Conference moira::parenting_v3

    Judy, here's what I did...intially I bought one of the insert rings
    that fit on the toilet seat.  It worked well, but seemed to fit a
    little strangely on the padded toilet seat.  (we replaced one padded
    seat with another, and it seemed to fit even more strangely!?)
    
    As he got a little older and a little more coordinated we bought
    something called a "Baby Loo", at Toys R US or Child World, it's along
    the same line, an insert for over the toilet seat, but it has a step
    that works like a step ladder attached.  It worked just so so for us,
    and eventually, since we're talking "boy potty training" here we
    discovered by trial and error that just getting a small step stool, we
    bought the blue and white Little Tykes brand, he was tall enough to go
    "wee-wees" like the big guys, we stopped using the insert all together,
    and he has never really had a problem holding himself upright while
    sitting on the toilet seat.
    
    We just figured that if we didn't get him attached to any particular
    type of seat, we would be avoiding problems.  We were afraid that if we
    stopped at "gramma/grampa's" house and didn't have the insert he was
    used to, he would refuse to use the toilet or have an anxiety attack.
    
    For us it worked, to you GOOD LUCK!

    This first time around, I bought the Century seat that looked like a
    real toilet.  The top came off to use as an attachment to the regualr
    toilet.  I hated this one!  It kept coming apart and once my son even
    tipped over on it.
    
    The second time around I bought the NuLine nursery chair (wood
    structure with bowl attached - could not be used in conjunction with a
    regular toilet.  It was perfect.
    
    Both of my sons stood at the toilet as soon as they discovered they
    could - I bought a Tommee Tippee stool for them - a lifesaver for sure. 
    Now if I could just teach all three men something about aiming.....
    
    -sandy
    

    >>Now if I could just teach all three men something about aiming...
    
    How right you are!! 
    
    You mean scrubbing the floor around the toilet bowl isn't part of
    *everyone's* morning routine???!!!
    
    ....and I swear it's the BIG boy who's the biggest offender!!
        HE tries to blame it on the bowl "sweating" during the high
        humidity!!
    
    Lyn

    He messes, he cleans it up.
    
    --bonnie

    My rule is - I won't make you put the seat down, if you won't make me
    step in something wet!
    
    I keep those little quick wipes right on the back of the bowl!!!  I
    have refused to clean the bowl cubby since we moved into this house in
    12/89!!!
    
    -sandy
    

    I had two potty chairs given to me by friends whose kids had outgrown
    them.  Kate doesn't seem to have a preference for either.  We keep one
    in the bathroom and the other in the trunk of my car!  When we're out
    in the car - far from a bathroom, and Kate announces that she must GO
    NOW, I pull over to a safe spot, open the trunk and set her on the pot
    right in the trunk.  I keep toilet paper in a plastic bag and a roll of
    paper towels in the trunk.  If I cannot dispose of the potty I fill the 
    bowl with paper towels and it's spill-proof until I can get home.
    
    This has worked well - especially when we've just pulled in to the
    playground and there are no facilities in sight...

We bought the Gerry potty ... it, too, is a 3-stager.  I liked it because:
	.  it was lightweight but sturdy;
	.  had a REMOVEABLE pot!;
	.  looked like a toilet;
	.  went from a potty with lid and handles, to a toilet seat with
	      steps to just a step stool; and
	.  was CHEAP!  ($20'ish at Service Merchandise)

At 18 months, we parked it in the bathroom.  Juli would sit on it and
check it out  (especially if I were in there, too).  Then she noticed some
magazines floating about the bathroom and decided to add some of her
reading books.  She would just randomly sit on it (fully clothed with
books, toys or dolls ... sometimes she put her doll on the john and
coaxed the doll!).

Around 21 months, she wanted to sit on it before bathtime (when she was
naked).  A few times she got "lucky", but unfortunately stood up and
walked to tell us about her success (yes!, it WAS hard to clap and praise her 
with a yellow stripe from the bathroom to the kitchen!).

Now, at 23 months, she tells us "I want to go potty ..." and we undress
her and let her sit (with books).  Usually this is brought about AFTER she
has wet her diaper.  So Juli understands the concept, but her timing is off.

Juli will sit on her seat OR a regular toilet ... doesn't seem to bother
her one way or another.  I remember the first time Jim sat her on the big
toilet, Juli didn't realize to hold on and sank down IN IT! ... I heard these
shouts of distress "HELP!, help me Mommy ... Juli's stuck! ... HELP!"  I
removed her and she turned around and slapped the toilet!  Even this didn't
seem to have a negative impact ... she still sits on "anything"!

