The potty chair.

I have discovered something that I did not realize before. One of the most important parts of potty training is the potty chair. It must be easy, comfortable, and non threatening. There are so many different chairs to choose from it is very overwhelming. At first I took my oldest, Evie, to WalMart and put all the potty chairs on the floor to let her pick. She picked 3 of them! She is very high maintenance.

I wanted one that I thought would have more uses. Such as the base becoming a step stool, and using it when moving to the big potty. So I bought the Dora chair. Although we like it, there are also issues with it. The chair is 3 separate pieces. Which means that it can fall apart. When you are dealing with toddlers if it can it will! If the pieces are not together just right the top can slide when she sits down. Toddlers often sit with force, and are very hard on everything they come in contact with! The biggest problem isn't really Evie though, it is her brother.

If you read my blog you know I have two children very close in age. Christopher who I do not believe is ready to potty train is copying his sister. He often tries to sit in her potty chair. Which as I have already covered is not the most stable chair. Here is where the real problem comes in. He is very clumsy and awkward (he is only 15 months) so he often breaks the chair down. Sometimes he does it just enough that it is not sitting correctly on its base. Which sets up sister for disaster! In defense of the chair Christopher often plays with it in ways that it was not intended! He climbs in and on it. He pushes it around the house. So it is a nice chair if you don't have a younger sibling that is going to play with it! This I cannot really avoid because I want the chair easily accessible to Evie at all times.

I saw a potty chair at Sears for 12.59$ and I thought "Christopher will be needing a potty and at that price if it doesn't work out no big deal!" So I bought it, I mean the Easter bunny brought it! We all love it. Even Evie sits on it, and it never falls apart. Unless the kids take it apart!

It is called the Precious Planer Froggy Friend Potty by Fisher-Price. It is only 2 pieces the chair and the removable bucket for the potty (I don't know what that part is called). Granted it doesn't do anything extra, but it is stable and easy to sit on! The kids love it! Christopher can sit on it without worry. It has handles for security, and the frog eyes offer as a splash guard for boys. So both kids can use the same chair! I wish we had just bought 2 of these chairs in the first place. Because even though Evie will sit on it she won't potty because she says, "It's Bo Bo's potty!"

I recommend it to anyone. The best thing is that it costs only 13$ at http://www.walmart.com/ or try
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10727394 this should be a direct link to the chair!

My Advice for anyone who has kids that are very close in age buy them both a potty chair at the same time. Even if the younger really isn't ready. I would get 2 of the exact same chair. I know that getting 2 of things isn't always feasible, but if you can get rid of diapers sooner the cost will be worth it! The younger will usually copy the older! It will save frustration and maybe even get the younger one potty trained faster!