Potty Watch

[bays72]

I don't know if any of you have heard of this or tried it, but I thought this would be the best place to post about it. My DD is 3 1/2 and has "absent minded professor" syndrome. She just gets so engrossed in what she is doing that she can not be bothered with the potty. Unfortunately, I have ADHD so I am not really very good at remembering every hour to put her on the potty. In Toddler 411 they recommend using a watch with an alarm as a reminder. This sounded like a great idea and then I saw this watch in the Leaps and Bounds (or possible One Step Ahead) catalog. It's a watch for your child (shaped like a potty) that plays music every 30, 60, or 90 minutes to remind your child to sit on the potty. Since it was only about $10, I immediately ordered it thinking my problems were solved. Well of course AFTER ordering it, I read the reviews (typical ADHD). The reviews were not so good. People had posted about issues with the battery and also water contact causing it to break. So now I start to get a little nervous that my problems have not been solved. I'm envisioning getting this watch and it dying 3 days later because I forget to take it off when she washes her hands. So I did a little research on the interent and I found the website for the manufacturer Potty Time Inc. Since they have a feedback area, I decided to question the manufacturer about the issues I read about on the L&B website. This is where it gets REALLY good. It turns out that the manufacturers of the watch are a couple who developed the product when they were potty training their child. How do I know this, becasue the owner of the company emailed me in response to my questions and concerns with the Watch. Not only did he email me back, he gave me VERY descriptive information as to the steps they were making to improve some of the design issues and why they had made some of the choices they had made (batteries are not replaceable, but then again, the replacement batteries they use cost almost as much as the watch). He also stated that they will replace any watch if the batteries die in the first 30 days. I can not express how impressed I am with the email he sent in response to my concerns. I definately get the feeling that this is a small business doing everything they can to produce a quality product, but as with any new product, you have to work the bugs out. But with their level of customer service, I just had to recommend this product to anyone else who has a little absent minded professor like I do. From the email, it definately seems that their second batch (20,000) of watches is going to be better than the first, And with their level of dedication to the company, I believe they will continue to strive to make a high quality product at a reasonable price. Of course, I don't actually have the watch yet, but I will update after I receive it.

[bays72]

Well, we got the watch. DD LOVED it....for about a week and then her stubborn streak took over. We decided to cool the potty training for a few weeks and then start again. Actually, hoping to start again this weekend.

On an up note, since we got the watch, we have had no problems with it. Well, unless you count my DH and I forgetting to turn it off at night and then hearing the music chime in our DD's bathroom (which of course echoes). But other than that, no issues. Once we start up again I will try using the watch again.