The training is going fantastically well, and I'm so proud of my grown up girl who managed a whole day out yesterday with no nappies or pull-ups, and used the toilet in various shops and cafes (announcing very loudly and triumphantly to all the customers, "Granny I did a big wee on the toilet!"). She also started back at nursery today, and came home clean and dry.
A major achievement, of which I am very proud.
The potty has had very little use in our house over the last week or so. Ruby much prefers to use the toilet, thanks to the fantastic 'Next Step' trainer seat from Bemis. If you have not heard of it, it is integral to the actual toilet seat and lid, rather than a portable plastic trainer seat.
The photo above, taken from the Bemis site, actually highlights the very reason why I wanted this seat for my bathroom. I am not a particularly tidy person, but I do have a thing about bathrooms! I hate the fact that when you visit some people's toilets, you get a snapshot of their life by the products they have on view - you can tell that they read on the loo, have dandruff, shave their legs...need I go on?! No, for me, everything in a bathroom should be hidden away.
On the odd occasions I get to languish in the bath, I don't want to be surrounded by an entire sealife centre of plastic creatures, or look at a potty or those ridiculous plastic toddler seats (I can't see one of those without thinking of those toothless old men in gurning competitions!).
This seat is ideal. It sits discreetly awaiting use. When the lid is closed, you would never know it was there. Plus you don't have unnecessary bits of plastic cluttering up the bathroom.
My daughter loves using it. I makes her feel independent, as she can operate it easily herself. It is safe and secure and there is no danger it will slip and slide (or trap little fingers or chubby thighs!). She loves being able to use the 'grown-up' toilet like mummy does, and mummy loves the fact that she doesn't have to slop around with a potty to empty!
Bemis say: “The durable wood, two-in-one toilet seat accommodates both adult and child users equally. The seat's design features a built-in potty seat that recesses into the seat cover where it is secured magnetically when not in use.
When the cover closes, the magnetic feature automatically picks up and secures the child potty seat in the cover recess, eliminating the need for adult users to manually lift the child seat. When it is time to use the potty seat, toddlers can easily pull it down into position by themselves, allowing them to exercise their growing independence and reinforce their "I can do it myself" sense of confidence. The built-in magnet is not visible to the eye and is just strong enough to secure the potty seat to the cover but not so strong that a child cannot pull the potty seat down into position.”
We installed this seat when we had our new bathroom fitted some 18 months ago. Granted, a little premature for our daughter, but it has been really useful having it in situ for visiting nephews and friend's children.
I have just replaced our seat like for like. Sadly we got a chip on ours, and I thought it might be harbouring germs. This is absolutely no reflection on the standard or quality of the seats - I don't imagine they were designed for 15 stone blokes locking themselves out, clambering through upstairs bathroom windows and knocking large fresh-matic air freshener dispensers from a great height onto them! I could be wrong though.
I trawled the internet, and while they are available to purchase from some of the larger DIY stores, by far the best value I found was with the online company, Replacement Toilet Seats at £29.99 plus postage. I can thoroughly recommend their online sales, fast delivery and email notifications of delivery updates.
I realise that this seat is much more expensive than a plastic portable trainer seat, but to me it is well worth the investment. It will remain on our loo for years to come, and hopefully serve Ruby's future brothers/sisters. (Well, you never know!)
The nice people at www.replacementtoiletseats have even offered a discount if you purchase more than one seat (perhaps installing one in both your upstairs and downstairs toilets). Just enquire with them via their 'contact us' form on their site.
What a fantastic idea! We have the old man gurning type of toilet seat, which is falling in bits now. We might have to invest in something like this some time soon. Great review!
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