Best Potty Training Seats in 2026: The Step Stool Is the Product

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Our quick picks

Ranked by what each one is best at, not by a score we made up. Ratings are what the product showed on Amazon when we last checked — how we rank.

Below: why each one made the list, the numbers worth comparing, and what is wrong with it.

The most useful thing in this guide is that the step stool is the product, and the seat is the accessory.

A child sitting on an adult toilet with their feet dangling has nothing to push against and nothing to brace on, and they are also, entirely reasonably, worried about falling in. Bracing your feet is part of how the body does this — adults do it without noticing. Put a stool under a child’s feet and a great many toilet-training difficulties get easier immediately, and the stool also lets them get up there by themselves, which is what turns a thing you do to a toddler into a thing they do.

The second most useful thing: buy two potties, not one good one. A toddler gives you roughly ten seconds of notice. A single potty in the upstairs bathroom means a sprint up the stairs that will not be completed. Two inexpensive potties in the two rooms where your child actually is will do more for your week than one expensive one.

Before the products: readiness, and the one thing worth knowing

Toilet training goes badly far more often because of timing than because of equipment. The signals that generally matter are behavioral rather than a birthday:

• Staying dry for longer stretches, and waking from a nap dry
• Telling you they need to go, or that they have gone
• Being able to pull trousers up and down, more or less
• Following a simple two-step instruction
• Showing interest in the toilet, or in what adults do in the bathroom
• Being able to sit still for a couple of minutes without a fight

Pushing before those are in place reliably makes the whole process take longer, and turns something neutral into something with feelings attached to it. If you are unsure whether your child is ready, or if training has stalled, or if there is any sign of withholding, pain or constipation, that is a conversation for your pediatrician rather than a problem equipment solves. Withholding in particular is common, it is uncomfortable for the child, and it is much easier to address early with proper advice.

Regression is also completely normal — a new sibling, a house move, starting nursery, an illness. It is not a sign that you did it wrong.

And one safety note: a training seat on an adult toilet is not a restraint. A child can slip off one, and a step stool next to a toilet is also a climbing route for a younger sibling. Stay in the room, and think about where the stool lives between uses.

Potty chair or toilet seat — the honest trade-off

These are two different approaches and most families end up wanting both.

A floor potty

• Much less frightening. Feet on the floor, no height, no big hole, no flushing noise.
• It is where the child is. You can put it in the living room in the early days, which is the difference between catching it and not.
• You empty and wash it every single time. Several times a day, for months. This is the real cost and it is the reason people switch.
• It gets outgrown and then you still have to teach the toilet.

A seat on the adult toilet

• Nothing to empty or clean. The single biggest practical advantage, and it is a large one.
• No second transition later. They learn the thing they will use forever.
• Needs a stool, without exception, both to climb up and to brace their feet.
• More frightening at first, and a flush while they are sitting there can set you back a week.
• It has to be taken on and off every time an adult uses the bathroom, unless you buy the integrated kind.

Our suggestion for most households: a floor potty to start with, downstairs where the child spends the day, and a toilet seat plus a stool in the bathroom from the beginning. Then the transition happens on its own rather than as another event.

What actually matters in the product

• Smooth plastic, no fabric, no crevices, no seams. This is going to be washed several times a day for months. Anything that traps liquid is a mistake.
• A removable bowl with a lip you can hold, on a floor potty. Emptying one without a proper edge is unpleasant in a way you will discover once.
• Rubber feet or a rubber strip underneath. A potty that slides across a tiled floor when a child sits down is a potty they will not trust again.
• A splash guard that is not too tall. For boys a guard helps, and a tall hard guard is the single most common complaint in this category because it is uncomfortable to sit down onto. Lower and rounded is better than higher.
• Handles on a toilet seat insert, which is what a nervous child holds while they settle.
• A grippy underside on the insert so it does not slide on the adult seat.
• Somewhere for it to live. A hook, a shelf, or a seat that folds. The insert that has to be put on the floor between uses is the insert nobody wants in their bathroom.
• A stool with a wide base and a textured top, and low enough that a small child can get onto it unaided.
• No electronics. More on that below.

The potty training gear we would actually buy

1. BabyBjörn Toilet Trainer — best seat for the big toilet

Rated 4.8 stars across roughly 5,600 ratings. A molded insert that sits on an adult toilet seat, with a high back, handles, and an adjustable underside that grips a range of seat shapes.

