training potties with a tray attached?

[tzs]

i am about to introduce the potty to dd. she is only 15 months so we are not "training" by any stretch. just that she's really into trying and imitating right now so i want to jump on the wagon to introduce the potty. i don't really even care if she "goes," just to make it a normal thing for her. she can sit on it while i go. does that make sense?

so the only thing holding me up was getting to ikea to buy the cheap ones that they have there. but today it was recommended to me to get a potty with a tray on it to kind of "hold them on it longer." 

any thoughts?

i really don't see it to be used as some kid of restraint to trap her there until she goes but maybe the idea of having a tray would encourage her to sit rather than jump around all over the place? like i said, don;t plan on making her sit there until she goes...maybe for just a minute or two while i do my thing. 

would a potty that "locks her in" more be worth it?

[JudiAU]

Ive never seen such a thing. Sounds like a bad idea. Some kids like my ds love to hang out on the potty. My 16m dd pees regularly on the potty and would freak out.

I'd suggest reading disperse free before three and getting the bjorn little potty for this age. LO can't actually pee in the bug one. Wrong position. Th enmity little potty is perfect for small people.

[sapphire_chan]

Not necessary. You're starting in a window of interest for a reason. She's more likely to get mad that you've wandered off and want you to be right there.

For us, having just come through the stage of encouraging pottying when I'm sure she needs to go, it works best to have toys or books available with the potty. I've also got a table with 12" legs that is just the right height to let her use the baby bjorn little potty (same height as ikea potty, slightly better than ikea potty) as a chair--for those long poops.

If Ikea will be a long drive for you (for us it'd be 2 hours), Target is selling one of the baby bjorn potties. I've seen the big potty at my local Target, they might also have the little potty.

[Marissamom]

I've never seen a potty with a tray, and I think holding them in turns it into a battle (and it sounds like you're trying to prevent a battle) I think if they're in the right window when you introduce it they'll sit on it. if they refuse, you wait a week or two and offer again. (we had a two week potty-strike a month after introducing the potty, but then she went right back to sitting on it), 

[bluebackpacks]

I don't necessarily think of tables/trays as a method to restrain the child on the potty.  Sometimes little ones (or older ones with special needs) have short attention spans and hop off the potty in the middle of doing their business.  The tables/trays make for a convenient place to rest toys/books.  In theory, these toys/books hold the attention of the little one long enough for them to finish what they started.  

[sapphire_chan]

They exist?

[blizzard_babe]

I'll echo that this doesn't seem like a great idea. If your kid is the kind who will sit on the potty and be entertained by books and toys, then she will. If not (and DS1 sure wasn't), a tray won't help matters. He didn't sit on the potty for longer than five seconds until the day (at... 23 months? 22? something like that) we took diapers away and let him run bare-butt around the house. Even then, we had to catch him just as he was starting to pee and rush him to the potty, because he couldn't just sit on the potty and wait for a pee, even if it was impending. He hated the kiddie potty and if memory recalls, never once peed or pooped in it. He went straight to the big potty with a set-in seat (which is supposedly not as good for pooping, but it was big potty or he'd poop on the floor).

So yeah, I'd just get a trayless potty.

[Spring Lily]

Originally Posted by blizzard_babe 

I'll echo that this doesn't seem like a great idea. If your kid is the kind who will sit on the potty and be entertained by books and toys, then she will. If not (and DS1 sure wasn't), a tray won't help matters.

I think a tray would end up just getting in the way.  She wouldn't be able to sit by herself if you left it on, so it would just be another thing sitting around the bathroom.  And part of PLing is the independence and them making their own choices.  When to sit and when to get up is part of that.  Also, a lot of times my kids would only sit for 5-30 seconds, and that is ok with me.  It's part of the learning process.  It would be frustrating as a parent to put the tray on and have to take it off immediately, especially if I have to use the bathroom myself! 

It's enough hassle getting the diaper on and off, cleaning the potty if she pees in it, helping her wipe (if she wants to), and getting everyone's hands washed afterwards.  Why add a tray to all that?  I just left a small board book or two next to the potty chair and those are easy enough to hold that a tray wasn't needed.  After my kids got the idea, the books were ignored, so the tray would be really useless then!

[bluebackpacks]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan 

They exist?

http://www.mansionathletics.com/combi-toileting-chair-tray-only-physical-education-recreation-children-special-needs-daily-living-to.html?channelid=Yahoo%20Shopping

http://www.naturesbusiness.com/kids.htm

FWIW, it's not used to restrain the child AT ALL.  That would be horrific.  I am picturing a scared child screaming to get off the potty... yeah, that wouldn't be helpful.  The potties with trays have been around for years.  I have a little guy who struggles with encopresis and IBS, and the potty tray would be perfect for those occasions when he has to hang out on the potty for a while.  OP, you know your child best.  If it works for you, go for it!  The links above are for rather expensive potties, but you should be able to find a much cheaper version.

