Monday, November 4, 2013

The First Steps toward Toilet Training: a review of the Prince Lionheart WeePOD Basix





Our sweet girl is 17-months-old. She loves to mimic the behavior that she sees, whether it is cooking, reading, rocking a baby doll, or sitting on the toilet. Rather than purchase a potty seat, my husband and I decided that it might be wise to train our daughter to use the toilet from the get-go. I searched online for a toilet seat that was small, gender-neutral, and easy to use.


I purchased the weePOD at Target. The only color available at the time was ash grey, so that is what I bought. The seat is a little bit squishy and flexible, but the surface is smooth and easy to wipe clean. It is lightweight and all one piece. There are suction cups on the bottom of the seat which help hold it in place on the toilet, so it doesn't slide when a child scoots around to get on or off the seat. I really appreciate the fact that the seat also stands up on its own. This makes storage of the toilet seat simple because it can stand right next to our toilet, ready to go. The hole is just the right size. The weePOD fits both round and elongated toilet seats.

My daughter can easily put the seat onto the toilet by herself. It is self-explanatory. Nobody is going to look at it and feel like it is too difficult to figure out. We haven't begun any serious toilet training, but my sweet girl asks to sit on the toilet quite frequently. Usually I take her diaper off, but in the pictures here, she kept her diaper on. We have been very impressed with the weePOD, and I have considered getting a second one in a pretty color (berry blue, perhaps) that we can take with to the babysitter's house or on the road when we travel.
 
The seat has no hard plastic parts, and it doesn't leave a ring indentation on her rear. It also has a guard on the front for little guys, but I can't vouch for the effectiveness of this feature, since I do not have a son. The reviews on amazon.com, however,  are overwhelmingly positive. Our daughter has used the seat hundreds of times, and it still looks new. There is no sign of cracking or wear.

We have been very pleased with the weePOD and we highly recommend it!


We haven't started serious potty training yet, but I am looking for ideas. Do you have any tips or tricks to share? What has worked well for your children?



3 comments:

  1. Don't be shy! It's never too early to "potty train!" Actually, when you start offering sitting on a potty seat early, there's virtually no "training" involved. And it sounds like she's more than ready. Just make it part of your routine. You (and she!) will be extra-successful if you guide her to sit on the potty right when she wakes up, as this is the time that children naturally feel the urge to urinate, thus giving immediate positive feedback.

    I'd look into a stand alone potty as a pre-cursor to this seat for your big toilet. For so long, I thought that the little potty seat was just a cutesy thing, or that it might be too much to train on a little one and then switch to the toilet. Through my training and research, I learned that it's actually significant for children who are learning to control the muscles used for toileting to be able to put their feet on the floor. It helps them develop the start/stop control.... though obviously they will develop it no matter what at some point!

    Good luck!

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  2. what is the size of the hole ? (we have an arm and hammer that is too small)

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    1. I'm sorry I missed your comment! I measured the hole in the seat. Front-to-back, it is 6 3/4" and side-to-side it is 4 1/4".

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