This is the seat we would buy, and the reason is the shape rather than any feature. It is ergonomically molded rather than a flat ring, so a child sits in it and feels held rather than perched on it, and the handles give a nervous child something to hold while they get used to the height. The underside adjusts, which matters because adult toilet seats vary more than you would expect and a seat that rocks is a seat a child will refuse.

It is smooth molded plastic with no crevices, which is the right material choice for something that gets wiped several times a day.

Buy it with a stool. Not optionally — the seat solves the height and the stool solves the feet, and you need both.

• High rating on a good review base
• Ergonomic molded shape rather than a flat ring — a child sits in it
• Handles, which is what a nervous child holds
• Adjustable underside that grips varied adult seat shapes
• Smooth plastic with no seams to trap anything
• Nothing to empty, ever

Where it falls short: it is expensive for a piece of molded plastic, and that is the honest summary of the BabyBjörn range generally — you are paying for the shape and the fit. It must be lifted off whenever an adult uses the toilet, so you need somewhere for it to go. Measure your toilet seat before ordering; it fits most but not all, and unusual or square seats are the problem. And it does nothing about dangling feet, which is the stool’s job.

Check the current price on Amazon →

2. Jool Baby Folding Travel Potty Seat — deepest review base, and the one to have two of

Rated 4.7 stars across more than 25,400 ratings, which is by far the deepest review base in this guide. A seat that folds flat into four sections and comes with a bag.

This is the product that solves the problem nobody warns you about: every toilet outside your house. A newly trained toddler at a supermarket, a restaurant, a relative’s house or a service station is a toddler who will not sit on an adult toilet, and a folding seat in a bag turns that from a crisis into a thirty-second job.

It is also cheap enough to own several, which is the honest recommendation: one in the bag, one in the car, and one at whichever grandparent does the most childcare.

• By far the deepest review base in this category
• Folds into a bag, so it travels in a changing bag or a glovebox
• Cheap enough to own two or three
• Non-slip pads underneath so it grips unfamiliar seats
• Smooth plastic, easy to wipe
• Solves the out-of-the-house problem that derails training

What owners complain about: the folding hinges are where these fail, so it is not the seat we would choose for permanent daily use at home — buy it as the traveling one. Reviewers report that it can slide on very large or unusually shaped public seats, so it is worth holding it steady the first few times. It has no handles, which a very nervous child will notice. And it needs cleaning after being in a public bathroom, so keep wipes with it.

Check the current price on Amazon →

3. BabyBjörn Potty Chair — best standalone potty

Rated 4.8 stars across roughly 4,500 ratings. A one-piece potty with a backrest, armrests, a removable inner bowl and a rubber strip on the underside.

The removable inner bowl is the whole reason to spend more on a potty, and it is a thing people underestimate before they have emptied a potty forty times. Lifting out a bowl with a proper lip and carrying it to the toilet is a completely different experience from carrying the entire potty, tilting it, and hoping.

The armrests and backrest also do real work: a child who is comfortable will sit for the two or three minutes it sometimes takes, and a child perched on a flat ring will not.

• High rating on a good review base
• Removable inner bowl with a proper lip, which transforms emptying
• Backrest and armrests, so a child will actually sit still
• Rubber strip underneath so it does not slide on tiles
• One-piece molded design with no crevices
• Low enough that feet are flat on the floor, which is the point of a potty

The downside: it is expensive for a potty, and a basic one does the same job less pleasantly. It is bulky, and it lives on your floor in whichever room your child spends the day. You will empty and wash it several times a day for months, which is the inherent cost of the potty approach rather than a fault of this one. And it gets outgrown, so the toilet transition is still ahead of you — which is the argument for buying a seat at the same time.

Check the current price on Amazon →

4. OXO Tot Step Stool — the product that actually matters

Rated 4.8 stars across roughly 3,100 ratings. A sturdy plastic stool giving about a seven-inch boost, with a textured top and a wide base.

We have said it twice already and we will say it once more: this is the thing that makes toilet training work. It gives a child somewhere to brace their feet, which is physically part of how this happens, and it lets them climb up unaided, which is what turns the whole business into something they do rather than something done to them. It then becomes the stool they use at the sink to wash their hands and brush their teeth for the next four years.

It is also the item almost nobody buys at the start and almost everybody buys eventually, usually after a few weeks of difficulty.

• High rating on a solid review base
• Gives feet something to brace against, which really helps
• Lets a child get onto the toilet independently
• Textured top so wet feet do not slip
• Wide base that does not tip
• Used at the sink for years afterwards, long after training is done

What you give up: think about where it lives, because a stool next to a toilet is a climbing route for a younger sibling and a trip hazard in a small bathroom at night. Seven inches is right for a toddler and will be too low for a four-year-old at a sink, so some households end up with two heights. And it is plastic, which is the right material for a bathroom and looks like what it is.