With a little effort, we could probably have Juli trained fairly quickly ...
Jim and I just haven't invested the time or energy.  At the pace she's going,
she'll probably train herself within the next few months anyway!

I also think she's "following suit" at the learning center.  That seems to be
helping the process along, too.Juli 

Dottie

    Another question...
    
    We have two bathrooms.  I think I'd prefer to have two seats.  I'm not
    too crazy at the thought of lugging one up and down the stairs every
    time we need to.
    
    What have the rest of you done?
    
    judy
    

    
    re: .9  
    
    I probably shouldn't admit to this - but Jason rarely uses his potty
    in the bathroom.   He is more than happy to lug it into the family
    room or kitchen to do his business!   So, for us, having a potty for
    each bathroom isn't really an issue...
    
    cj/  

    re .10 ... gee, maybe it's something in the name .... Jason would only
    use his potty in the living room or kitchen.  NOT in the bathroom!!
    
    Kids! (-;

    
    We had 2 potties, one for the bathroom upstairs and one for down.  It
    was worth it to me.  Spencer only liked the potties when we were just
    starting out, getting use to the idea etc.  When we really started
    getting serious, he wouldn't go if they were on the floor, only if you
    put the removeable seat part on the big tolit.  After the first couple
    weeks of potty training, he didn't want to use that anymore, now we
    stand to "pee" and sit to poop.
    
    

    OK people help me out here, I've got another one not covered in the
    "how to raise a kid manual", (the one they keep forgetting to publish)
    
    AJ survived Potty training relatively well, but the latest thing is
    when he sits to poop he's dropping his butt end into the water, which
    to me seems like Oh disgust!  Like I said a few notes back, we never
    really used a potty seat, and the insert ring is long since gone so I
    don't know whether to go out and get another or what to do.  He's just
    being contrary when he does this, it doesn't seem to bother him when
    his butt is IN the water, but it bothers me that the water he's sitting
    in just isn't all that clean.  I would think the coldness of the water
    alone would keep him from wanting to do this.
    
    Any suggestions, he's 4.5 now.
    Lyn

How about if you use vanish or the tydee (sp) bowl cleaner.  You know the stuff
that turns the water blue.  You could tell him that if he keeps sticking his
rear end into the water it will turn blue and or disappear.  Of course if he
likes the smurfs this might not work.

Only kidding, couldn't resist :)

							rich

    .15, thanks but NO THANKS!!  
    
    That stuff is caustic and toxic, BIGTIME...plus I have two cats, and
    although I'm fairly sure they never drink from the bowl, there's no
    guarantee....
    
    keep the ideas coming thought....!!!
    
    Lyn

$20 ... thought that's what I paid ... not sure.  I liked the name brand
and features.

We have two baths and one potty chair.  Juli's seat is located in the bathroom
"she" bathes in and this bathroom is usually the one "near by".  
She will use any potty chair (at daycare, etc.) OR a regular toilet.  
She doesn't seem to have a preference, except she's so small that her 
knuckles turn white from clinging to the "big seat", so I wouldn't 
think of putting her on the big seat for LONG durations (bowel movements).

We're still at the "getting lucky" stage ... not really into the full
throws of potty training YET!

Juli's interested ... we're not!  She's made such strides "on her own", I
guess I'm hoping she'll actually end up training HERSELF!

Dottie

    
    We just bought a ring to make our regular toilet seats smaller.
    I can NEVER (yes, I can say never about this one) get myself to 
    clean a potty.
    
    
    Eva

    We bought the Fisher-Price potty described in .7.
    Tobias seldom used the pot part of it: in most cases
    the seat part was just snapped onto the main toilet
    seat.  A few times he used the pot when the main toilet
    was not available.  At first we had to snap the seat
    part onto the toilet, but then he learned how to do it
    himself.  For several months now he's been using
    the main toilet seat without snapping the potty
    seat onto it. I guess he's potty trained because he
    no longer needs the potty at all.
    The blue base is quite useful as a stool. But he doesn't
    even need that now.
    
    So I'd recommend the Fisher-Price potty.
    
    When he first started potty-training, my wife insisted on
    buying a potty for the car.  It was never used even
    once for its intended purpose.  But Tobias occasionally
    used it as a hat.

    I seem to be in the minority here but we tried a seat that fit on the
    toilet with our first, found it of no use, stopped using it, and never
    even tried it with our second.  She learned how to sit on the toilet
    without falling in, toilet training was no issue, and we have never had
    a problem getting her to use toilets outside of home.
    
    I think, like boiling bottles, that this is something everybody thinks
    they have to do but they really may not need to.