Best potty chairs and seats: Everything you need

Wooo! It’s time to potty train your baby! Potty training can definitely test your patience but a comfortable potty will certainly make the job easier.

There are so many different potties on the market that choosing the best one can be a task in itself. That’s where this guide comes in. By the time you have finished reading you will be a potty gear expert. Pretty cool, huh?

If you choose not to jump to a particular section then keep reading from top to bottom. It’s all awesome information.

Low to the ground and easy for your toddler to use on his own. A potty chair is the starting point for any parent looking at potty training their child.

By far the least intimidating of the three potty options; a potty chair is essentially a small seat that sits on the ground with a recessed area to catch pee and poop. Because of the low height, your baby can sit down with his feet touching the ground.

When your baby has done his business, you will be required to empty the contents of the potty chair into the bin and wash it out in the sink.

Potty chairs are portable. The ability to take the potty chair from room to room will mean that it will always be nearby when your toddler gets the urge to go.

AdvantageS

• Can be in any room of the house
• Childs feet sit comfortably on the ground
• plusNo great height to fall from
• plusEasy for your toddler to sit on without your assistance

Disadvantages

• Cleaning required after each use
• Still need to train your child to use a regular toilet
• minusThe average seat height is 6 inches, not suitable for a taller toddler

There are four different types of potty chairs. Lets take a look at each in greater detail.

Single piece potty chair

The most basic of potty chairs is made from a single piece of molded plastic. While this potty chair will definitely get the job done, this style can be uncomfortable to sit on and bulky to clean.

Two piece potty chair

The standard of modern potty chairs. As the name suggests, this potty chair is made up of two separate pieces:

1. An outer plastic seat that supports your baby while sitting.
2. An inner plastic bowl that catches your baby’s waste.

When your baby is finished; simply remove the inner bucket and clean it before returning it to the potty seat. Cleaning a removable insert is much easier and quicker than trying to clean the whole potty seat in the sink.

Deluxe potty chair

A deluxe potty chair contains many different bells and whistles, including:

• Storage – Hooks and pull out drawers will allow you to keep toilet paper or baby wipes nearby and ready for use once your baby has finished pooping.
• Lights and sounds – When your baby has finished his business, he can press the lever and is rewarded with a flushing sound or flashing lights. Some potty chairs even play music when your baby sits down.
• Deodorizer – Helps stop your baby’s poop from stinking out the house before you get a chance to wash the potty.
• cushioned seat – Provides an incredibly soft place for your baby to do his business.
• Stickers – Some potty seats like the My Fun Sticker Potty come with a set of stickers. These stickers allow your child to create a unique potty just for him!
• iPad stand – I’m being serious. Some potties include an ipad stand for your baby to play with while he does his business.

Deluxe potty chairs are a catch 22. The features can be incredibly useful in getting your child to use the potty. On the flipside, each added feature will add bulk to the potty and is also one more thing that will need cleaning when it gets coated in pee or poop (a very real possibility).

Multifunction potty chair

A multifuntion potty chair is designed to grow with your baby. Below are the different combinations of multifunction potty chairs:

• 2-in-1 – A potty chair with a removable potty seat
• 3-in-1 – A potty chair, potty seat and step-stool
• 4-in-1 – A potty chair, potty seat, step-stool and storage compartments

Below is an example of a 3-in-1 potty chair, the Bravo 3-in-1 Potty.

I personally do not like combination baby gear. Rather than be great at a single task they are average at multiple. While it may seem cost effective to buy all buying an all-in-one solution; you will save yourself from stress if you buy them separately.

Another downside with combination potties is that they have more pieces to them. More pieces equals more cleaning. And more cleaning equals less quality time with your little one.

This section will focus on the features you will need to consider when purchasing a potty chair.

Splash guard

You may have noticed that the lip of the potty sticks up in the picture above. This lip is known as the splash guard and is designed to help with potty training young boys.

You see; your little boy will not immediately know how to position his dangly bits when sitting on a potty. That means that there will occasionally be instances of friendly fire ending up all over your floor.

The splashguard helps prevent pee from escaping the potty by bouncing it back into the bowl below, potentially saving you from cleaning pee from the floor.

You may not need a splash guard if you are potty training a girl. That said, some little girls have a tendency tilt their pelvis forward when peeing. This peeing position will quickly see your floor splattered if your potty chair does not have a splash guard.

Stability

The best way to keep your floor clean is by choosing a potty chair that is difficult to tip over. You don’t want your child to lean left or right (or even excitedly jump up to check her progress) and have the potty chair topple over; sending it’s contents all over the floor.

• checkWeight – The heavier a potty is, the harder it will be to tip over.
• checkBase of support – The base of the potty sits on your floor. The more of the base that touches the floor, the harder the potty will be to spill.

