3 in 1 Potette Max Portable Potty and Trainer Seat Review

Reviewed by Deborah Banasko

Along with weaning and training (begging) babies to sleep through the night, potty training is one of those stages that creates two types of parents; the smug and the frazzled. I have experiences of both, and have indeed been both.
I have three children; my eldest cracked toilet training in less than a week just days after her second birthday. This gave me way too much confidence as the Queen of potty training for when I started with my second child. Several attempts and a great deal of drama and time later, and he was dry just before the age of three.

I did start with my third child, who is almost three, a couple of months ago and it isn’t going well. I have accepted that this is not going to be a quick transition due to his food intolerances and am totally fed up of my bulky potty, so a portable system makes perfect sense. I have no idea why I haven’t thought or heard of this before to be honest; whilst the huge duck potty with handles appears to be a cute idea at the time, it is not practical for when you are out and about.

Voila the 3 in 1 Potette Max Portable Potty and Trainer Seat! Now I would advise that you read the instructions before you use this potty system as there are three ways to use it, and those 60 seconds of glancing over the very basic step by step instructions (with pictures) will save you 5 minutes of saying “eh?”

The Potette arrives folded down and compact in a clear bag with cardboard packaging detailing how to use it. It proudly displays its’ various parenting awards which is always reassuring.
Once you have opened it you will see the main potty stand/frame, the white hard liner, the 3 disposable liners included plus the storage bag. We reviewed the mint-green and grey Potette and it looks really smart.

Starting with use 1; the reusable hard liner feature. When you first receive the white hard liner it is in a more flattened state. You need to give it a firm push downwards to open it out into a bowl so that it is ready to use. It cannot be collapsed again once you have done this. The pre-opened shape had me baffled for a few minutes so don’t make the same mistake as I did in thinking that it was “ready to go”, as a child weeing in the collapsed version of the bowl will not end well.

You firstly need to open up the legs of the frame into the standing position then push them up towards the seat until you hear a click and are reassured that the seat is now stable. Place the white bowl inside and it is ready to use.
There are small side grips which is great as my children have always liked to hold onto something. He looked comfortable and seemed very happy with his legs outstretched as he is tall. Something to bear in mind is that, being a much more compact and lightweight potty, it will move more easily. When my son has finished I tend to hold the Potette just to steady it as he stands up.

I like the large ridge at the front of the white bowl which catches those splashes so that they don’t spray over the top, and the sides of the bowl slope to keep the mess contained. As he is almost 3 and quite a tall boy we needed to ensure that his wee was directed downwards, more so than with his usual larger potty as there isn’t a huge bowl area .

Now for use 2; The Portable Potty. With this you set up the main stand as before, but this time a bag is placed into the central hole and looped around the grooves in the stand base.
I have to say I was a little unsure how this would go with my son… would he want to poo into a bag?
My toddler was happy (borderline ecstatic) to pee into the bag as it happens, and the absorbent layer soaked the majority up pretty well. Luckily the bag was strong as it didn’t totally soak up right away, but the liquid apparently does turn into gel. Just three bags come with the Potette so I was hoping that my usual nappy sacks may fit along with some kitchen towel in the bottom; sadly the bags were too small. Perhaps small bin bags may work if you can source some, but really the bags would appear to be made to fit precisely. It is fiddly at first but by my second attempt I could do it quick enough to avoid an accident, although 3 bags can actually be stored on the Potette ready for immediate use if need be. You just need to remember to pack them! A quick google search found them to be available from Amazon at £11.99 for 30.

Whilst handling your child’s waste in a bag may seem strange at first, it certainly beats trying to clean a potty bowl when out and about. 
The bags are biodegradable apparently which made me feel a lot better about this system.
It is really light and compact to carry with you as you simply open and close the legs of the stand, and carry it in the storage bag over your shoulder or in the base of the pram. Only the legs touch the floor too, so a quick wipe of the legs afterwards if you wish and you’re good to go.

The recommended age is 15 months plus, and whilst no age limit is specified my tall almost 3 year old was very comfortable. Granted, it is smaller than a normal potty and his legs are outstretched given he is almost 3, but you cannot expect a compact lightweight potty to be as large and sturdy as a home use one.
The only notes of caution is of course to store the disposable bags away from your little person and lock the legs fully into position!

The third stage is the trainer seat, and with this you just pull down the legs then unfold them into the horizontal position and place it onto the loo seat. It worked much better than I expected as it is a small seat so I imagined that it would move around a lot in-situ, but it really didn’t unless you wanted it to. Whilst is doesn’t have raised handles like our old seat it does have chunky side grips which my son immediately held onto. The only negative was that as I lifted my son off, the seat came with him so I would only want him to use this alone if the toddler step was under the loo to prevent any tumbles.

This is something that you could use instead of or in addition to your usual home potty. The main benefits are the portable aspect, reduced cleaning when outside and the ability to still have a reusable liner if visiting friends or family to save on bags. The Trainer seat is compatible with any toilet, and this complete “system” is essentially all that you need as your child progresses to using the toilet, and is pretty good value for £24.99. Granted there are a couple of niggles but that is the compromise with a compact portable system.

Sadly this will not help your child to master it any sooner; no amount of stickers, chocolate or other forms of bribery work with some children it’s all about when they are “ready” (or willing to be reasonable). The Potette does however endeavour (and succeeds) to make the potty training process a little easier, less messy and still allow you to venture out of the house without that dread in your stomach, huge potty and bag of cleaning wipes in tow. I really love it.

Rating: 4.5/5

RRP: £24.99

This product can be purchased from Amazon here.

Reusable liners can be purchased for £11.99 here: