Health and safety gone mad!

I would guess that this is just the decision of the charity shop. They probably don't want their staff to have to clean and disinfect the potties, nothing to do with health and safety regs.

I would agree that it is probably to avoid having potties brought in that are not "clean" and the volunteers then having the responsibility of bleaching etc. Some of the donations to charity shops can be really disgusting unfortunately.

I did buy a set of potty and little stool from Lidl - the potty hardly got used but I sent that one to the charity shop as it looked new (and scrubbed it first, of course) - goodness' knows what they did with it then.
It was a while ago now, but they change the stock that they sell in the middle aisle fairly frequently - it could be baby and toddler week any time.

Used about three times then DGD decided she was a 'big girl' and wanted to use the toddler toilet seat.

Jane 987, you won't be adding to the plastic situation if you buy a new potty,because they are all ready manufactured & will continue to be sold. If you buy one you yourself could pass it on when you no longer need it. I admire your outlook, perhaps you could adapt some non plastic utensil in your home to solve the problem.

I must admit I turned down the offer of a secondhand potty from a good friend, it just seemed a bit yucky to be using someone else's. Totally illogical, I know. As it happens, I never had to buy one for the DGS to use here, they always used to come prepared. Phew!

Seems so wasteful, doesn't it?

Actually Bridgeit, that's not quite right. They may already be manufactured but buying one will only mean the manufacturer will make more to replace that is bought. If we stop buying unnecessarily, then suppliers will stop making unnecessarily.

That's true,LyndaW, it will come & it will go.Also sad to say there are still people in the world with little or no clothes.?

Ohhps sorry crossed threads!!

DGS went straight to child seat on toilet - he would not contemplate a potty! I wouldn't buy a second hand one - yuck - reminds me of the re-usable bedpans I had to scrub with Thompsons cleaner on night duty as a student nurse!

Jane - Have you tried Freecycle or Freegle?. I'm sure I've seen them advertised on our local group. Can't see the problem with using second hand ones. We all use toilets that other people have sat on don't we?

How much would you expect to pay for a second-hand potty?

I don't know, my neighbour gave me one for the DGC, well-scrubbed and I knew whose bottoms had been on it so was quite happy for the DGC to use it.
I bought the set from Lidl because it had a toddler toilet seat and a stool as well. As soon as DGD saw the toilet seat she refused to use the potty - progress.

Well, JL has a sturdy looking one for £5.95, although there are more expensive ones online, all singing, all dancing.

The JL one looks as if it would do the job.

Yep. I have scrubbed many a bed pan myself as a nurse from the pre disposable bedpan generation of nurses and a horrible job it was too.

Aldi have baby and toddler week next week, equipment at brilliant prices. Although I understand your logic, I would not buy a second hand potty.

Oh good, they should have potties in Aldi the, well done GillT57!
Although I accepted a 2nd hand one (hardly used) I knew exactly where it had come from, it had been bleached then dettoxed again by me; I wouldn't buy one from a charity shop.

I remember as a student nurse putting all the metal bedpans in the stereliser, they were then too hot to use so we had to get new ones from the store cupboard ?

We sell potties in our charity shop usually £2 for the ‘posh’ ones I ve never had one come in that looked even remotely used ......however there are a number of things we can’t sell and the list is increasing
No fancy dress since Claudia Winklemans child got burnt
No high chairs, prams, or pushchairs for safety reasons but we can sell cots, Moses baskets on stands, and travel cots !!!
No duvets for cleanliness no sleeping bags (although both are totally cleanable /washable)
No kids bikes
If something is washable or cleanable there is absolutely no reason for not selling it or passing it on how can a plastic potty cause a problem if you can put it is soapy water obviously we would never sell anything that looked well used but I ve never had a dirty potty come into the shop

No cot mattresses either Bluebelle! I could not find a home for a hardly used cot-bed mattress - and two car seats in good condition had to go into landfill too. Apparently I could have sold them at a car boot sale, and I have now discovered a local on-line car boot on Facebook which would have been very useful.

We live in a market town with good footfall outside our house and usually anything we want to re-home vanishes very quickly if we put it by the gate with a 'Free' sign on it. But not the car seats or the mattress (which could have been re-used for something else). Very surprising, but I assume parents want new for their offspring.

Have you tried Mumsnet Local Jane?

Second-hand mattresses could increase the risk of cot death, experts have warned. The risk is increased if the mattress was previously used by a child from another home, according to research.

Do try Freecycle. People are often very grateful for quite used things.

The Red Cross no longer supply used raised toilet seats on loan. You can buy one from them at a very reasonable price though. A "One Bottom" policy I guess!

You can get a basic potty from IKEA for £2 and a "posher" one for £6