This mom’s ‘potty training hack’ is getting seriously mixed reviews on TikTok

You don’t need us to tell you that potty training is a trial and error process, rife with triumph and tragedy in even the best-case scenarios. So most parents are game for just about any tips or tricks to help make it all a little less painful. But one mom’s potty training “hack” is garnering seriously mixed reactions for several reasons, and it might have you scratching your head a little bit, too.

TikTok user Jewell (aka @raisingreverie) recently shared the hack, revealing that her family had a lot of leftover diapers from a subscription service they’d been using. So when it was time to potty train her toddler, Jewell began lining the training toilet with leftover diapers to catch the mess, making post-potty cleanup a breeze.

“This is the potty training hack that I wish I knew sooner,” she told her followers. “And now that I know, I wanna share it with you guys so that you can use it when you’re potty training your little ones.”

Giving the Frida Baby 3-in-1 Grow-With-Me Potty a good deep clean on the kitchen counters, Jewell explained why her family loves this adaptable training toilet. “The top part can be used as just a regular toilet seat topper and then the bottom part can be used as a stepping stool. And then, of course, all put together, you’ve got the perfect little standalone potty,” she said.

“When our toddler first started using the potty, we were just using little plastic bags to cover the basin, until I learned this hack, which totally changed the game,” she continued. “We still had a ton of diapers left over when we actually started potty training our toddler, and I thought, ‘Well, I guess I’ll donate them or if we have another baby, we’ll have extra diapers. But now instead of plastic baggies, we just take one of the diapers and stretch it over the basin like this. And the best part is, it leaves for little to no cleanup. Everything falls just right into the diaper, liquids are absorbed right into it as they should be. When it’s full, you just roll it up, and toss it out like you normally would. It leaves behind little to no mess, helps you use those diapers if you had any left over, and it just makes for a much quicker cleanup.”

Reactions were mixed, with some users wondering why she didn’t simply put her toddler on the toilet directly. “As a potty training teacher, I recommend just putting them on the toilet. We have trouble potty training kids who use training potties at home. Just get them a stool and maybe toddler seat,” wrote one person. “Then there’s me who just starts training straight on the toilet,” added another. Jewell responded that her toddler didn’t “take to” the big potty right away, and that this was a nice stepping stone until she was ready.

Others took issue with the added level of waste from the excess diapers, wondering why she didn’t simply add water to the training toilet and then toss the waste into the regular toilet. “While I get the no mess part I don’t get the extra waste part. To each their own I guess,” wrote one person. “What happened to the good old dump, flush and wash?” joked another.

Some did find the tip helpful, especially for on-the-go potty runs where cleaning up might be more complicated. Of course, whatever gets the job done is ultimately all that matters, even if this “hack” isn’t the one for you and your little one. No judgment, no shame. It’s all good!