To check for stability, place the potty on the floor. Kneel down in front of it and put your hands to the left and right of the potty. Apply your weight and shift it from one hand to the other. After comparing a few you will quickly be able to find a potty that is much harder to tip than the others.

If you have tiles or a wooden floor then a rubber lined bottom is a needed feature. A rubber bottom will prevent your potty from slipping and sliding around your floor while your baby tried to climb aboard.

The design

Close your eyes and Imagine you are a toddler. Now look at this potty chair.

This potty chair is so awesome that even I want to sit on it and I was potty trained a loooooong time ago.

While the design is not vital to the potty seats main function , it can play a major role during the potty training process. If your child is excited by the potty then he will be much more likely to use it when the time comes to do his business.

In this section I will show you some of the most popular potty chairs on the market as well as some of the more unusual options available.

Best two piece potty chair (Expensive option)

Lil’ Loo Potty

Best 3-in-1 Potty Chair

Best potty chair design for boys

Best organic potty chair

Best wooden potty chair

Is your child too tall for a potty chair but small enough to fall through the middle of your toilet seat. A potty seat will keep your toddler safe and comfortable while using the “adult” toilet.

A potty seat sits on top of your regular. The potty seat helps reduce the size of the regular toilet seat so that your baby will not fall through the large hole.

• checkSeat reducer
• checkToilet topper
• checkPotty ring
• checkToilet trainer

So if you hear any of the above words thrown around when speaking to parents; know that they are all talking about the same thing.

A benefit of a potty seat is that once your child has finished going to the toilet; you simply press the button and it all goes away. Unless there is some *ahem* friendly fire, you will not need to clean a potty seat.

While less cleaning is a huge upside, your child may be afraid to do his business at such a long way off the ground (which is fair enough, can you imagine pooping on a toilet that is twice your height?). If you can manage to get your child to take to a potty seat, you will also need to buy a kids step stool so that your baby can easily access it.

If your child is a taller than average height then a potty seat is your best solution. Regardless of height, your child can sit comfortably.

Advantages

• Trains your child to use a regular toilet
• Suitable for tall toddlers
• plusDoesn’t add clutter to your home
• plusVery portable, great for travelling
• plusCleaning is as simple as flushing the toilet

Disadvantages

• Has to be removed when adults use the toilet
• Has to be removed when adults use the toilet
• minusFurther to fall from
• minusRequires your assistance to sit on

There are two different types of potty seats:

Traditional potty seat

A regular ring shaped potty that sits on top of your toilet seat. The potty seat is not too bulky and can easily be removed when an adult needs to use the toilet.

If your child wants to use a regular potty seat unassisted, you will need to buy a separate step stool.

2-in-1 Potty seat

If a potty seat and step stool were to have a baby, the 2-in-1 potty seat would be the result. The step stool and potty seat are one single product, providing your child with a stable support as he climbs up onto the potty seat.

While 2-in-1 potty seats are easier for a toddler to climb; they are also much bulkier than a regular potty seat. The added size can cause difficulties when trying to remove the seat from the toilet. 2-in-1 potty seats also take up a lot more room ins torage.

There are three main ways that a potty seat can attach to your toilet. Lets take a look underneath some potty seats to see how they connect to your toilet seat.

• checkSuction cups – The base of the potty seat has suction cups that secure it to the toilet seat

• checkWings – Underneath the potty seat are wings that press against the underside of the toilet seat.

• checkHinge – The potty seat becomes a permanent fixture of your toilet. The potty sits upon the toilet seat and lifts up when not in use.

With the exception of hinged potty seats you will have to remove the potty from your toilet after use. This brings me to my next point…

Can you easily remove the potty seat?

Imagine this; your bladder is full to the point of bursting. You race to the toilet only to discover this:

A potty seat is the only thing standing in the way of relief. The majority of potty seats will need to be removed before an adult can use the toilet seat.

A potty seat that is difficult to remove will quickly grow tiresome. Since potty seats are cheap, you may be better up buying a new one rather than becoming stressed each time you need to remove the potty.

Potty seat storage

Each time you remove the potty seat you are going to need to store it somewhere. Unfortunately, a potty seat can quickly become another piece of junk that clutters up your bathroom.

Some brands of potty seats come with a hook that allow you to hang the potty seat off the side of your toilet; helping to reduce bathroom clutter.

Potty Seat Splash Guard

Just like on potty chairs, potty seats can come with or whithout a splash guard. That little hump at the front of the potty seat will provide added protection when potty training young boys.

Rather than have pee spray over the front of the seat, it will bounce back into the toilet below. It’s much easier to clean a splash guard than the toilet floor.

