The Potty Boot Camp

By Baby Rock Apparel, the Tinkle Tube is a new tool for potty training boys on the go. Inexpensive and easy to carry around, the Tinkle Tube can be whipped out at a moment’s notice when your little boy says, ‘Mommy, I have to go Potty!’.

The manufacturer gives very specific instructions about how to place the tube on your child’s ‘little soldier.’ (See below.) I guess it’s primary function is not to actually pee INTO but rather to function as an aiming tool. It helps to get the pee in the correct location, while keeping your hands clean.

I don’t have a little boy and can’t fully appreciate the benefit of the aiming function (I’m sure many of you would disagree) and I can’t help but picture it as a little penis crutch. Where the product would come in handy, I think, is as an emergency potty-on-the-go. I can’t think of how many times I frantically ran around a store trying to find the bathroom….or ran around the park looking for a bush. With the Tinkle Tube, a potty is never as far away as your purse.

From the Baby Rock Website:

The Tinkle Tube is simple tool that allows you to assist your little dude to go potty while out on the go during the oh so fun potty training period. You can even use it as an emergency toilet while on the go.

Benefits - FAST, EASY & CLEAN - Reduces time in the restroom, no need for toilet seat covers, more sanitary than toilet seat covers, prevents the child’s clothes from getting wet, acts as an emergency toilet when traveling, no need to entirely take off shoes, pants/shorts or underwear, packs easily into a travel or diaper bag, reusable, and washes out easily with soap and water or an antibacterial agent, prevents you from touching boys little soldier, which keeps you and the child clean. Boys have fun using the Tinkle Tube!

How does it work? - Stand the child on or in front of the toilet seat with your assistance. Be sure to hold the child securely at all times to prevent him from slipping and falling. Unzip or pull down the boys pants. Remove both caps from the Tinkle Tube. Place the Tinkle Tube over the boys little soldier. Now hold and aim the tube towards the toilet. Shake the tube out, rinse and replace the caps. Store the Tinkle Tube in your bag for the next use.

How do you care for the Tinkle Tube? - Wash with soap and water or an antibacterial agent after use. Do NOT place the Tinkle Tube or caps in the dishwasher. Do NOT bend the Tinkle Tube.

WARNING - Never allow a child to stand on the toilet seat alone. Do not allow the child to put the tube or caps in his mouth. Do not use the tube if it cracks.

In keeping with the theme of fear of public bathrooms, I found the ‘Potty Poncho’. The potty poncho is a large, one piece, foldable, washable, re-usable toilet seat cover. It comes is a handy carrying pouch that you can keep in your purse, glove box, or diaper bag. Whip it out, place it over the toilet seat (it covers the ENTIRE seat), and then pick it back up when you’re done. For parents, the product eases the stress of thinking about the nasty germs that might be lurking on the seat. When your toddler is gripping onto the seat you can rest easy that the Poncho is the only thing the child is touching.

When done, the company recommends wiping the cover with an anti-bacterial wipe before folding. When the seat cover seems to be getting a bit grimy, you can throw it in the washing machine. Wah-lah! Good as new.

This is a great choice for the environment since you won’t be disposing of all those other toddler seat covers made from paper. It’s a bit more expensive to begin with, but a whole lot cheaper in the long run - and you’re also buying some peace of mind.

The Poncho is available from Amazon (see above) or from the company’s website at:

Potty Poncho.

Always on the lookout for helpful toilet training products, I’ve come across ‘Potty Mitts’. Invented by a mom, her company ‘Tudy’s’ make both the Potty Mitt Products as well as the ‘Mac and Cool’ freezable dish. (Which I own, by the way, and always keep in my freezer to avoid standing around blowing on food like a crazy person.)

The concept behind Potty Mitts is that they are disposable ‘gloves’ that slip over your child’s hands right before entering a public restroom. Moisture (and germs) won’t penetrate through the mitts, and so you don’t have to stress about what gross item your child might be touching.

The only disadvantage I can see is that it might make it difficult for the child to wipe themselves. If you’re helping them anyway, though, it won’t be an issue. Personally the peace of mind might be worth having to help wipe.
To check out Potty Mitts, visit this link: Potty Mitts

The name of this company is so cute and catchy. I’ve got to give them credit for coming up with a name that is memorable!

Toot-n-Tinkle offers a full line of potty training products. There are training potties, sticker, sticker charts, toilet seats, and reward packs. For the boys are ‘Toot Balls’ which are good for target practice. (No sprinkling while tinkling!)

The characters are cute and should be appealing to kids. Toot is a little train (for the boys) and Tinkle is a pink fairy. (For the girls, of course.) Also handy is the ‘Tinkle Timer.’ (The Potty Boot Camp program advocates the use of a timer during one phase of training - another product kids really like is the Potty Watch)

Right now the only catch is that the Australian-based company does not appear to have any U.S. distributor. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for when the products are available here in the States.

To Visit Toot-n-Tinkle:

TootnTinkle - Adventures in Toilet Training

The blog ‘Parent Reviewers.com’ is giving away the DVD ‘Pocket Snails Potty Adventure’. Visit their site and you’ll find instructions on how to enter the giveaway:

Parent Reviewers

Post by Suzanne Riffel, author of “The Potty Boot Camp: Basic Training for Toddlers” - a new, fast, easy toilet training method that produces remarkable results.

Social Bookmarking

I’ve just discovered a site that is great for Moms! It is Mommy Auctions.com , a website for parents to sell used and new parenting supplies in an EBay-like auction format — but WITHOUT the high EBay listing fees. You only pay if your item sells.

‘This is an auction site for moms and moms to be. FREE listings, FREE stores, FREE wanted ads, and you only pay a fee if your item sells! We are a community for and by moms where you can Buy, Sell, and Trade. Join us in the community to chat with other moms and join in the fun, contests, and shameless sales plugs!’

For parents looking to potty train, Mommy Auctions has an entire category dedicated to ‘diapering and potty’ : http://www.mommyauctions.com/Diapering-and-Potty,category,2397,parent_id,categories

Post by Suzanne Riffel, author of “The Potty Boot Camp: Basic Training for Toddlers” - a new, fast, easy toilet training method that produces remarkable results.

Who doesn’t like something for free? These potty training charts from Able Baby are free to download and print. You can use them with your own stickers. Potty training charts are a helpful incentive when toilet training because your child is able to view tangible evidence of their accomplishments!

Click here to visit the Able Baby website.

Post by Suzanne Riffel, author of “The Potty Boot Camp: Basic Training for Toddlers” - a new, fast, easy toilet training method that produces remarkable results.

I’m always on the lookout for unique potty training products, and I’ve found one that sure isn’t well-known. It’s the Potty Hammock.

The Potty Hammock is a “sleeve” for your toilet seat. You lift the seat up, slide the hammock down and secure it. Once in place, it won’t slip around - and the best feature is that it totally covers the nasty, germy toilet seat. When your toddler grabs onto the seat to steady themselves, for once you won’t have to wonder about what exactly they might be touching…..

When I was potty training, I stuffed one of those padded toilet-seat inserts into my diaper bag. The drawback to carrying around one of those (besides the bulky size) is that people were constantly looking at me, wondering why in the world I would carry around a toilet seat. The Potty Hammock folds up and fits into your purse, pocket, or bag - discreetly. It’s also washable, so if anything might happen to splash onto it you can just throw it into your washing machine.

Wish I had one when I was toilet training!

I found the product at Mom4Life.com for $19.95.