Parenting Pros Swear These Potty Seats Make Toilet Training a Breeze

You’ve seen it: The curiosity piquing as your toddler eyes your toilet. Maybe your child has explicitly asked about the potty, or maybe you’re simply ready to pounce at the opportunity to start phasing out diapers. You know there’s no specific age to start potty training, and you also know that your child’s time is now.

Potty training isn’t known as the most exciting part of parenting. It is guaranteed to be messy and can really test your patience, but with a few good potty training tips, some assistance from encouraging potty training apps and the right equipment, it will be a rewarding process for both your child and yourself.

The parenting and product experts at the Good Housekeeping Institute test all of the must-haves for babies, toddlers and children, from diapers to toys and everything in between. To find the best chairs and seats for potty training, we considered ease of use, cleaning features and overall design along with personal experiences and real user feedback. These are the top potty training chairs and seats to buy:

• Best Overall Potty Chair: Summer Infant My Size Potty
• Best Overall Potty Seat: BabyBjörn Toilet Trainer
• Best Value Potty Chair: Ikea Lockig
• Best Value Potty Seat: Munchkin Sturdy Potty Seat
• Best Travel Potty Seat: OXO Tot 2-in-1 Go Potty for Travel
• Best Potty Chair for Nervous Toddlers: BabyBjörn Potty Chair
• Best Potty Seat with Ladder: Skyroku Potty Training Seat and Ladder
• Most Comfortable Potty Chair: The First Years Super Pooper Plus Potty

Which is better: A potty chair or potty seat?

A potty chair is a standalone unit on the floor, while a potty seat goes over an actual toilet. Choosing between the two comes down to preferences — both your toddler’s and your own. If your toddler is reluctant to use an adult-size toilet, a child-size chair will likely feel more inviting, whereas a seat might work better for a child eager to achieve Big Kid status.

Realistically, however, your child will learn to use the toilet however you teach them, so in this case, your comfort matters too. Consider your space, cleaning preferences, and your own nerves. Here are a few things to consider:

• Where will you primarily be potty training? Potty chairs are popular at the start of training because toddlers can't always make it to the toilet when they're first learning. They give you the flexibility of potty training from anywhere in the house and even moving from room to room. That being said, these options typically don't fold down for easy storage, and so will require a dedicated space until your child is ready to graduate to the toilet. Potty seats, on the other hand, sit on top of your regular toilet seat to make it toddler-friendly. Potty seats are easily stored — most come with hooks or feet to ease the transition back to your full-size toilet seat — but you’ll also want to budget space for a small stool to help your child reach the toilet.
• Are you prepared to clean a potty chair after every use? Potty chairs require bowl cleaning after each use, while potty seats have the benefit of utilizing your regular household plumbing, making post-potty cleanup as easy as a flush. If you are ready to add some distance between yourself and your child’s bowel movements, a potty seat might be a better fit. Pro tip: If your child prefers a potty chair but you don’t want to clean the bowl of the chair every time your child uses it, try using travel liners, such as the TidyTots Disposable Potty Chair Liners, in your at-home chair. This will make clean-up a bit more similar to changing a diaper.
• How do you feel about your child sitting on the toilet? Potty training isn’t just a milestone for your toddler — it’s an adjustment for parents, as well. Eventually, you’re going to see your child excited to go to the bathroom on their own, calling for you only when they’re ready for a wipe. If you worry about your child sitting high above the ground and leaning over to reach the toilet paper, a chair fit to their size might soothe your potty-training nerves.
  

Summer Infant

amazon.com

$23.99

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This potty chair from Summer Infant comes with all the bells and whistles of a real toilet — literally. The look mimics a regular toilet and it has a pretend flusher that makes a flushing noise when pushed, so if bathroom aesthetics are important to you and your child, you can’t get much closer to your adult-sized toilet than this.

The My Size Potty comes with a splash guard to prevent spills, and it gets convenience points for the built-in wipe compartment and removable bowl for easy cleaning. However, even with its lightweight design, the chair’s larger size makes it clunky during travel, so you may still want to get a travel seat for those times your child has to go on the go.

