Sesame Street 1-2-3 Learn With Me Potty Chair -Elmo All Star
by Kolcraft
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List Price: Category: Baby Product See more product details |
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Baby Products Reviews of Sesame Street 1-2-3 Learn With Me Potty Chair -Elmo All Star
Customer Review: Good design, so far
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this item for our son, since he loves Elmo. I thought I fell into the commercial trap of buying fun over function, but so far so good.
I had some concerns, given the reviews on this item, but it appears that many have been rectified by the manufacturer. The three main items I had concerns with (from the reviews) were 1. ability to easily take off the top to empty the waste tray. 2. the noise of Elmo and the confusion to the child on the potty. 3. the pee deflector. Here are my thoughts. On the first point, the top comes right off, so there's no issue with using one hand to disassemble and clean. Just make sure that you lift gently without putting a lot of pressure on pulling up. Since there are 6 arms that insert into the base, any forceful pressure is going to make stick. Number two with the noise - there's an on/off switch inside, so you can choose if you want to have it on or not without taking out the batteries. On the third point, the pee deflector is tight. As an adult, I have to use two hands to put it in and extra force with one hand to pull it out. There's no way my son can pull this out when sitting on it.
I'm a stickler for design and I always scrutinize the quality of anything I buy. I think this item has a nice design, which I don't often find myself saying with manufactured items for children. The form/function of being able to use the top on the toilet fits tightly and appears sturdy. With the top off, the remainder doubles for a step stood, which is nice. The one thing that you may want to replace on this is anti-sliding skids. They are a hardened plastic and slow movement, but do not stop it. If you buy some rubber strips from the local hardware store (the kind that peel and stick) and place these on the bottom, that issue is resolved.
The issue of the hand being right in the way of the child's leg is definitely true. Our son tends to move his legs off to the sides for support anyway, so it doesn't appear to be an issue. Worse case, you just turn the sound off.
Our son loved the potty from the moment he saw it and pranced around the house with it in his arms for days.
Customer Review: Not at all practical
Summary: 1 Stars
My niece has this potty & I tried to get my son to use it while we were visiting on vacation. We were there 5 days & I couldn't get him to use it even once (although he has no problem using other pottys). While it certainly is cute, there are several major design flaws: (In no particular order)
1. Even though my son never actually used it, I got curious & decided to take it apart to see how you would empty it - talk about a pain in the neck! There's no way a young child could figure this out in order to do it on their own.
2. Several other reviews mentioned that the slash guard (I can't remember what it's actually called) comes off really easily. My son figured that out in no time & then I couldn't get him to leave it alone.
3. Every time my son sat on it, he squirmed around & said "owie". Just looking at it - it doesn't look very comfortable.
4. Several other reviews also mentioned how Elmo talks when you bump his hand (which is EVERY time your kid sits down on the potty) & it is extremely distracting for a toddler! There were a couple times when my son said "I need to potty", but as soon as I sat him down & Elmo started talking, he was too distracted to do anything. I guess you could always take the batteries out, but then you might as well buy a potty with a better design.
My recommendation - the Baby Bjorn potty. Simple design, comfortable, easy to clean out (even for my 2-yr old), doesn't stick out like a sore thumb in your bathroom.
Customer Review: Impossible for kid to dump out pee on his own
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this ages ago and while my son liked it at first, it is a disaster now that we're trying to get him TRULY potty-trained (ie completely independent, pees on his own, dumps pee into big potty, reassembles potty, flushes, washes hands). It has a weird design where you have to take off the outer layer to remove the bowl part, and then to put the outer layer back on is like assembling a puzzle. It's hard even for me to take apart and put back together.
The high five hand is, as another reviewer said, in a bad spot. My son bumps into it accidentally which makes the whole thing seem absurd. He's sitting there, not peeing or pooping but hoping to, and Elmo's shrieking "Way to go! CONGRATULATIONS!" And now the batteries are starting to wear out, which leads to bizarre middle-of-the-night episodes where Elmo suddenly starts talking on his own. Creepy.
I am trading it in for one of the simple models with a bowl you can easily lift out and empty, and no bells and whistles. What's the point of being able to turn into into a (very low) stool later, when by the time he's not using it as a potty any more you certainly will have needed to buy stools for every sink in the house anyway?
Customer Review: Does the job, but has a few flaws
Summary: 2 Stars
This potty does the job, and my son likes it, but it has the following shortcomings:
1 - The bottom of the receptacle is high enough that if a big poopy occurs, it touches your kids bottom, meaning more to wipe later on.
2- It's easy to take apart, but awkward to clean, and there are bits that get bent when re-assembling, that if bent once all further reassemblies become annoying.
3 - The electronics don't like water, so it's awkward to clean without ruining them. To make matters worse, if you have a boy that sometimes misses (even when sitting down), the miss tends to go right onto Elmo's hand, which is the button that you press to make Elmo talk, and is the thing that does not like moisture when you wash it.
So, if your kid is a Sesame Street fan, go ahead and get this, but otherwise I would look for something more practical.
Customer Review: Pros and cons to this potty
Summary: 4 Stars
I just bought this potty for my 22 month old. She loves Elmo so I thought she would be more likely to use it since Elmo is on the front. The Pro's to this potty is that it is a good height for my toddler to sit on with her feet flat on the floor. The 3-in-1 feature is also nice.
Cons: I agree with the other reviewer that Elmo's hand is right by the child's leg and she is constantly hitting the hand which sets off Elmo's voice. Being the curious toddler, it distracts her and she bends over to look at where the noise is coming from. A simple removal of the batteries can remedy the situation. Also, the "pee guard" is easily removed. I chose to keep it off since my daughter was very opposed to it being on and kept pulling it off.
All in all, this is not a bad product and we will keep using it.