My first child was a boy. And then I had another boy. And another. And another. Four boys in seven years provided lots of excitement in my early years of parenting. Especially during potty training.
Actually, I didn’t mind the potty training so much. In many respects, I looked at it as my husband’s responsibility. He was the one to impress upon them the importance of good aim. And when we were on family outings to the park far from a public restroom? Well, I liked the method of finding a secluded tree. Obviously, this didn’t work every time, but more often than not, we were able to avoid questionable public toilets.
Until I had a girl.
I know some clever moms simply tote a potty chair around with them until their kids are old enough to care — and to hold it for long enough periods of time. But, that’s not my habit.
Instead, my friend Jessika, an experienced mother of a girl, gave us this travel toilet seat when FishChick started to potty train. I was skeptical of its usefulness, but, Boy, am I a believer!
It’s a folding toilet seat cover/insert. It fits most toilets and serves several purposes:
- It acts as a barrier between my child and an icky public toilet.
- It prevents my daughter from falling into said, icky public toilet.
- Its handles give her something to hold onto when sat upon an icky public toilet.
The model we have came with a large ziptop bag. The toilet cover folds easily into fourths and slips neatly into the bag. I keep the whole package in my diaper bag and we’re set for any potty emergency.
A travel toilet seat definitely works for me! I don’t leave home without it.
About Jessica Fisher
One Clever Potty Seat
Time for MOM: A Time to Refresh Alongside the Road
Be Prepared on the Road
Surviving the Exhaustion of the Newborn Days
To Be Joyful and To Do Good as Long as I Live
Amen! I have a little guy and I often tote a Lightening McQueen fold up potty seat in my large purse! I LOVE this invention!
What a great idea! I’d love it if you’d link it to my Tuesday’s Tips: http://couponomicstimuluspackage.blogspot.com/2010/03/routines-help-organization.html
I agree; a foldable toilet seat is a must, especially if you have a little girl!
I have never heard of that – thank you so much for sharing!
Also, I hope this isn’t embarrassing, but I have to share something that made me laugh out loud. Literally the DAY after you shared your fitted-sheet-folding vlog (which I commented on and thought was very helpful!), I got my newest edition of BH&G in the mail. They were – no joke – featuring a book in the front pages titled, “Life’s Too Short to Fold Fitted Sheets.” Oh, the irony! 🙂
I had one of these when my girls were little….priceless! We took ours everywhere! Seriously good tip…especially for moms of girls!
I’m currently trying to potty train my daughter. I’ve seen those seats and wondered about them. Thanks for the good info! I think we’ll have to make sure to pick up one of those.
One word of precaution, little tooshies can get pinched in spots where the seat folds if your not careful getting on/off. Of course, other than that, this is a great product.
That’s about the greatest invention for parents of little girls that I have ever seen. Wish they had them when my teenager was little. Oh the horrors of public restrooms!
I second your suggestion. I have the same one for DD, but I too carry around a potty seat since she is only 3 and sometimes we are out and can not reach a potty in time.
I have the Kalencom – Potette Plus 2-in-1 Portable Potty and LOVE it! It’s a seat that you can either use on a public potty or you can buy bags (or use shopping bags) to attach to the bottom when you’re someplace like a park. It has saved us many times! It is bigger than the one you have, but it definitely still fits in our diaper bag.
http://www.amazon.com/Kalencom-2-in-1-Potette-Plus-Red/dp/B0016KV73W
Better yet…teach them how to sit on the regular seat…from the get-go. I never messed with potty chairs or potty seats. No hassle, nothing extra to clean or lug around!
Where did you (or your friend) find this? I have never seen one before.
You can get one here on Amazon.
My #1 worst part of being a parent is public restrooms. Yuck! I cannot stand taking my little ones in them. In some ways it’s easier when they are in diapers when we go out – at least until they can go into the restroom by themselves.
What a great invention!
This seems so nice! I will have to get one for my baby girl when she potty trains. Years ago, when I potty trained my now-9 year old, I had to hold her and do the hover technique. It was not easy or fun! haha!
the other day I found a disposable potty chair, it must have been cardboard because you could easily slip it into your purse. i almost bought it just to show off. disposable potty chairs
I’m planning to begin the potty training process with my daughter in the next month or so. This is a great idea! And doesn’t cost much… even better!
I have that same seat and used it for my daughter. It makes the public restroom seem a bit more kid friendly (and not so gross) 🙂
Do they make these for adults? I cannot stand to use a public restroom — they are usually so ICKY and dirty!
@Trixie, to be honest, I’ve used it myself! LOL. It’s a little tricky, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
I just now used my son’s so I could go to the bathroom when there was NO seat (public restroom at a park), then googled whether they make them for adults, which led me here.
What a neat idea! I was wondering how you tote it around… the bag makes it all neat and clean. 🙂 Very useful and clever (wish I’d had one when I was potty training our girls!).
I’d love to hear more tips from you on potty training boys. Our son is almost 2 and he’s showing interest in sitting on the “big boy potty chair”. I’ve always heard that potty training boys is SO different from girls… guess I’m about to find out!
Kristy @ Homemaker’s Cottage
@Kristy,
Training my son was actually a lot easier than my daughter. When he was ready, we let him pick out a potty seat to go on the big potty (he felt more comfortable then on the regular seat). Standing came after he got the hang of going on the potty all the time. He also picked out a pack of undies and I purchased a potty book for boys.
We also rewarded him for going on the potty. My son had m&m’ s and my daughter chocolate chips. They actually had to go for the reward not just sit; otherwise you’ll never get them out of the bathroom!
Rewards and praise (he so wanted to be a “big” boy) worked wonders. That and biting my tongue during all the accidents.
That is the most wonderful thing ever! My first was also a boy, so walking into a public restroom and saying” don’t touch anything” was the worst of it. Then came the girl. Ugg! She started training a couple months ago (very stubborn child). It never fails that she has to go potty when we get to a store, even though she went at the house 10 minutes ago. I’ll be looking at that seat!
I’m looking for a portable potty for my little. She has about had it with the hold and hover technique! Did you find that this seat worked on most public toilets? Even if they were different sizes?
Thanks!
Yes, we found that this worked well, even for those that were missing the seat. It’s been a few years since we used it on a regular basis, but the model we had (pictured) works well.