One word of caution if your child uses a stepping stool to climb unassisted onto the potty seat. The splash guard can be difficult to climb over.

A splash guard can also benefit potty training a girl. If your little girl has a tendency to tilt her pelvis forward while peeing then a splash guard will definitely save you some cleaning time.

Soft or hard potty seats

There are two different types of seating experiences you can provide for your child. Both styles have their own pros and cons.

Plastic potty seat

Plastic potty seats are made from a single piece of molded plastic. Plastic potty seats often have a sloped top to allow any spills to run off into the toilet below.

Plastic potty seats are incredibly easy to clean and dry quickly as well. While some parents believe plastic is too hard for their child’s bottom, children are generally only on the potty for a short time. Besides, they are going to have to get used to a hard plastic seat when they transition to the regular toilet.

Cushion potty seat

A cushion potty seat provides a lovely soft seat for your child’s bottom. If your little one is noticeably uncomfortable when sitting on a plastic seat then a cushioned potty seat may be the solution.

The downside of cushioned potty seats is that they are more difficult to clean with urine pooling in between the pillow and the plastic. Most potty seat pillows can be removed from the plastic outer for washing but it still adds an extra step to the cleaning process.

Measure your toilet. Some toilet seats are elongated while others are round. While potty seats are designed to fit as many variations of toilet sets as possible; a single seat cannot possibly fit every single one. Measure twice. Buy once.

In this section I am going to examine some of the best potty seats on the market.

Best all round potty seat

Best cushioned potty seat

Best built-in potty seat

• checkRound
• checkElongated

Be sure to check which style of toilet you have before rushing out and buying the potty seat only to discover it does not fit.

Best 2-in-1 Potty Seat

When you are going on vacation you will want to pack light. If your child’s potty training stretches into your vacation then you will want a potty that is not only portable but also incredibly light. That’s where travel potties come in.

Travel potties can fold right down so that they don’t take up much room at all. Perfect for hiding away in your cars trunk or bottom of the diaper bag. Travel potty’s are not designed for long term use and are generally bought in addition to a potty seat or potty chair.

The main appeal of a travel potty is that it can be used away from home. In an effort to keep size down, you generally wont find all the fancy bells and whistles that you would on potty chairs or potty seats. Who wants to lug around a bulky potty anyway?

AdvantageS

• Can be used anywhere
• Fold down small
• plusEasy to store away

Disadvantages

• Generally less comfortable than use at home potties
• Less features
• minusCan be difficult to set up in a hurry

There are three different types of travel potties. Lets take a closer look at each one.

The fold up potty seat

While potty seats that you use at home are bulky, the fold up potty seat is incredibly thin and can be reduced down to a quarter of its size.

Simply keep it in the diaper bag and when your child needs to go, it can easily be set up in any public rest room. Perfect for traveling to locations where a toilet is always nearby.

The disposable bag travel potty

If you are going on a road trip then you cannot always guarantee the availability of a public restroom. When your child needs to go; he needs to go now!

Travel potty’s that use plastic bags can be set up absolutely anywhere, on the ground, on a chair, even in the back of your car! Simply loop a plastic bag through the potty and your child is free to do his business.

When your baby is done, simply tie the bag up and dispose of it in the trash can. Using plastic bags means that there will be no cleaning to worry about.

2-in-1 travel potty

A 2-in-1 travel potty combines the previous two into a single unit. When you are in the middle of nowhere you can use plastic bags and when you are back in civilization it transforms into a potty seat.

Disposable plastic bags

Travel potties that rely on plastic bags to catch your toddlers business can be somewhat of a trap. Some travel potties only use one particular style of plastic bag (only sold by the travel potty manufacturer, of course).

If you run out of plastic bags mid vacation then you may be unable to purchase the same bags locally. Either stock up on disposable plastic bags or choose a travel potty that can take plastic bags of different sizes.

Size

Portability is the name of the game. A bulky travel potty will cause more headaches than it’s worth. While you may get away with a larger travel potty on a road trip, if you are traveling on a plane, your storage space will be incredibly limited.

Style of toilet

Potty seats that are used around the home only have to fit a single type of toilet. However, when you are travelling you do not know what style of toilet you will come across.

A potty that only fits one style of toilet can slip when used in another other. Choose a travel potty that will easily fit both shapes.

Best 2-in-1 travel potty

Best travel potty chair

Best travel potty chair

Best plastic fold up potty seat

Featured Image Source: Pixabay

Im all Pottied out. I hope you enjoyed reading my super detailed guide on travel potties. See you next time and stay awesome!

– Jess

• What To Expect – Different types of potty
• Mayo Clinic – Potty Training

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