What do you prefer: a potty chair or a potty seat for the toilet?

[briannas auntie]

I have been watching my neice, Brianna 3 times a week while my sister is at work.  Well, we are still having trouble with potty training.  She will go in her Pull-Ups, and then tell me she has to go potty. I take her every hour to the potty, but it hasn't made much difference. That, and she won't sit on the potty seat that I have on the toilet for very long.

I was wondering, would getting an actual potty chair help us out?  Both my sister and I are trying to figure out what to do to get her to use the potty rather than mess in her Pull-Ups.  Both of us are still nervous to put cloth training pants on her, since she has been messing in the Pull-Ups. 

Jessie

[Everrgreen]

I prefer a potty chair.  I bought a couple from Ikea and at first just left my son naked so he could go use them on his own when he needed to (he did this so well, rarely had accidents, when I put him in underwear it took him a couple weeks to 'get it' and not have accidents).  I do have a potty seat but it was kind of a pain to use and my son now can sit on a regular toilet seat if he needs too.  

[K1329]

I had both available - one kid preferred the ring seat & one preferred the little chair. Can you get a less expensive model of each for her to try?
How old is she?

[Vancouver Mommy]

I liked a seat better. After diapers I just couldn't see the point in collecting a bowl of poo.

[lifeguard]

I'm with Vancouver Mommy. Plus we have pets & the idea of a potty sitting around they might get into before I got to it.... ick.

One of the bonuses of using the seat reducer is that we never had issues with getting ds to use toilets elsewhere. I carried the seat with us for awhile & so he never felt insecure trying a different toilet.

Honestly, going directly to underwear was probably one of the best things we did. Yes, we had accidents but it didn't take him long to figure it out. Ime those of my friends whom used pull-ups seemed to have a MUCH longer pling time.

[briannas auntie]

Originally Posted by K1329 

I had both available - one kid preferred the ring seat & one preferred the little chair. Can you get a less expensive model of each for her to try?
How old is she?

Brianna is 2 years old.  I saw a brand new potty chair at the Goodwill store that was still in the box, so I think I will buy it this weekend.  I am also gonna buy her some training pants and see if it helps.  I saw some at JC Penney last time I was in there.

Jessie

[Turquesa]

My argument for the potty chair is just that it allows their feet to touch the ground, which is necessary to help with bowel movements.  If you go the seat route, just make sure to have a stool for your niece to rest her feet on. 

[Nicole730]

I prefer the potty chair.  It's easier for them to use on their own.

[CherryBombMama]

my ds nina bought him a 3 in 1 kinda thing. it was a potty (with a bowl that could be removed to clean) then it was a detachable potty seat for a regular toilet, and it had a lid that went over it to make it a step stool. so we used the potty part first, then he was so used to it when i took the seat part off and put it on our toilet, with the step stool underneath his feet, he was kinda giggling at how his potty had changed. 

he then easily transitioned to just using a regular potty

[ElliesMomma]

Originally Posted by Nicole730 

I prefer the potty chair.  It's easier for them to use on their own.

true - but at age 2, they aren't going to get there on their own (ie, get there and pull off their pants and diaper/pull up) UNLESS you give them naked time. so my advice if you can do it (ie you are at home for long stretches of the day), is to let her go without anything on the bottom. she will soil your floor. don't get mad -- just point out that poop and pee is supposed to go in the potty.

[Nicole730]

Originally Posted by ElliesMomma 

true - but at age 2, they aren't going to get there on their own (ie, get there and pull off their pants and diaper/pull up) UNLESS you give them naked time. so my advice if you can do it (ie you are at home for long stretches of the day), is to let her go without anything on the bottom. she will soil your floor. don't get mad -- just point out that poop and pee is supposed to go in the potty.

:)  I knew I should have elaborated more.   When DS was potty training, he was just over two and I had a new baby.  So I let DS run around naked and pee when he needed to.  It was easier for me to clean up pee off our hardwood floors - than to help DS pull up and down pants and stay steady on a big toilet while tending to the baby too.  The boy was peeing like 15 times a day in the beginning and most got in the potty, but that would have been a lot of trips to the big toilet for me and baby.  We still have the potty chair out and now our 16 month old is using it a few times a day.  I don't know that she would have tried it if it was a potty seat on the big toilet, so I like it for that aspect too. 
 

[milomama]

It may depend on the kid...at least in our house DS has strong preferences!  He will only use a potty chair!  So much so that I carry one in a backpack when we're out as he will not use a toilet with support, with a seat reducer...no way!  He's 28 months, so for now I'm just happy to be without diapers, but in the coming months we may have to work on this...one really must learn to use the toilet at some point!  Oh and he also won't pee standing up outside...a couple times we've been in the yard and he needs to go, and I try to tell him he can just go in the grass, but he hates that!  It's the potty chair or nothing!