Potty training and Pull Ups?

Re: Potty training and Pull Ups?

• MsZoeB

  January 2012

  We are just going down this road. We have been taking the very casual approach to ask Greyson if he needs to go. He hasn't yet pooped though I don't think he is totally opposed to trying.

  I haven't done my research yet so this response is based on a conversation with my mother. When you are ready to train, don't use pull-ups instead stick with training pants and be ready for a mess. She said that when we were little and training she would wake us up and put on training pants (heavily lined underwear) but if we didn't make it to the potty we were wet to our shoes and uncomfortable. Yes it was a mess but we got the hang of it faster. As we got better and we could venture out, she came prepared with 2 extra changes of clothes just in case. 

  Like I said, I don't have that much experience and haven't done my research but I feel that there is something to what my mother is saying. Yes, it will be more work for me and for daycare when we are really ready but I hope that he will learn faster on how to make the connection. With pullups I think they are about convenience for the parent. 

  Just my two cents. 
  

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• TinyPinkBug member

  January 2012

  Pull-ups aren't the enemy as some would have you believe.  It completely depends on how you use them.  If you use them as underwear, yes, they delay potty training and you aren't doing yourself any favors using them.  However, if you are using them in place of a diaper, they are wonderful.  It all depends on where you are in the process and what approach you are taking.  And the approach totally depends on your child.  I had one who PTed herself long before her second birthday and one who was no where near ready until he was 2.5, even then he would actually pee underwear but never a pull-up (strange and unusual, I have no idea why).  So, if you are taking an agressive approach like the 3 day method, do not use pull-ups, use real underwear.  If you are trying a casual transition, pull-ups are a great alternative to a diaper.

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• TinyPinkBug member

  January 2012

  aSp6907:

   Belle took interest in potty training right before her birthday we went with it and she slowly lost interest. Honestly, I have no clue what I am doing.

  I would go ahead and try the 3 day method with her.  There are several moms on here who have used it, some have had to try it more than once.  If she isn't ready, then I would go back to what you are doing and use pull-ups.  But if you do the 3 day method, don't use pull-ups.

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• wendyj member

  January 2012

  {Sorry this is long. We had a rough go for a little while, but it did eventually click}
  

  I agree with TPB - they are not the enemy. We only used them after he started PTing because we were finding that although he was OK at home, he was really hesitant in going when we were at a public place, or even my parents' house. He actually hated getting his pull-up wet as much as getting his underwear yet. The trick to it all was the lightbulb going on for him about what it felt like to need to go pee, not liking how it felt to be wet, and helping him make the leap to doing it on the potty.

  We first tried when he was 2 1/2, when DH and I were off for Christmas vacation. It was a disaster. He had no awareness of peeing until he saw the puddle on the floor. I guess we could have pushed it for a couple more days, like the 3 day PT says, but we just didn't think he was ready.

  We tried again at the end of June when I had some time off between the end of the school year and my summer work days. By then, we knew he had it in him because he was holding it for 7-8 hours at daycare, through naps, snacktime and lunch with lots of water to drink. At that point, I put him in underwear and stuck close to home. His first incident was when he was outside with DH. He wasn't too thrilled about being wet. After that, I started watching him a bit closer, and waited for him to do "the dance". When I saw it, I stuck him on the potty (which at first we used over the toilet because that's where he was comfortable going. The transition to the toilet came a few months later, again, when it became more of "his" idea).

  After a couple of days and almost no accidents, we went out (mainly because we had to - there were things we needed to do). We put him in a pull-up at those times and during nap and bedtimes. We used underwear when we first went back to daycare the next week, but after having several accidents after having almost none at home, we realized he was actually scared to go on the potty there, so we went with the pull-ups, but they tried to get him to go on a regular basis.

  I guess my point to all of this is that it's important to have her understand what it means to be wet first, and read her body cues in addition to asking if she has to go. Once we put all of those together, it seemed to click for him. For Ian, we pretty much had to make it seem like it was his idea that it was better to go on the potty than us forcing him. It's so hard to relinquish that control to them, but you kind of have to make it a learning experience for them sometimes in order to get it to work.

  If you have a few days when you don't really have to go anywhere, like the long weekend coming up, put her in underwear and see what happens. It's frustrating in the beginning, and may end up not being the right time, but you never know. 
  

  

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