high chair - potty chair

https://imgur.com/HwTVNJ8
Did anyone have one of these combination high/potty chairs? And how did your family use it? My childhood neighbor had three boys, two of which were my about my age. The third, Roy, was three or five years younger. The three of us spent a lot of time in each others homes. Often we would have lunch at who's ever house we were at. Some times dinner. Anyway when we were sent to wash our hands the mother would put Roy in the high chair, pants down, over the opening. We would eat. Sometimes Roy would go during the meal. If not she left him in the high/potty chair while she cleaned up. And he would sometimes go at that time.
At other times he would be strapped on a regular potty chair in the bathroom. I think that could be a rather long time. I remember us using the toilet while he sat there. We never closed the door and we would wander in as we wanted and often he was there.

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Nope - actually I never realized that they made a combination highchair/potty chair.

I just wanted to add these pictures

We don't need that . We use diapers B)

I didn't mean that you used it as an adult. But perhaps you put a RL child in one or were in one as a child in RL. I'm sorry if I wasn't clear.

It looks... Weird to me. I didn't know that existed. Why would you want to smell 1's and 2's while eating?

CuriousOne said:

It looks... Weird to me. I didn't know that existed. Why would you want to smell 1's and 2's while eating?

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They look weird, but I notice that they have wheels on them, too. I think they fold down into a potty chair + table, so I'm guessing it's a multiple purpose - high chair but can be folded down into potty chair.

Here's an example of one folded down : https://www.rubylane.com/item/522414-mc003874/Vintage-Wooden-High-Chair-Potty-Chair

Dude, that's actually kind of cool!

I didn't even notice the wheels before you pointed them out.

It's like...a Transformer chair. High chair, potty chair and play-table/chair. I was wondering where in the world they got the table from and then realized it's actually the bottom of the high chair.

*stares at this thing and wonders what amazing person thought up this design and why aren't we still using it*

CuddleWoozle said:

Dude, that's actually kind of cool!

I didn't even notice the wheels before you pointed them out.

It's like...a Transformer chair. High chair, potty chair and play-table/chair. I was wondering where in the world they got the table from and then realized it's actually the bottom of the high chair.

*stares at this thing and wonders what amazing person thought up this design and why aren't we still using it*

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I recall having one like it from when I was a kid in 1990s, except it didn't have a potty hole/bowl. I'm not sure where they got it from, though, as it was certainly not new. I'd guess safety standards prohibit it now, since there's a risk that kids could pinch their fingers in the joints.

That is true about the joints but more important is that it is missing a seat belt or harness. Without that, the child can stand up in the chair and take a nasty fall. Or they could slide down below the tray. The problem with that is they get caught by the tray across the neck. Children have been strangled to death by the tray.

And no one ever thought to just add a safety harness. From a design standpoint it would be easy enough to do. And adding 'caps' that slide down over the pinch points would take care of that.

I suppose it just intrigues me because it would be very good for people who didn't want to have three different things taking up space in their house.

"We gotta have a high chair in the kitchen, a baby walker in the living room and a potty chair in the bathroom."
"Get yourself a chair that can do it all."

CuriousOne said:

It looks... Weird to me. I didn't know that existed. Why would you want to smell 1's and 2's while eating?

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Maybe if you're this woman? https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/05/potty-training-in-restaurant-_n_1858510.html

Hmmm. Not sure I really like the idea of a chair that doubles as a place to eat and a place to poop. My parents still have my old high chair. It's also a convertible thing, but it doesn't convert into a potty. Instead, you pull a lever on the back, and it folds down into a rocking chair. (It doesn't rock at all when it's up.) Pretty cool, actually.

woodenpotty said:

That is true about the joints but more important is that it is missing a seat belt or harness. Without that, the child can stand up in the chair and take a nasty fall. Or they could slide down below the tray. The problem with that is they get caught by the tray across the neck. Children have been strangled to death by the tray.

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My childhood high chair had some kind of metal bracket extending down from the tray between my legs fastening to the front of the seat after I was in place. This kept me from sliding out and I believe it locked the tray so I couldn’t stand up. It's a long time ago, but I’m thinking I was trapped in the high chair till the bracket was released.

To the topic, I wonder how common it was for parents to use the combination high chair – potty chair for both functions at the same time? My parents were very “proper”, it would have never happened at our house.

Why eat & potty?

There has been a lot of thought against using the potty at meal times. Think about this, if it wasn't a potty, the child would load their pants instead. And soon the smell would be with you. And actually you could dump the pot, wash your hands, replace the pot and get back to your own meal quicker than changing a poopy diaper.

Also the child learns that the potty is the place you do it. One of the challenges of potty training is to get them on the potty when they are most likely to go. And if you child is likely will poop during eating...

All that said it doesn't sound thrilling to me. But in the 1950s tremendous energy was spent to get the child trained at the earliest date. They did a lot of other things to accomplish this we might not like. But in 1950 and having to hand wash diapers I sure would be tempted to use the high chair this way.

Using a potty chair at the table in a restaurant is unacceptable, for sure, but at home it's a little different especially for grown-ups. My childhood high-chair didn't contain a potty, but I fitted a potty to an ordinary chair years ago before I was back in nappies full-time. I could use it while working at the desk, without feeling or looking like I was sitting on a medical-grade commode, and yes, at the table. Provided you are fastidious about hygiene to a degree that a toddler isn't usually up to speed with, and do not touch anything to do with the potty until after the meal, this isn't a complete disaster. Doing a tinkle while dining alone or with consenting adults is pretty harmless provided (for girls) that you refrain from wiping and eating at the same time. After all, it's not terribly different to wetting a nappy other than that people can hear you doing it.

Doing a poo is a bit more contentious, although it need not be unhygienic if one is very careful. As Woodenpotty mentions, the potty-high-chair comes into its own for those of us with a strong gastro-colic reflex, who usually need to go to the bathroom or leave the table to have a dirty nappy after (or even during) a meal. With the multifunction chair you can just sit and relax and let the movement happen naturally, even more easily than if you wear a nappy. A variation on this can be part of a strict big/little regime, where you are made to sit at the table until you have produced something in the potty. We did indulge in this in various forms from time to time, e.g. getting a dessert would be conditional on having a success in the potty, which had the added benefit that by the time I had finished eating the dessert, I would probably also have finished doing the poo.

All, of course, subject to very stringent and unwavering attention to hygiene!