It is early days for us, I know, but we have introduced a potty to our lives. I’ve read a couple of the ‘potty training’ books, and I must admit that strict schedules and constant hovering are not for us at this point. That said, things may change as we get to the real ‘potty learning’ stage.

In the mean time, we’ve just introduced the potty in our home.

This means that in the morning when I go to the loo, I take Ameli with me, take off her nappy and put her on the potty. I make a big show of taking off my own underwear, sitting down and showing great ‘relief’ as the water runs. It’s usually at this point where she lets go too. Of course lots of praise follows the fact that she made a wee wee in her potty. (And if she doesn’t, we just put her nappy back on and go on as normal.)

I saw the brand of potty we now use at an eco shop in my area just before Ameli was born, and decided that was what we would use. Becopotties are made using natural plant materials, which means that even though it will last for years in our home, it will begin to break down as soon as it is planted in the ground.

The idea with Becopotty is that you plant the no-longer-needed potty in your garden, pop seeds in the bowl and cover with ground. Over the next couple of years the potty will break down, nourishing the flowers you’ve planted, and create a beautiful memory of this major milestone in your child’s life without the additional landfill.

So, although we’re not following any potty training techniques just yet, we are using the Becopotty as and when. It is easy to use and Ameli sits quite comfortably on it, although I give her a little frog to play with when she is on the potty so that she doesn’t get distracted.

A favourite feature for me is the high back which means she won’t slip off the back, and the large splash guard in the front which means she can’t stick her hand in to feel the wee wee, although she certainly tries!

The only down side of this potty is that compared to the .99p potties that line the pavement outside budget stores down the road, this potty costs £8.00 from JoJo MaMan Bebe. Compared to other potties in their range, however, £8.00 is an absolute steal. At John Lewis they retail for £7.95 which is again considerably cheaper than others found in the store.

George from Becothings, the company behind the Becopotty has kindly offered one Diary of a First Child reader the chance to own a Becopotty by simply going to their website, then returning and leaving a comment here stating which colour potty you would prefer.

The competition runs until noon 23 August 2010, and the winner will be randomly drawn using Random.org

Small Print:

Please leave an email address/blog address/twitter name where I can contact the winner. If I am unable to make contact within one week I will select a new winner and the previously selected winner will have no recourse to the prize.

Prizes are sent out by sponsors directly. Please get in touch if you do not receive your prize within four weeks of the closing date

And the winner is:

Daniella Abraham

Thank you to everyone who entered and to Becothings for sponsoring this fabulous prize.

Remember you can still buy from the retailers listed above, and Kiddicare currently has the PINK potty available for just £3.95

83 Comments

Becothings: Becopotty For Environmentally Friendly Potty Learning

  1. I am loving the pink potty !!

    What a fab idea – we are trying to potty train but little one refuses to sit on a potty !! Maybe if she had a pink one, and an explination we can bury it to grow flowers that would convince her !! Worth a thought . . .

    Thank you for a wonderful blog too 🙂

    Tasha x

  2. Wow how fantastic! We’re staring out trying to be more environmentally friendly, growing more of our own fruit and veg and a compost bin etc so I love the idea! The Blue is my favourite 🙂

  3. Hi, just been looking at the potties. What a FANTASTIC idea. My little boy is 2 and potty training is a nightmare. With the potty we have, there is no high front or back and so he DOES try to put his hands in, lol. Would love to win one of these as I feel it would make our potty training a lot easier and the thought of being able to plant it afterwards may give him the incentive he needs to ‘GET ON WITH IT’ lol. I love all the colours though I don’t think pink would suit my son (he would probably think so though). Thanks for reading, Steph

    1. @Steph Walsh, Hi Steph, My little girl is only 10 months, so we’re not ‘potty training’ as such, just getting her to be familiar with the potty at the moment and it’s going really well. She has a poo in the potty most mornings now and a wee after nap time. I highly recommend this potty! Thank you for entering!

  4. What a fantastic idea! I am having trouble potty training my little boy, so hopefully the idea of planting it afterwards will help him get there a bit faster. I would love a blue one for him.

  5. What a great idea – nice not to have to add yet another lump of plastic to the household! I’d like the Natural colour best I think.

    1. @Jessica, I couldn’t agree more! We have made a massive effort to have less plastic and more wood/natural fibres/ material etc in our home and we’re much happier for it! Thanks for your entry!

  6. I LOVE this idea… shame you couldnt plant flowers in it! LOL! I love the pink one…would be perfect for my princess…maybe she would use this one because she wont use the 2 we have bought so far! lol

    1. @lucy, Lol, well, I think we’ll pop it in the ground with flowers in it, so technically the flowers will grow out of the ‘bowl’. We’ll see how that goes! We have the neutral and the pink and I love them both! 🙂

    1. @Lisa W, Absolutely! That is what drew me to it. I absolutely love that it leaves no negative impact on the earth, and at the same time is something great for a ‘memory’ or ritual of passing through the potty phase!

  7. wow would love any colour for my grandson..would be a great product to try as I like to use eco friendly products,very useful 7 very thoughtful item.

