Training Pants & Rubber Covers????

Hi!
I agree w/ Hazel about avoiding pull ups. Yes, it cuts down on laundry, but overall they're underwear shaped diapers. Having been a preschool teacher and a mom of two, I can tell you that for some kids it works but others will see them as bigger diapers and continue to go in them as such. I got two mattress pads from one step ahead and that helped a lot during night time training. The pad saved the mattress, and having two was helpful. I also got the "vinyl" underwear covers for during the day to save me from lots of out fit changes. They're machine washable, and if I recall, they're dryer friendly too. I am done with the vinyl "pants". If you want them PM me. I completely understand if you don't (especially for this type of item) but they're clean and in excellent condition (didn't need them that long for either child). The underwear I got was called Scotty potty. They're thicker (absorbs more) but still let's them feel wet. I am pretty sure they make girl/boy specific underwear. Those plus they vinyl pants were key for our first son. good luck :)

Well, it depends on what you can do and what daycare, etc. will allow, IMO.

Many daycares want pull ups. They are easier, disposable, and waterproof. If they won't mess with cloth diapers, they likely won't take your rubber pants combo.

Personally, when I hunkered down and trained DD, I got Gerber training pants and skipped the crinkly, oversized rubber pants. When we needed to go out and about and I wasn't confident in her abilities, I repurposed her old BumGenius covers right over the panties. Be prepared for a lot of changes. Get some stain remover (I like Oxyclean) and some Nature's Miracle or similar. We also have Kandoo or generic wipes for DD because it makes poop easier to clean.

As for the pull ups, we actually use Easy Ups and the reason for that is to eek out a few more points and because Pampers is a brand DD can tolerate w/o rashes. At this point, she is in panties all day, but the Easy Ups at night (she's not yet 4). I have not bothered with tabbed varieties. She also started screaming that she did not want a diaper so the Easy Ups are a compromise. Every package I keep thinking maybe this is the last...I do not have a special overnight product. We have family that lives several hours away so sometimes I will put her in an Easy Up for a long trip where we might not be able to pull over (we put the potty in the car).

I also suggest that you put him only in elastic waist pants that he can easily get down. Jeans are too complicated for the newly trained. You want fast because their bladders can't wait.

Good luck!

Pull ups work like underwear. They are made to pull up and push down so he can manage them himself and still have that protection from the accidents he will have.

He will not be dry at night time for a couple of years so don't let him go to bed without a nighttime pull up or an overnight diaper on.

I prefer pullups for one reason and that reason only. I am not going to wash pee clothes and underwear over and over in my washer. The laundry bill goes up with all the extra stuff. It is more time consuming since there will be at least one more load of laundry per day and then there is the sanitizing the washer before you can wash other clothes in it. Otherwise they come out smelling like pooh or pee.

The only reason to wear training pants is because the have an allergy to the plastic in the rubber pants. I just think it's gross to do that in a time where it is so much easier and cleaner to toss a poopy pullup in the trash than to toss it in a washer where all your other clothes and towels get washed. I can smell the poop on people that wash their clothes in a washer that was not sanitized after they washed clothes that were poopy or peed in.

Regular pullups at Walmart are around $20 a month for a box. Then the overnight ones are about the same price but since you only use one per day it is much easier and less costly.

We use the over night pullups by Huggies, they have Buzz Lightyear and Woody on them. The girls have the Disney Princesses on them.

We used the cheapest brand for daytime use since the do often have accidents. If we did put underwear on them we used Jelly Beans as reward. 1 jelly bean for pee and 2 jelly beans for pooh. If you want to start out with a reward for just sitting you could do the miniature M&M's, jelly beans, any other sort of tiny candy that would be an instant gratifications type thing. They will want to go sit on the potty just for candy and they'll get the idea of what it's all about much sooner.

I think that if you start this now you'll go backwards during vacation but don't worry. This time right now will be a good thing and he will remember it for sure.

Hi F. B. (that name always cracks me up!)

Here's my take on it...
First, some kids do a few 'hmmm...I'm trying this out' times on the potty and then lose interest. Other kids show readiness because they are ready. Is he ready in all the realms he should be (able to communicate need to use the toilet? able to dress himself/pull pants/underpants up and down) etc.
Here's a site I like that can help you assess if now is the right time or if waiting a while (as you were planning) would be preferable:
http://www.betterkidcare.psu.edu/AngelUnits/OneHour/Toile...

I would strongly recommend avoiding pull-ups like the plague. For most kids, they are 'magic underwear' --they look similar to undies but magic because the child doesn't experience getting wet...which is both a natural consequence of not making it to the toilet on time AND a great motivator. Why work to stay dry if the magic underwear does it for you? I've helped a great deal of children potty train and pull-ups nearly *always* delayed the process or confused the child. A regular diaper (even disposable) is better because at least the child *knows* they are 'in a diaper' instead of underpants. Think of it this way: if your child can't tell they are wet without 'alert' chemicals and tabs telling him, which is pretty non-intuitive for a child, this is probably not a great PT product.

(My one time I would use pull-ups is ONLY for outings, when I was a nanny. Then, I called them a 'travel diaper' and this is because some children were attached to the pull-ups/wouldn't 'go back' to diapers and public toilets are often scary for little ones at first. With my own son, we just used diapers until he was able to do regularly go potty during outings.)

Otherwise, I would go the route you suggest, which is trainers and a diaper wrap or rubber pants over them. I personally really like nice, thick training pants. Hanna Andersson makes very good ones that wear forever, so if you are having more kids who will need to potty train, they'll get to use them too, or pass them along to a friend/relative. Even the thick Gerbers really are fine. What you want to avoid is the thinner, BVD type character underwear. That's just going to be a soggy mess.

Nighttime dryness often takes longer for some children to achieve. I'd use a regular diaper for nighttime until the child is regularly staying dry at night.
Also, pick up a couple of the 'plush' waterproof fitted sheets. If you make the bed twice (fitted sheet, top sheet, fitted sheet, top sheet), when you have nighttime accidents, just remove the first set of sheets and voila! you have a made bed underneath.

Good luck and feel free to PM me if you have any additional questions. I do this for a living... ha ha. I have a longer Supporting Toilet Learning piece I was working on for a book that I'd be happy to email you.

Use training pants with rubber covers - no pullups except at night. Pullups are just like diapers and kids know that. To a kid, there is no difference between a regular diaper and a pullup.

I would get at least five pair of training pants and covers. You may have to wash frequently - or you may not.