Check the current price on Amazon →

5. OXO Tot 2-in-1 Go Portable Potty — best for the car and for travel

Rated 4.8 stars across more than 12,000 ratings. A folding potty that works either as a standalone potty with disposable liners or as a seat on an adult toilet, with a carry bag.

This is the most useful thing you can keep in a car during toilet training. A newly trained child on a car journey, at a playground with no bathroom, or in a queue at a service station is a genuine emergency, and a potty that unfolds on a verge with a liner in it resolves it in seconds. The fact that it also converts into a toilet seat means one object covers both situations.

If you drive anywhere with a recently trained toddler, this is worth more than a second potty at home.

• Very deep review base at a high rating
• Works as a standalone potty with liners and as a toilet seat
• Folds down into a carry bag
• Liners mean nothing to empty when you are out
• Handles for a nervous child on an unfamiliar toilet
• Solves the car and playground emergency entirely

The part that annoys people: it needs disposable liners to work as a standalone potty, which is an ongoing purchase and one you will run out of at the worst moment — keep spares in the car. Folding hinges are the wear point, so treat it as the traveling one rather than the everyday one. It is smaller than a full potty chair, so a larger toddler will outgrow it as a potty before they outgrow it as a seat. And it is expensive for what it is; you are paying for the folding.

Check the current price on Amazon →

6. Munchkin Arm & Hammer Multi-Stage 3-in-1 — best convertible, and the best value

Rated 4.7 stars across roughly 4,700 ratings. A potty chair whose seat lifts off to become a toilet-seat insert, with the base then usable as a step stool, and a baking-soda odor cartridge in the lid.

The three-stage idea is the sensible economic answer to everything above: potty first, then the same seat on the adult toilet so the shape is familiar, then the base as the stool. One purchase covers the whole progression, and the familiarity between stages is a genuine advantage — a child moving to the big toilet is sitting on the seat they already know.

We would not claim it is as nice to use as the individual products above, and it is a great deal cheaper than buying three things.

• Covers potty, toilet seat and step stool in one purchase
• The child moves to the toilet on a seat they already know
• Solid rating on a good review base
• Odor cartridge in the lid, which is more useful than it sounds in a warm room
• Much better value than three separate items
• Widely available, with replacement cartridges easy to find

Where it disappoints: convertibles compromise at every stage — the potty is less comfortable than a dedicated one, the insert is bulkier on an adult seat, and the base as a step stool is lower and less stable than a proper stool. The odor cartridge is a consumable. Reviewers note more crevices than a one-piece potty, which means more careful cleaning. And you cannot use the stool and the seat at the same time if the seat is still doing potty duty, which is the practical limit of the idea.

Check the current price on Amazon →

7. Maliton 2-in-1 Potty Seat and Step Stool — the tidiest bathroom solution

Rated 4.7 stars across roughly 1,500 ratings. A step stool with a training seat that stores on it, so the two live together as one object beside the toilet.

This solves the storage problem, which is the genuine irritation of the seat-plus-stool approach: an insert that has to be taken off every time an adult uses the toilet and then put somewhere. Here it goes back onto the stool, which is already next to the toilet, and the bathroom stays tidy.

For a small bathroom, or a household where adults and a toddler share one toilet, this is the neatest arrangement here.

• Seat and stool as one object, so there is nowhere for the insert to go missing
• Anti-slip design on both parts
• Keeps a small bathroom tidy
• Decent rating on a reasonable review base
• Cheaper than buying a premium seat and a premium stool separately
• Child can manage the whole routine unaided

The drawbacks: the shallowest review base of our picks, so less long-term evidence. It is a newer brand than the established names here, which matters for replacement parts. The seat is a flatter shape than the molded BabyBjörn, so a nervous child may find it less reassuring. And check the height against your toilet, because a stool that is too tall or too short for your particular bathroom defeats the purpose.

