New IPotty Lets Your Toddler Watch “Max & Ruby” While Doing Her Business

So here's the poop: The latest toilet training device is a plastic potty that's equipped with its very own iPad holder.

The iPotty, revealed by product innovator CTA Digital this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, will retail in March on Amazon for $39.99.

It's sure to make a splash with tech-savvy toddlers. But what about the potty pros? Depends on whom you ask.

"It looks like it would be absolutely perfect," psychologist Linda Sonna told Yahoo! Shine. Sonna, the Mexico-based author of books including The Everything Potty Training Book and Early Start Potty Training, explained, "The concept is great as far as the two main requirements of potty training go: to get the toddler to sit still and to relax."

But, she cautioned, "Because the American Academy of Pediatrics has said that children under 2 should not be watching videos, it would be important to use this product with care."

The AAP released updated screen-time recommendations in 2011, warning that videos provide no educational benefits for children under age 2, are distracting, and leave less time for more beneficial activities, like reading or talking.

These are some of the reasons that the iPotty is troubling to Dallas, TX, child neuropsychologist Pete Stavinoha, author of Stress-Free Potty Training: A Commonsense Guide to Finding the Right Approach for Your Child.

"The idea of potty training is for the child to be aware of these physical urges," Stavinoha told Shine. "This might get them to sit on the potty longer, but there's more to it than that." If a kid is distracted and mentally checked out, he explains, then he or she may not be able to get in touch with their body's cues.

"I'm a little bit old-school when it comes to these issues," Stavinoha adds. "I have the same reaction to parents who use DVDs on short car trips. Like, really? They can't entertain themselves for a little while?"

Dr. Ari Brown, an Austin, TX, pediatrician and lead author of the AAP's screen-time recommendations, said that reactions to the iPotty are really going to vary depending on the child.

"Some kids have trouble with body awareness, and with noticing the urge. So if you're completely distracting them, they may not be tuned into that as well," Brown told Shine.

For other kids, though, particularly those who simply need some motivation to sit on the toilet, the iPotty could be helpful. "I tell parents to set up a basket of toys near the toilet as incentive," she says, and the iPad could be seen as just another potty lure. But parents should keep in mind, the doctor adds, that even toddlers like privacy in the bathroom, which may mean they're left on their own to tune into whatever shows or apps they want.

Regarding concerns about too much screen time, Brown says, the fact that most kids don't potty train till 2 makes it less concerning. Still, "We recommend quality screen time," she says, and it's up to moms and dads to use their own discretion when deciding when to rely on videos. "Whether it's in the living room or on the toilet," she says, "is the parents' call."

Or nature's.