The Potette Plus is a 2-in-1 product that can serve either as a stand-alone potty or a trainer seat that sits atop a standard adult-sized toilet.  The design is simple, yet secure, with hinged side pieces that can lock into place perpendicular to the seat, acting as legs that raise the potty to a comfortable toddler sitting height, or that snap in as wings that suspend the seat over the toilet and serve as handles.  Just make sure you hear a click to feel confident that the legs are locked into place in either position.  The side pieces are rubberized in just the right places to ensure the seat does not slip when placed on the toilet or standing on the floor.  When not locked into place, the side pieces fold down under the seat for a compact package that slides into an included drawstring bag to take with you.

The Potette Plus comes with three 100% biodegradable liners for use in the potty mode.  These liners are essentially plastic bags with super absorbent padding that can be inserted into the potty and secured by pulling the liner handles around the legs, making the potty easy to use while on the go.  The padding pulls in the liquids, so that you can then dispose of waste by simply detaching the liner, tying it up as neat bag and tossing in the trash with very little mess.  Additional liners can be purchased in sets of 10 or 30.

At home, rather than go through a liner for every use, we use the Reusable Liner, which is a rubber insert that hooks under the front and back edges of the seat.  After my daughter uses the potty, we just dump all liquid and solid waste into the toilet and then add a little water to give it a rinse.  For the most part, it cleans up really well without any wiping, although an occasional scrubbing may be needed every once in a while.

My daughter loves the option of using the “little potty” (potty on the floor) or the “big potty” (training seat on the toilet) and will alternate between the two.  While the potty is deemed suitable from 15 months and the trainer seat for toddlers 2 years and up, I’ve known of families that have started their kids on the potty even sooner without any issues, as long as the child was able to sit up or the parent was willing to support the child atop the potty.  Before giving the Kalencom Potette Plus a try, I had already heard many good things from friends about how this was THE potty to use.  Now that I’ve experienced it, I understand why so many parents swear by it.  This really is a great potty that both you and your child will love.

The Potette Plus retails for $16 and comes in your choice of lime green, blue, pink or red.  The Reusable Liner sells for $12 and the disposable liners in packs of 10 for $5 or 30 for $12.  All can be found at www.kalencom.com.

One thing to note: Now that we have two littles, I sometimes try to make bath time a little more efficient by taking everyone into the shower. Because of it’s size, I thought this mat would be perfect for the shower floor. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s designed for standing as the surface is just a little too slick for the shower, so I would definitely recommend using for seated children in the tub only. Which leads to another size tip – the mat is the perfect size for one baby. If you bathe two together, I’d suggest getting one for each of them.  Double the fun!