Check the current price on Amazon →

The ones that did not make it

• Musical potties and ones that make a flushing sound. These are among the most-returned products in the category. Some children are delighted; a great many are startled by a noise coming from underneath them at exactly the wrong moment, and that can set training back by weeks. There are also electronics sitting directly under urine, which is not a combination that ages well.
• Potties with a tall, rigid splash guard. A guard helps for boys and a tall hard one is uncomfortable to sit down onto, and that is the single most repeated complaint we found across the whole category. Lower and rounded, or a detachable one.
• Fabric-covered or padded seats. Comfortable in theory, and unwashable in practice. Everything in this category needs to be wiped several times a day, which means smooth plastic and nothing else.
• Potties that look like a toy. A potty shaped like a car or an animal is a toy with a bowl in it, and a toddler treats it accordingly. The point is that it is not a toy.
• “Reward chart” bundles and sticker systems sold as equipment. Rewards can work and a printed chart is not something you need to buy — a piece of paper on the fridge does the same job.
• Toilet seats with a built-in child seat, in a rented home. An elegant idea — the child seat folds down inside the adult one, so there is nothing to store — but it means replacing the toilet seat, the review bases we found were thin, and it is not a change to make to someone else’s bathroom. Worth looking at if you own the house and want the tidiest possible solution.
• Buying only one potty. Said again because it is the most common practical mistake. Two cheap ones in two rooms beat one expensive one in the wrong room.

Choosing without overthinking it

• If you buy one thing, buy a step stool. It is the thing that makes the rest work.
• Just starting, child is small and nervous? A floor potty, in the room where they actually spend the day.
• Want nothing to empty? A toilet seat insert plus a stool, from the start.
• Tight budget, or want one purchase? The three-in-one convertible. It compromises a little at every stage and covers all of them.
• Small bathroom, shared toilet? The seat-and-stool combination, so there is nowhere for the insert to end up.
• Do you drive anywhere? The folding travel potty, in the boot, with liners. This is the one people wish they had bought sooner.
• Going out of the house at all? A folding seat in the changing bag. Cheap, and it prevents the outings that undo a two weeks of progress.
• Does it sing? Put it down.
• Realistically: a floor potty, a folding travel seat, and a stool covers almost every household, and costs less than one premium everything.

Frequently asked questions

Potty chair or toilet seat — which is better?

A floor potty is less frightening and it can be wherever your child is, which matters when you get ten seconds of warning. A toilet seat has nothing to empty and no second transition later, and it needs a step stool. Most families end up wanting both, which is cheaper than it sounds if you buy a basic potty and a basic seat rather than premium versions of either.

Do I really need a step stool?

For a toilet seat, yes. A child with dangling feet has nothing to brace against, and bracing is part of how the body manages this — adults do it without thinking. A stool also lets a child climb up unaided, which changes toilet training from something done to them into something they do. It is the most useful item in this guide and the one most often bought last.

When should we start toilet training?

When the behavioral signals are there rather than at a particular age: staying dry for longer stretches, telling you they need to go, being able to manage their own trousers, following a simple instruction, and sitting still for a minute or two. Starting before that reliably makes it take longer. If you are unsure, or it has stalled, or there is any sign of pain or withholding, ask your pediatrician.

Are musical potties a good idea?

Usually not. Some children love them and a noise coming from underneath a toddler at the wrong moment startles many of them, and a frightened child can be set back by weeks. There is also electronics directly beneath liquid. A plain potty is the safer choice, and a sticker chart gives you the reward element without the surprise.

How many potties do I need?

Two, in the two rooms where your child actually spends time, plus a folding seat for the changing bag. A toddler cannot get up a flight of stairs in the time available, and this is the most common practical mistake in the whole category.

What about out of the house?

A folding seat in a bag handles public toilets, and a folding travel potty with disposable liners handles the situations where there is no toilet at all — car journeys, playgrounds, queues. Between them they prevent the outings that otherwise undo a two weeks of progress.

Is it normal to go backwards?

Completely. A new sibling, a house move, starting nursery, an illness or a holiday all commonly cause regression, and it is not a sign that anything was done wrong. If regression is prolonged, or comes with pain, withholding or constipation, that is worth raising with your pediatrician rather than pushing through.

How do I clean a potty properly?

Empty the inner bowl into the toilet, rinse it, then wash with warm soapy water — and choose a potty with no crevices in the first place, because that is what makes this quick. A weekly proper clean with a bathroom cleaner is sensible, rinsed thoroughly afterwards. Avoid anything fabric or padded, which cannot be cleaned to a standard you would be happy with.

Our call

Buy a step stool. Whatever else you do, that is the item that makes toilet training work, and it goes on being used at the sink for years afterwards. Then add a floor potty for the room your child spends the day in, and the BabyBjörn toilet seat in the bathroom from the beginning, so the transition happens on its own.

And put a folding travel seat in your bag today. It costs very little, twenty-five thousand people have rated it, and it prevents the single most demoralising thing that happens during toilet training — a child who is doing brilliantly at home and will not go anywhere else.