Tell me about training pants and potty learning

[mi_amor]

I was thinking about getting some training pants for DS. I think he's ready to potty learn, but I wasn't sure how to do it. He knows when he poops and will tell me if he is going so I bring him to the potty and he'll use it. Last night when DH was rocking him to sleep, he said potty. So DH brought him to the potty and he went pee. I wasn't sure if this means he's ready, or if he's just starting to be interested in it.

Thanks!

[Shami]

I use the training pants from Gerber, I think? You can get them at walmart or target. I chose not to use pull ups for two reasons. They are obscenely expensive and I think it is a crutch which prolongs the whole process.
We blew bubbles to celebrate every time she put pee or poo in the potty. She was ready and 'got it' the first day.
Also, I let her see us running out of diapers. I told her that when we are out of diapers she will wear big girl underwear.
He sounds ready to me.

[leanbh]

yup, we use the gerber training underwear. sposie pullups were way too expensive for us, and i don't think they feel any different than a sposie diaper. so we just went to the gerber training underwear. a pack of them is cheaper than a pack of pullups, and you can use them for your next child too. we just treated it like our cloth diaper laundry when she was first learning and had a lot of accidents. but she was definitely ready... showing the same signs as your little one.

good luck!

[sapphire_chan]

Ready? He sounds like he's practically done

Training pants are awesome. They make it so much easier to get a LO to the potty faster and with less fuss.

[mi_amor]

Thanks!

DS usually says "potty" when he's pooping, but has only said it once when he had to go pee.

I wasn't sure if I should sit him on the potty regularly throughout the day, or have him bare bummed around the house? He doesn't like to sit on the potty for more than a few seconds unless he's going poop.

He's 16 months old, so I didn't want to rush him if he wasn't quite ready yet. I know absolutely nothing about potty learning! I wasn't sure if I should try training pants on him now or wait a bit?

[sapphire_chan]

For us, what's been working is to offer around 2 hours after she last peed or pooped. Since she's consistent about telling us when she needs to poop, I don't worry about that (well, if she farts a lot, I'll ask, and generally get a toilet-sign and her heading to the bathroom ), but she doesn't seem to know about pee yet.

If I suggest it in between times, .e.g waking up from a nap or in the morning or before I go to bed (she sleeps through that last one), I won't insist on her trying. If it's the two hour mark, I do try out different things to get her to sit. Such as giving her a glass of water and sitting her on the potty on the couch (her new thing is liking height ) Generally if she does have to pee at all that distracts her into just going, and if she really doesn't need to she tells me off in baby-jargon.

Oh, and she's pretty much bare bummed or in undies unless we're going out, didn't think of mentioning that because it's been that way for a good while now.

What you do really is going to depend on how you feel about puddles vs laundry and how warm your house is and how cold your ds gets. I'd definitely figure out a pull on/off style diaper (e.g. fasten his current diapers looser) at a minimum. Some people use trainers until 1-3 have gotten wet, some people do bare bummed time for a set period.

Lots of things to try, and they'll all end up working and won't hurt your LO. If you feel silly having him in a dry diaper all day, use trainers more, if you feel frustrated at mopping up a puddle, use diapers more, like that.

[Thalia]

FWIW, I bought DD some nice Imse Vimse training pants, but she refuses to wear them. It's either a diaper or panties as far as she is concerned. So you might want to consider going straight to underwear. It's much cheaper.

[mi_amor]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

For us, what's been working is to offer around 2 hours after she last peed or pooped. Since she's consistent about telling us when she needs to poop, I don't worry about that (well, if she farts a lot, I'll ask, and generally get a toilet-sign and her heading to the bathroom ), but she doesn't seem to know about pee yet.

If I suggest it in between times, .e.g waking up from a nap or in the morning or before I go to bed (she sleeps through that last one), I won't insist on her trying. If it's the two hour mark, I do try out different things to get her to sit. Such as giving her a glass of water and sitting her on the potty on the couch (her new thing is liking height ) Generally if she does have to pee at all that distracts her into just going, and if she really doesn't need to she tells me off in baby-jargon.

Oh, and she's pretty much bare bummed or in undies unless we're going out, didn't think of mentioning that because it's been that way for a good while now.

What you do really is going to depend on how you feel about puddles vs laundry and how warm your house is and how cold your ds gets. I'd definitely figure out a pull on/off style diaper (e.g. fasten his current diapers looser) at a minimum. Some people use trainers until 1-3 have gotten wet, some people do bare bummed time for a set period.

Lots of things to try, and they'll all end up working and won't hurt your LO. If you feel silly having him in a dry diaper all day, use trainers more, if you feel frustrated at mopping up a puddle, use diapers more, like that.

Thank you, I really like the 2 hour and after nap ideas. DS says potty if he toots, and sometimes he likes to just toot on the potty

DS stayed dry the whole time we were shopping today. When we got home he sat on the potty for a bit, but went on the floor. He did use the potty once today though, so that's good I think!

DH's Mom potty trained him in one day when he was 22 months old, and my Mom is on holidays so I can't ask her for advice for a few more weeks! LOL.
I appreciate everyone's advice.

Originally Posted by Thalia

FWIW, I bought DD some nice Imse Vimse training pants, but she refuses to wear them. It's either a diaper or panties as far as she is concerned. So you might want to consider going straight to underwear. It's much cheaper.

Thank you, I was looking at Hanna Andersson training pants, but shipping to Canada is pretty high. I just bought Gerber ones to see if he likes them, and some underwear instead.

[nolonger]

Mine go straight to regular underwear, but first I have them nekky butt around the house and diapered when we go out until they're ready.

I had some cloth pull-on style diapers for the older two to wear at night, but little ds doesn't seem to need them.

[columbusmomma]

Ok, I feel pretty dumb asking this but what are training pants? Right now we are just using underwear for DD. We won't be doing pull ups, but I am curious as to what a "training pant" is.

[Thalia]

Hi Columbusmomma!!

Training pants are similar in construction to underwear (i.e. they pull up and don't have snaps or velcro), but they have extra material in the crotch and sometimes the sides to absorb pee. So they'll hold one "accident", but aren't totally waterproof like a dipe. And they give your little one practice in pulling them on and off.

[columbusmomma]

Hi Thalia
Congrats on your pregnancy!
Thanks for the info. I guess DD has a pair! My neighbor gave DD some hand-me-downs and I just thought they were thick underwear,lol! Maybe I'll try them when we are in the car for short distances!