Making a Potty Seat Out of Pallets

I mentioned in a previous post that I suspect that my littlest one, Rose, has high functioning autism like her big brother Ike. Part of what makes me suspect that is her dedication to certain routines, and her refusal to change them.

Rose has been potty trained for at least a year, if not more, but she has this way that she insists on doing things. She usually refuses to use the toilet and insists on using the potty, with a whole routine to go along with it.

She's had her potty for a long time, a pink Hello Kitty one with an insert.

And then she cracked the leg of it, but since I had no interest in buying a new one when she's already potty trained and there's no little ones after her who will be using it in the next little while... so Mike repaired it by adding a wooden leg to it out of scrap wood. But then it broke all the way- another leg completely came off of it, and I figured- why keep on repairing something that is so broken, lets just make her a new one.

Out of pallet wood.

I mentioned my idea to my husband, and he figured he could easily do it.

It took longer than he thought it would, but that's because he did it on our too tiny kitchen floor, without the right working environment, but I think the end result is pretty awesome. 

I've shared images of it from a few different angles so you could get an idea of how it looks, should you want to make one for your kid.

I wasn't home while Mike built this to be able to give step by step instructions, but I figure pictures can give ideas to handy people how to make it.

If you don't have a potty insert like we did, I'm sure you could use a recycled plastic or metal container or bowl with a lip as an insert for the potty. If you'd use a rounded one, it would be a little harder to make unless you have a jig saw to cut rounded edges of the potty, so I recommend something a little more squarish or rectangular.

And if you don't have a need for a potty (like if your kid actually agreed to use the toilet...) you can make a little kiddy chair this way, just replace the potty insert with slats for a seat.  This is a great idea for home use, but if you are a travel-avid family with young kids, you certainly need to bring the best travel potties with you.

Once made, Mike sanded the wood down very well to remove every potential splinter...

And then the kids wanted to paint it... Except I knew that regular gauche paint that we had at home would not be washable and a potty seat definitely needs to be washable. I had the idea to use puffy paint (which I also had at home) to decorate this with hearts, stars, flowers, and other cute shapes, and the kids and I did that and it came out cute... and then... Lets just say that Rose happened...

The potty seat looks like a disaster now. She messed up all the designs and spread paint everywhere... including the walls of the bathroom, all our towels, etc... So, no, this is not the final product... But I should have left well enough alone.

(And no, not sharing a picture. Let's leave it up to your imagination.)

Hey, at least Rose likes her potty now... maybe in spite of her "decorations"... or maybe because of it. Who knows.

Life with toddlers. Ha.

Anyone else have kids that are potty trained and still insist on using the potty for long after, instead of the toilet? Would you ever consider making a homemade potty seat for kids who are potty training?
I'd love if people can make me feel better and tell me stories about their kids doing similar to Rose, adding their final touches to projects that you were proud of...