    1. @Sarah, I agree Sarah, it’s a lovely item! And the fact that you bury it after is like saying ‘goodbye’ to that phase of their childhood. I love the potty and highly recommend it! And unlike many other ‘eco’ product, it is so much cheaper than some of the other ‘mainstream’ types.

  8. They look amazing, I wish I could have a pink one for my little girl to use. I want to start potty training in the next few months.

    1. @Jane, Jane, have a look at the link I posted at the bottom of the post today. Kiddicare are selling the pink potties for under £4.00 – don’t think you’ll get it any cheaper than that anywhere! Thanks for entering the competition!

    1. @Pauline Appleton, good luck with the potty training! Sorry you didn’t win! Sseems it would have been perfect for you right now! Fortunately they are way cheaper than some of the ‘mainstream’ brands so still well worth recommending!

    1. @emma barron, Good luck with the potty training! I am quite pleased that we started introducing the potty at 8 months as she now goes on it when she’s on it. I’m hopeful that will make potty ‘training’ a lot easier!

  9. I would love the blue potty for my grandson Dominic, who is just about to start on ‘The Great Potty Training Adventure’.

  10. I love the neutral colour.
    This idea is fantastic and would hopefully encourage the child to stop using the potty and begin using the toilet.

    Now we need a dummy and a comfort blanket one 🙂

  11. My son is 20 months old and I’m dreading starting potty-training as it’s harder with boys (lol). I’d love to win the blue potty please to kickstart things. Thanks.

  12. What a great idea. I am about to start potty training my 2 year old daughter – I keep putting it off!! Love the pink one.

  13. I am dreading the prospect of potty training but it comes round so quickly doesn’t it. I have decided to take a week out to get the training into action! I would absolutely love to win this eco-potty, as we are very eco friendly in our home and I love the idea of a bio-degradable potty.

    1. @Amanda H, So did I! I think they are fantastic. I’m sorry you weren’t the winner, but hope you’ll still be able to get one. You didn’t say what colour you were after, but the pink ones are currently only £3.95 at Kiddicare, so WELL WORTH IT! Best of luck with the potty training – don’t dread it too much. I think they feel it when we do!

  14. I like the blue. I’m hoping that the husband can start potty training one Monday and by the time I’ve finished work on the Friday it’ll be job done! lol

    1. @vic, lol! not sure it works like that, but must say we’ve had great success with putting K on the potty every morning – she now ‘goes’ in it more days than not. Worth trying?

  15. Wow, these looks like a really good idea! I’m just starting to think about potties for Soph, and will definitely consider these ones (even tho I hadn’t heard of them until today, so thanks for that)

    I love the natural coloured one – makes a change from all the pink people keep insisting on buying for my daughter!

    Thanks

    1. @Sara, Hi Sara, Yes, the neutral ones are great – we have neutral and pink, and the pink are half price at Kidicare at the moment too. Serious bargain! Good luck with the potty training. I do hope it goes well!

  16. I like the white/cream one. It would go with our new bathroom, which will hopefully exist by the time we’re potty training!

  17. I started EC with Aliza when she was about three months old (she’s almost six months now), and that is going pretty well…I feel like I’m still not really picking up on the communication part of things but I’m sure as she gets older it will get easier. I like the neutral potty too! Am I even eligible considering I’m in the U.S?

    1. @Yuliya, Unfortunately the company chose to have the prize UK only, but you could still purchase one, they will send internationally! I know what you mean about the communication. K will go on the potty if she’s on it, but she won’t signal to me that she ‘needs’ to go… I’m hoping that will change in time too! Good luck with it though 🙂

  18. I just found your blog because your screen name is similar to mine 😉

    I love the look of the little potty and would love to win one – I like the white/cream one the most.

    We are doing a little bit of pottying/EC with our guy, who’s almost 1. He makes a big production out of pooing so I put him on the potty every day when he starts grunting and he usually poos in it. Sometimes he pees too but that’s sort of a freebie – his only signal for pee is that, when diaperless, he pulls on his penis (but he’s a boy so he pulls on his penis a lot – LOL).

      1. @Luschka,

        Mine’s a nickname 🙂

        EC is going pretty well; we’ve only been doing it for a few weeks. We do it very much part-time; usually only for his morning poo. I figure one less nappy is a good enough start. I certainly don’t think it will help him be potty-trained any earlier.

        When he starts grunting, I put him on the potty and bring him some special toys or we read a book together. If he poos or pees, I show it to him and applaud, sing a song, whatever. Then we flush it down the toilet together.

        I like that EC is not all-or-nothing. I didn’t start it from birth, and I don’t leave him diaperless all day. I just do the little bit of it that I’m comfortable with.

  19. These look fab – we’ve had some portable cardboard ones which were a nightmare to put together – think I’ll be trying these!

  20. Wow, these sound great. I haven’t given potties much thought yet but will certainly consider these ones! I like the natural coloured one as I get tired of girly pink!!
    🙂

    1. @Eleanor, The great thing about this pink is that it isn’t that ‘baby pink’ or ‘pastel pink’ – its a BRIGHT neon pink. I actually wonder what they used to colour it – probably beetroot! lol

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