Making the Cut: Portable Potty for Preschoolers
5/31/26
Making the Cut is a series on the smart and simple solutions that have (or have not) earned a place in our home.
Executive summary: It never crossed my mind that I’d want to add a portable potty to my assortment of travel-sized kid gear, but it’s been super handy for my 3yo, so I stand (sit?) corrected!
There are a lot of theories/opinions/strategies regarding potty training, but for our kids, we took the path of least resistance: we let them potty train themselves when they felt ready. Diapers don’t bother us, but accidents are a pain to clean up, so we didn’t push our children in the slightest to potty train. I won’t say how old they were when they started using the toilet on their own, in case they are horrified one day to find that this personal information has been broadcast on the internet, but it was definitely later than the “averages” that you read about. The benefit, of course, is that we have been nearly accident-free. What I didn’t anticipate, however, is how useful it would be to have a portable potty to follow them around with. Because when it comes to kids, when you gotta go, you reaaaally gotta go. There are so many parks and public areas that don’t have a bathroom, and I vividly remember once witnessing a flustered mother trying to corral her crawling baby on the sidewalk while her toddler crouched in a bush at such a playground. So when my daughter decided that she was done with diapers, but often wanted to use the restroom when we were out and about (like twice a week often), I started researching portable potty options. A few top contenders came up, and I decided on the OXO 2-in-1 Go Potty. I thought, if OXO is good at making food prep implements, maybe they are good at taking care of the other end too. XD
The 2-in-1 refers to the fact that this can be a freestanding potty or used as a potty seat ring on a regular sized toilet (maybe).
As a minimalist, I am intrigued by anything that claims to be multifunctional. I will say that I’m disappointed in this regard — the potty is supposed to be able to be used as a potty ring on a regular toilet (to fit small tushies), but it just slips around on ours and is basically unusable in this configuration. But its basic job it does well. The two little legs fold out and snap into position under the seat and can be easily placed on the ground or in the trunk of a car or wherever you find your child getting down to business. Just slip a bag over the sides and it’s ready to go in a few seconds flat. (I ordered whatever refills of the bags were easiest to find online, and they have a little liner inside to absorb any liquid. No mess, no stress.)
The potty folds up and fits flat in a small bag, making it easy to take anywhere.
This potty is also helpful to have when traveling. At 3yo, my daughter is still sometimes anxious about new places, especially confined spaces like bathrooms. She will absolutely refuse to use the facilities at restaurants, airports, shopping centers, etc. (my husband says that’s an understatement). Idk if it’s an improvement to carry this potty around with us (I throw it in my bag or the stroller when we go out) vs. packing diapers, but I suppose I should be glad of every tiny step she takes toward becoming a big kid. The potty worked well for us on our short road trip to Monterey during spring break, and I will bring it with us when we fly to SoCal this summer. No more allotting half a suitcase to packing diapers or ordering a box of them to be delivered to the hotel ahead of our arrival!
I remember the first time I saw a parent bring out a portable potty at the park, and I thought, how funny! The existence of such a contraption had never occurred to me before that point. But now I see how useful ours has been, so I’ve joined those ranks and am glad to never have to scramble to find a bathroom when the preschooler says “I need to go! NOW!” Potty emergency averted. Big mess avoided. Isn’t parenthood just thrilling?
As on add-on, I feel like it would be unfair to not drop a line attesting to how handy our Skip Hop changing mat had been for the first couple years of each child’s life, before we moved onto the (voluntary) potty training phase. The Pronto is a super light wipeable mat that folds up flat and followed us everywhere for a while, just like the Go Potty is now. We never had a changing pad or station, even at home — we literally would drop that mat on the floor (or suspended between two chairs if we were out, for instance) and lie the kid(s) down on it. Doesn’t really get easier than that.
My son also loved to lie on the changing mat just to chill. Gee, this brings back memories.