughening it up with sandpaper, that might make it better.
    – Lennart Regebro
    Jan 8, 2012 at 21:36
  • For humors sake I had to upvote this one, my husband I were rolling in the aisles! Great post.
    – morah hochman
    Jan 9, 2012 at 12:21
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    @LennartRegebro if roughing up the bottom with sandpaper doesn't work, you might want to try Sugru. I love this stuff, and you should be able to make a good textured bottom with it.
    – user420
    Jan 9, 2012 at 13:25
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Forget the potty, go for a potty seat that fits on your toilet. Invest in a nice stool (IKEA for 3 dollars) so your child can get up and down. No clean up no mess.

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  • Late comment with more experience: Yes, it's a good idea once that kid get's close to three years or so. At less than two it wasn't a hit.
    – Lennart Regebro
    Oct 10, 2013 at 12:10
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Morah's answer to use a child seat on the regular toilet seat is great!

That reminds me that we have a toilet seat that has an integrated child seat which is extremely convenient in daily use, but of course not at all portable!

enter image description here

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