I’ve had my eye on this potty chair from Boon for a while now.  At one point, we had more potty chairs than we could use.  I actually ended up giving one away.  Now we seem to need another one, and I think that this one will fit the bill perfectly.  I love the simple, functional design of this seat.

The Boon Potty Bench, which easily converts to a step stool, has a very clean and contemporary design that grown-ups will appreciate.  The green color is also a great match for my bathroom, which is an added  bonus.  Other terrific features include storage compartments and a built-in toilet paper holder.

You can purchase this potty chair on sale for $34.99 at mystrollers.com.

Potty training your child can be a monumental task. Sometimes it seems that he or she will never be out of diapers. In my quest for easier ways to potty train my son when he was of age, I chose the No More Diapers DVD by Consumervision. The DVD comes with stickers and is also linked to a website, where you can download coloring pages and a Potty Diploma.

No More Diapers is a cute story about a little bear’s trials and tribulations in using the potty, but I don’t know how much it really influenced my child’s readiness for toilet training. It’s loaded with songs that are cute, except for one I really didn’t like, in which the little bear sings about how much he likes his diapers. My son started singing this song after watching the DVD, and I thought, great, this idea totally backfired.

The part that did work were the stickers and the diploma, which you can actually do on your own without the DVD. It’s easy to make up your own potty training chart and reward certificate on the computer. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend this DVD as a potty training aid.  If you are desparate for help in potty training your son or daughter, however, you can purchase it for $9.99 at Amazon.com and see for yourself.

There are so many potty training aids specifically designed for boys on the market today, it makes me wonder if the reason is that many grown men have problems aiming accurately at the toilet? On a serious note, these Piddlers Toilet Targets really are useful, however. When I found out I was having a boy, a friend of mine gave me Piddlers as a shower gift. It seemed unusual to me at the time, but when my son turned 3 and still wasn’t potty trained, I decided to take them out of storage and give them a try.

Piddlers are foam shapes that are flushable. You put one or a few into the toilet, then have your son “aim” at them. It helps encourage boys to want to use the potty, as they feel proud when they “hit” a target. I know it helped my son, and he went through a box of 30 targets in no time, then wanted more. I couldn’t find any at the time.

If these look like a good idea to you, as a gift for a friend or family member who’s having a boy or for your own son, you might want to invest in a few boxes. You can buy them at CreativeKidStuff.com, where a box of 30 targets is just $4.95.

Who is the ingenious person who came up with this idea? Actually, it was Ryan Strayer, father of a little boy and co-founder of Baby Rock Apparel, makers of the Tinkle Tube. The Tinkle Tube is a potty training aid for boys.  The concept behind it is pretty simple: when taking your boy to a public restroom, instead of having him sit on a dirty toilet seat, the Tinkle Tube helps him to be able to more easily stand and pee. The Tinkle Tube acts as a guide so that the urine goes into the toilet and not all over your son’s clothes, shoes, or your feet. It is supposed to help teach little boys how to pee standing up. However, this would only work if your son is tall enough to reach the seat while standing. The makers of the Tinkle Tube say you can also stand your son on top of the toilet seat and use the tube, but I don’t know how comfortable I would be with that, personally.

This Tinkle Tube could also be of value after the potty training days are done. How many of us have husbands whose aim is not always perfect, necessitating daily (or a few times a day) toilet and/or bathroom cleaning? If you’d like to take a closer look at the Tinkle Tube, you can do so at BabyRockApparel.com, where a 2 pack of Tinkle Tubes sells for $8.99.