Truly a "Mommy's (or Daddy's) Helper"

Why oh WHY deal with the mess of cleaning a plastic mini potty when teaching your child how to use the toilet? I bought this seat because our third "baby" started showing an interest in using the toilet and I had used a similar step-up potty seat for my older two, made by a different manufacturer. I enjoy the way this type of seat eliminates the transitional period between using a potty on the floor and the real toilet.

There aren't many step-up seats on the market and this seat, by "Mommy's Helper" was not easy to find. However, it is far superior in many ways to the original step-up seat we had used and is distinct among modern step-ups in its design.

First of all, my just-turned-two-year-old daughter can, and does "install" this seat whenever she needs to, with no help of any kind. She simply grabs the handles, places the seat part on the toilet (with toilet seat up, out of the way) and pushes the handles down, on her way up to sit down. She even removes it and places it against the wall when she's done! The light colors easily blend, so it's not an eyesore and it folds pretty flat (approximately 6" at its widest part) so you could always store it in a closet or tuck it away somewhere.

The cushy vinyl seat is a great feature, not only for her little bum, but also to protect her fingers from getting pinched between the seat and the toilet. This has never happened with this seat, due to its much better design - but it did occur with our old seat, so it's something to look out for in seats of this type. It also has non-skid plastic on the feet to keep it in place.

I have NEVER been afraid of her falling off of it, but I would suggest helping your child and staying nearby until he or she gets a hang of how to use it. It can sometimes get stuck in the "jack-knife" position (especially if you have a rug or something in the way) which I suppose could cause the seat to fall over. Again, this has never happened to us. In our experience, when we have seen it stuck, when she stepped up on the step the seat corrected itself. This seat is also much more stable, having thicker plastic legs, than the old one we had. If you are a high strung parent, it may take a little getting used to, not because it's unsafe, but because it looks like it might be.

Clean up is SO simple! Every once in a while, when I notice a slight "discoloration" on the inside of the white seat, I simply put the seat in the shower, spray it with my cleaning solution and turn the shower on. In less than five minutes, I turn the water off, shake the seat to remove excess water, then let it air dry. This method may be why the screws underneath are starting to rust, but I don't foresee any reason I might have for removing them anyway.

There are two improvements I could suggest. First would be to make the actual step itself a bit wider. This would allow the child more room to move, especially since it requires them to turn around on the step. However, the current size of the step really doesn't detract from the product.

The second would be to have the seat and the hole in the seat be longer to allow for a little more room when the child is "cleaning up". Again, I haven't found this to detract from the seat.

I've seen this product available from One Step Ahead and actually bought it from Target, on-line. "Mommy's Helper" also has it's own web-site where you can read more about the seat.

We've had this seat for more than six months now and it has truly helped our youngest grow to be a self-sufficient toilet user. She loves her potty-seat, and so do I!