BabyBjörn

amazon.com

$34.99

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No more sliding tushies with this potty seat! BabyBjörn's model has an adjustment module underneath the seat, allowing for a perfect fit on top of most toilet seats, and the top of the seat is ergonomically designed to help toddlers sit on the toilet correctly. This seat doesn't have side handles for your child to hold onto, instead getting its stability from its overall design.

Even with your custom size adjustments, the seat is still light enough for toddlers to place on and off your toilet before and after use — and for you to take on the go. It also features a sleek built-in hook for easy hanging as well as a built-in splash guard to prevent messes.

Ikea

ikea.com

$14.99

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Ikea’s potty chair is comparable to BabyBjörn’s popular pick (and our pick below for nervous toddlers), but available for a fraction of the cost. The simple, seat-like design is inviting for toddlers who aren’t quite ready for the toilet, with the necessary functionality of a potty chair.

The detachable bowl makes for easy clean-up after each use, and parents note that the shape of the splash guard is effective for both girls and boys. The chair also has non-slip material along the bottom rim, ensuring a scoot-free bathroom experience. It's only available in this green and white color palette, limiting your ability to match it to your bathroom, but it is hard to beat the $15 price tag.

Munchkin

amazon.com

$9.99

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Munchkin's model offers everything you need in a potty seat for under $10. Its smooth shape is designed for your toddler's comfort while sitting and it has handles on both sides for added stability. It's easy to remove and store this lightweight potty seat, with feet to rest it on the floor as well as a loop for easy hanging. Munchkin also makes a compatible hook that loops over the rim of your toilet tank.

Because it doesn't have any size adjustment options, some Amazon reviewers have found this model to be a bit shaky on top of their toilet seats, but non-skid edging helps to keep the seat securely in place as your child uses the toilet.

OXO Tot

amazon.com

$19.99

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Leaving the house while potty training is much less stress-inducing with this OXO Tot travel potty. The foldable design makes for easy carrying and storing in the trunk of your car, while the 2-in-1 convertible design means it works as both a chair on the ground and as a seat on a full-size toilet, so it really can be used anywhere. Matching liners wrap around the seat and insert into openings on the side, keeping the top clean during use and allowing for quick waste disposal.

Take note that as a chair, this potty sits a bit low — about 3.3 inches off the ground — and it has no back, so it may not be an ideal replacement for a full-size potty chair in the early stages of training. Still, it's a great option for those inevitable trips outside of the home.

BabyBjörn

amazon.com

$29.99

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This potty chair looks more like a regular chair than a toilet, with a backrest and armrests contoured for small bodies. It even comes in a range of kid (and adult)-friendly colors, making the BabyBjörn chair a great pick for toddlers who are intimidated by the look of a toilet.

Parents love the rubber edging along the bottom to keep it in place without slipping, and the removable bowl features a built-in splash guard, making cleaning the singular piece a breeze. If you’re looking for something you can take on the go, BabyBjörn also makes a backless version of this chair that is a bit easier carry, however it is still clunkier than foldable travel seats.

Skyroku

amazon.com

$29.99

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Skyroku's potty seat and ladder offer the convenience of a potty seat, without requiring a step stool. This model also has a padded seat that's perfect for toddlers who like to take their time on the toilet, and that detaches for easy cleaning, as well as stabilizing handles on either side. When it's not in use, the entire seat easily lifts off the toilet and folds in half for storage against the wall.

Take note that while the ladder's height is adjustable to get an even fit on top of your toilet seat, the singular rung can feel slender for toddlers still working on their balance, so you may want to wait until your child is a bit older to opt for this all-in-one option.

The First Years

amazon.com

$29.97

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The Super Pooper Plus Potty is basically a Squatty Potty for toddlers. This potty chair is fitted with a small foot lift to encourage the perfect squat position for easy bowel relief, which is particularly useful for toddlers who aren’t used to sitting to go to the bathroom.

Aesthetically, this chair looks like a miniature toilet and keeps things fun with a pretend flusher that cheers for your toddler as it “flushes.” The seat’s splash guard prevents mess and the removable bowl makes for easy cleaning. Its size isn't conducive to easy travel, but the seat does pop off to fit atop a standard adult toilet seat.