Edited by bluebackpacks - 12/12/10 at 4:34pm

[tzs]

i'm thinking i'll start with the regular deal and go from there...(and forget ikea, it's probably worth saving my time to spend a smidgen more on the baby bjorn)

[JBaxter]

They did exist my mother had one for us.  "I" potty trained my sister with one ... I say I because  it was my job ( at 9)   Wooden potty chair with a snap on tray.  I would get her up take off her cloth diaper and place her on her potty chair I would fill her tray with cheerio's and give her a cup of milk ( truly was my job)  I kept here there till she pooped  I vaguely remember using my jump rope to tie her one one day   No flames pleas I was 9 and diapers were also my job.

[tzs]

Originally Posted by JBaxter 

They did exist my mother had one for us.  "I" potty trained my sister with one ... I say I because  it was my job ( at 9)   Wooden potty chair with a snap on tray.  I would get her up take off her cloth diaper and place her on her potty chair I would fill her tray with cheerio's and give her a cup of milk ( truly was my job)  I kept here there till she pooped  I vaguely remember using my jump rope to tie her one one day   No flames pleas I was 9 and diapers were also my job.

how could anyone flame that?! it's adorable!

[Marissamom]

Originally Posted by JBaxter 

They did exist my mother had one for us.  "I" potty trained my sister with one ... I say I because  it was my job ( at 9)   Wooden potty chair with a snap on tray.  I would get her up take off her cloth diaper and place her on her potty chair I would fill her tray with cheerio's and give her a cup of milk ( truly was my job)  I kept here there till she pooped  I vaguely remember using my jump rope to tie her one one day   No flames pleas I was 9 and diapers were also my job.

[JBaxter]

LOL my sister and I are very close.   I think it was because I did take care of her like I did.  I did bikini twist gerber prefolds  ( gerber was different then) with PINS.  WHO lets their  7 1/2 yr old PIN a diaper on a baby ( my mother  )  I still remember her saying... DONT POKE YOUR SISTER.  I had her potty trained before 2 btw ;)

[tzs]

so are your potty training techniques the same as when you were 9? tell us all the secrets!

[Hey Mama!]

Oh man I cloth diapered my youngest brother with pins too.  I'm 8 years older than him and I remember getting taught how to fold the diaper so the bulk would be in the front.  I don't remember potty training him though, but we did have a potty with the tray on it.

Originally Posted by JBaxter 

LOL my sister and I are very close.   I think it was because I did take care of her like I did.  I did bikini twist gerber prefolds  ( gerber was different then) with PINS.  WHO lets their  7 1/2 yr old PIN a diaper on a baby ( my mother  )  I still remember her saying... DONT POKE YOUR SISTER.  I had her potty trained before 2 btw ;)

[blizzard_babe]

I helped diaper and potty train my youngest sister (I was 8 when she was born), but my parents used disposables with her, and it wasn't my JOB, per se, just something I was asked to help with on occasion. I did let her roll off the bathroom counter (our changing location) one time... though in my defense, it was the first time she ever rolled over, and she rolled over at a very young age. No one had even warned me that there was the POTENTIAL for baby to roll over.

I cried about 20 times longer than she did... bawling and thrashing on my bed in a self-imposed time-out because I felt so bad. My mom said she felt worse for me than she did for my little sister.

[Jahleelmom]

Potty seat with the tray attached does exist and they are great, I have a 14 year old who was very enerygetic/hyper as heck, and I got him a potty seat without the tray he use to jump around and flip it over because he wanted to play, but when my grandmother found the potty seat with the tray attached that was the best thing ever, he sat there because I use to put snacks on the tray and I let him watch either one of his favorite shows or the Barney potty training video and he actually sat still for a while , now u have to let them get up every few minutes so that they will  know that they are not confined to that chair and its not forced but make it fun and simple so they will be comfortable using it.....If you figure out where to buy one please let me know because I now have a 9 month old and have been searching for weeks....

[anjsmama]

My 15 month old has done a whole lot better since we ditched the little potty all together. She now uses the potty seat that sits on top of the actual toilet to make it smaller/right size for her legs to sit like adults do. We use EC with her, and months 10-14 in particular were very interesting with wanting to run and bounce and jump etc etc, we ended up with a lot of pee on the (bathroom) floor! But things have improved significantly since getting rid of the little potty (we had both the Bjorn and then the safety 1st all-in-one thing). She is much, much more willing to hang out for the minute or two it takes to actually go when she's up on the real potty. 

FWIW, it may be a better plan to try to catch her when you know she's going to have to pee, and put her up there, rather than trying to find a way to successfully keep her there for any stretch of time. Stick her up there before bath, or after, or right after a nap, or after she finishes drinking. If she has to pee, it's likely to come very quickly. Also, my 15 month old isn't willing to sit there for long, but she sometimes will get down... and be willing to get back up a minute later. You may have more success with shorter tries every few minutes than trying to extend her time sitting there. 

[JudiAU]

I am pretty sure they don't make that type of potty anymore and that whomever suggested it was O...L...D.  Although in laughing defense of such an idea, my first kid would have loved it. He loved to hang out on the potty in our living room forever.

I'd buy a better design Bjorn. More comfortable.