Froggy Potty
Description and Dimensions
Officially called the Fisher Price Precious Planet Froggy Friend Potty, this plastic training potty is a little over 15" long and 14.5" wide, with the seat about 5 1/2" high off the floor and the back rest about 9 1/2" high. It comes in two parts, the outer "frog" with a cut-out hole that acts as a carrying handle cut into the backrest and the inner bowl/seat that also has side handles for carrying the bowl and for the child to hold onto while sitting. The potty comes in pink or green.
Pros
Price-wise, this was the cheapest of all the training toilets, but its quality is outstanding, both in design and workmanship. The seat fits perfectly on the frame and the potty is very sturdy. I love the carrying handles on the bowl and on the froggy frame. There's an effective splash guard. It has also generated the most excitement in the child of all the potties he's had. That may be due to the fact that I told him it was coming in the mail soon, and he looked at pictures of it on Google image search and on retail sites for days in anticipation of its coming. Seeing pictures of other kids sitting on it built up a lot of eagerness for what he hadn't been all that enthusiastic about. Plus, it doesn't hurt that his favorite color is green!
When it came, he immediately put his "stamp" on it, so to speak, almost before it was out of its wrapper. He loves taking out the bowl - it's small and easy to handle and pours easily from any part of the edge without dripping excessively. It's easy for me to clean in our small bathroom sink, too. It's lightweight, ergonomically designed, and very portable.
Cons
Are there any cons? It's hard to think of one. We haven't tried this potty for pooping yet, but I do see that the bowl is a bit shallow - only a few inches deep. I don't think it'll be a problem, but I can't say for sure at this point.
This potty had excellent reviews on Amazon, and after we tried it, I wholeheartedly agree with them. When I buy things, I always look at negative reviews first, though, and if I recall, a few unhappy parents noted that the frog's eyes in front make it hard for their kids to mount and dismount. My child is small, a little over 36," and has no problems at all. In fact, he's very much into climbing things, so it's just another thing to climb over. Oh - now that I think of it, perhaps I've found a negative. He likes to try standing on his Froggy potty, and I have to tell him not to.
Lil Marc Urinal
Description
The Lil Marc training urinal is a new way to teach young boys how to pee standing up. The more common type of stand-up potty for boys comes as an attachment to the regular toilet. This potty is a urinal on its own terms. It is shaped like a urinal such as you'd see in a public restroom, only of course smaller and made of plastic. It's meant to be used standing up, and only for peeing. It has its own stand if you want to let it stand on its own, or you can mount it to a wall or door. The flusher is only ornamental. This potty comes in two pieces - the bowl and the stand, which together leave a pretty small footprint on the floor, as you can see from the dimensions. Dimensions
The Lil Marc stands 23" tall, 10" length, and 8" width.
Pros
When I saw this boy's urinal listed on Amazon.com, after I spent some juvenile time giggling, I decided I wanted my son to try it so as to give him more options to explore. That's worked out well and he's gained a lot of confidence by learning there are different ways he can pee. It's easy to assemble even for mechanically incompetent me. The bowl fits onto the stand and sort of locks into place. My son caught on quickly how to detach and attach it. Though he's knocked the whole thing over when playing nearby, knocking it down has never separated the two pieces or caused a spill, and it's never detached while he was using it.
A brilliant design element is the spill-proof spout. To empty the urinal potty, you take off the bowl and tilt the bowl upside down into the toilet. The pee pours out through the narrow channel on top. Why is this so brilliant? Well, not only is it quite a neat operation, but it's virtually impossible to spill the contents if you try to pour them out along the rim of the bowl, as I mistakenly did. In fact, it took me a moment to figure out how I was supposed to empty it. When I did, I was impressed. And although it takes some leverage, the child can pick up the bowl and empty it.
Cons
As with any urinal, there will be some spillage upon doing the act. There's not much with this contraption, but a few drops here and there do land on the edge. I make sure to tell the child that everybody spills and it's okay. Also, because of the spillproof edge, it's a little - just a little - harder to clean this urinal than other potties that come with smaller bowls. And if you use this potty for your son, of course it means you'll need another one for training in number 2. Lastly, if your boy is the kind who likes to assemble and disassemble things, he may very well do what mine did and want to try using it while it's not attached to the stand. I advise against it...
Potty Scotty Riding Chair
Description
The Potty Scotty isn't really a rocking toy, though it looks like one, with its handles and dog/rabbit/horse/unidentifiable animal frontal attachment. It comes in two pieces, the figurehead and the bowl-and-seat, which are one unit.
Pros
Despite its simple looks, the design of the Potty Scotty is actually quite clever. Not only does it have handlebars and a little toy to play with for keeping the kid occupied, but it's built low to the ground, which puts the child in more of a natural crouching position, which I swear makes it easier for small children to do their business than potties built at more of a 90 degree angle to the floor. I mean, in a sense chair-like toilets are really strange things, since for most of humankind people crouched to do their business. Also, the bowl is quite deep. The fact that the bowl and seat are completely one piece means that there are no places for leakage or pinching.
The seat is comfortable for the child and the splash guard is wonderful. The potty part is easy to detach and very compact. Carrying the potty over to the toilet is not a problem for the kid. At every step, it's easy for him to use and he goes to it readily.
Cons
There aren't really any cons for this potty. The seller I bought it from, Potty Training Concepts, accidentally shipped just the base instead of the "Riding" version, but they immediately sent out a replacement when I informed them of the mistake.
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