Adventures in potty training: cleaning out a poopy potty chair

by Stefania Butler (Subscribe to Stefania Butler's posts) Feb 16th 2006 5:01PM

We've been talking a lot about potty training here on Blogging Baby recently, but no one has yet touched on quite possibly the grossest, most gag-making aspect of potty training: cleaning out the potty.

So, I'll just go right ahead and do it.

First of all, let me say that when "Bunny," my 3.5-year-old was becoming potty aware, I was pregnant. Yeah. I absolutely dreaded when she'd poop on her potty because that meant having to empty the sloshy contents (not just poo, but pee) and then clean that sucker, all while trying not to hurl. First I would attempt to dump the contents into the regular toilet without making to much of a smeary mess inside the container. Once that was done, I would fill the container with hot water and plenty of soap. I'd let that soak for a bit, and then dump the bubbly, poo-water into the toilet, rinse the potty, and then give it a wipe-down with Clorox wipes.

The worst was when, sometimes, I would forget to dump the soapy water before Bunny had to use the bathroom and then she would decide to "help" by dumping it in the toilet herself. Uh huh. Let's just say that at that point I stepped up the bribes to use the insert on the adult potty. "You want a Disney princess nightgown, a whole bag of M&Ms, and a Bratz doll?* Sure! Just use the toilet, Bunny!"

*I'm joking. She didn't get the Bratz doll.

Comments (11)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

christy 2-16-2006 @ 5:17PM

It never even occured to me to use a kid-size potty for just that reason. We just went straight to the mini-potty seat on the big one and used a stool. I would rather change a diaper than clean out one of those things.

Plus it was always good for comic relief when you would go to the bathroom and sit on the tiny seat and wonder how your butt doubled its size in the past 8 hours.

Ms Sisyphus 2-16-2006 @ 5:30PM

You've just brought back so many memories of the past, and dread for the immediate future at the same time.

The best thing about daycare, to my mind, was how easy it made the entire potty training experience with Diva Girl. They had little mini-toilets at her school, which was the best thing ever. Diva Girl looked on the potty with absolute disdain and insisted on using the real toilet almost from day one. It was awesome.

Zen Baby is a home girl however. We're about to enter the pottyzone, and I'm dreading it. I'm dreading the cleaning most of all. Thanks for bringing this dirty little secret out of the bathroom closet.

Cathy 2-16-2006 @ 5:48PM

I got sick of cleaning the potty and packed it away. My 3-y-o had a snit, walked to the hallway and peed on the floor. "I TOLD you that I wanted my potty chair."

Missy 2-16-2006 @ 6:08PM

Cathy, that's hilarious!

(So not looking forward to this whole potty-training thing...)

mommy2boys 2-16-2006 @ 6:27PM

oh, i hated cleaning that thing. i never felt like i got it clean enough. then i'd catch C putting toys in it and i'd just cringe. i'm so glad that IJ has decided that he wants to sit on the "big potty" like his brother -- he will not know what a potty chair is!

ann adams 2-16-2006 @ 8:02PM

We used the seat on the toilet too. One of the girls was scared at first but we gave her a box to rest her feet on and she was fine.

With my boys, it was a little touchier. We had the potty seat with the "duck" but sometimes little boys' aim isn't the greatest. I'm not sure if they ever hit the ceiling but the surrounding area took a beating occasionally.

Peggy-Sue 2-16-2006 @ 8:24PM

Well, this may sound kinda odd, but when I was potty training my oldest (my youngest has yet to be potty trained - that's something I'm not looking forward too since he's EXTREMELY stubborn) I would layer two kleenex sheets on the bottom of the potty - if a bowel movement came out it would land on the kleenex and even if it was soaked with pee, it would slide right out of the potty into the toilet with very little mess. There was still a soapy clean-up, but way, way easier than trying to wipe the poo out of a potty. Worked for me.

Kate 2-16-2006 @ 8:50PM

Good tip, Peggy-Sue! I'll have to try that. My Morgan just had her first poo (yipeeeee!) in the potty this morning and I was proud of both her and myself for only gagging a *little* bit while cleaning it out. I definitley look forward to her moving to the big toilet.

AJ 2-16-2006 @ 10:54PM

We mirror Christy's method. We're beginning potty training using a toilet seat insert and stepping stool. At a petite 20 months, my daughter can climb onto the seat herself (the seat has handles).

I figure we're avoiding messy mini-seat clean-ups and an inevitable transition to an adult toilet. It should also ease use of public restrooms as my daughter will already be accustomed to a big toilet. We would use disposable toilet seat covers (which can support a toddler on an adult seat) and avoid needing a travel potty.

Maureen 2-17-2006 @ 1:37AM

I agree with the potty-seat on top of the real potty for this reason! The padded sponge-bob seat did the trick for my son and there was no mess to clean up other than having two toilet seats to disinfect. But that's a whole lot easier than cleaning out those little cups that come in the mini chair thingys.
I just hope my daughter will be as easy as my son was when it comes to potty-training. He was day/night trained so quickly but I already see how night and day my two kids are.

christy 2-17-2006 @ 3:57PM

Just came back from lunch with a friend who had an awesome idea for easy cleaning of the potty seat. She said to line the receptacle with either a small, 4-gallon trash bag or even a plastic shopping bag. Then all you have to do is tie it up and chuck it away. This probably works best with seats that have the container that slides in and out from under where they sit, but even with a chair like the baby bjorn you could wrap it around and tuck it under. The only issue I see is remembering to line it with a new one when the used on is removed.

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