This is not the throne that I grew up with.
But the iPotty has had everyone talking ever since it entered the market a couple months ago. Here is what I grew up with: a plain, white, boring potty and a book called Once Upon a Potty. In 2007, the author (Alona Frankel) updated the book with a custom version for boys and custom version for girls.
2007 also marked the birth of the iPhone. And 2010 – the iPad. Enter 2013. If I were writing a potty training book today, I might call it:
Once Upon a Potty with an iPad
Once Upon a Potty When I Was iPooping
I was iPooping When I Wrote This
How quickly things change. Now, there’s a valid reason why potty training books, classes, and instructors exist. Transitioning out of diapers for many children is not an easy feat.
When CTA Digital first debuted the iPotty at CES (Consumer Electronics Show), it was the biggest thing to hit the Mommy blogs and tech sites. I wrote about the iPotty here. I even did a potty dance myself. I was like,Yeah! We’re getting one! Yeah! My kid’s getting potty whipped! (Sorry, I meant potty trained.) For a second, I thought I’d buy one, get my stubborn child potty trained and write a great blog about it called Once Upon an iPotty. (I’ll bet you anything CTA Digital is negotiating for book rights to that title right now.)
And then I changed my mind.
Because over the last month, my three-year-old has transitioned nicely into wearing big girl underpants. Every day S excitedly chooses between wearing Princess or Dora underwear. She wears them to Preschool and stays dry all day (usually). She pees in public toilets (usually). She can hold in her pee until she gets to a toilet (usually). She loves wearing pretty underwear. She lifts up her dresses in the park and shows everyone.
“I HAVE UNDERPANTS ON!” she shouts to everyone in the park. (I am very proud of her.)
But there is one thing she will not do. She will not poop in the potty. For that, she asks for a diaper.
Why?
Because she has a genuine phobia of pooping on the potty. And if you know anything about a child (or adult) with a phobia, you understand that it is not a 1-2-3 snap your fingers and make it disappear overnight kind of thing. So as much as S loves the iPad, it’s not going to cure her phobia. Trust me, I’ve tried. This is what I did. I sat her down on the pot and handed her my iPad. She began playing Bugs and Bubbles (which is a great educational app, incidentally). Here’s how it went:
The iPad Potty Experiment
Me: Is it happening?
S: I think so.
Half an hour and 3 games of Bugs and Bubbles later —
Me: How’s it going down there?
S (excited): Look, Mommy!
Me: Did you go?
S: Oh, no. But I got a high score!
Me: What about the poop?
I stand her up.
Me: There’s nothing in the potty.
S: It won’t come out.
I realized then and there that, if anything, playing the game on the potty likely had distracted her further from doing her business. So after I sanitized my iPad screen cover with several rounds of windex, I decided I needed to explore my daughter’s phobia of pooping on the potty with her. To my surprise, I discovered she actually had a long list of pretty valid reasons to back it up (no pun intended).
16 Reasons Why My Daughter Can’t Poop in the Potty
The Potty Monster is waiting to bite her on the tush.
The poop won’t come out.
It will hurt.
She will fall in.
It’s dark down there.
There are monsters there (aka the Potty Monster).
She’s too tired.
She can’t poop with me sitting by her.
She can only poop with me sitting by her.
She wants me to read her a book.
She doesn’t like that book.
It’s too hot in the bathroom.
She wants to make poo poo in her diaper behind the curtain in the living room.
She wants to make poo poo in her diaper in the hallway behind the closet door.
She thinks her favorite show is on.
She’s hungry now.
So you see, my daughter has come up with 16 legitimate reasons why she cannot poop on the potty, and unless CTA Digital can reason them all away for her, there is no way in hell this Mommy is going to get her money’s worth! The iPotty costs $39.99 on Amazon (just in case you want one). Moms are thinking, wow, I could get like a mani and a pedi with that wad of cash, right? My thoughts exactly.
A note on the iPotty design
After seeing my daughter lift up her dress and show her goodies to several people in the park lately, I decided to add a note on the iPotty design. The design of this potty, unlike other potties, requires girls to straddle the big piece of plastic holding up the iPad. I don’t know about you, but I’m trying to teach my little lady to keep her legs together.
Come to think of it, it’s not really good for boys either. Aren’t we trying to teach boys how to pee standing up? It says it comes with the “splash guard” but I’d really love to know how many people are running back to the Apple Store with urine in their iPads because their little boys were aiming for Caillou’s head.
A note on the iPotty “Fine Print”
I was trying to find a positive write-ups of the iPotty that sounded legit and came across lots of interesting comments on amazon. One mentioned that you have to read the fine print because you have to purchase the additional apps from the apps store. I just thought I’d help CTA Digital with the translation here. They are selling a potty, not an app for a potty.
Anyway, until we can scare away the Potty Monster, I’m sticking with our classic pink Princess potty and Once Upon a Potty “old school” print book.
Please drop in with your thoughts. Have you used the iPotty? What do you think about it?
Happy Tech Parenting!
Shoshana Stopek (aka Mommy Tech Bytes)
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