Pull Ups? - Cincinnati,OH

I have heard of people putting underwear on and a pull up on top. That way they feel wet when the underwear is wet but you don't have a mess! Good luck!

I have a different idea. Sometimes you just have to leave the house and can't have the mess. My sister put panties on her daughter and then a pull up over the top for these occasions. She could still feel the wetness, but the pull up caught the mess. Otherwise, she would just use them as a diaper, too.

Nope. There's a reason why cloth-diapered babies potty train earlier - they can feel it. So go with something cloth or bare bottomed.

Also, I've seen people say their kids were potty training "young" at 2 years old. Parents who use elimination communication have potty trained babies at months old. Kids used to be routinely trained at 18 months. What's changed? Disposable diapers are a big business!

I used the thick training pants for my daughter and when the pull-ups came out I tried one with my youngest and he gave it back saying he didn't want a diaper. I never liked them because they are the same as diapers. the kids can't feel if they are wet so it doesn't matter to them if they use the potty or not.

Depends on the kid. My son used them as a diaper so within 2 days he was in regular underwear. Yes, it's messy... just stay home the first few days (you'll probably have to change around your schedule a bit). My daughter loved the pull-ups and would freak if she got them wet/dirty. She used them for about a month and then switched to regular underwear. Jury is still out on my younger daughter... we're watching for signs and will probably start the potty thing in the next couple months.

Hi C.,
Get rid of the pull ups and go straight to underwear. They will learn quicker and feel it more when they do have an accident. I got rid of them and my daughter finally got it. Just remember to take them to the potty often.

Good Luck.

Hi C., i used pull ups for my youngest child ( he just turned 5) and i think they were great. how old are yer lil ones? that could have alot to do with it. and don't try and tackle all occasions at once. they mite potty train well at home, but have accident upon accident when you's go away, lil ones have too many things to look at and see, they don't have time for the potty stuff :). well GL and remember it may seem like its taking forever, but it will happen. GL and god bless

Like others here, Kaitlin just used hers like a diaper. I bought the ones that were supposed to turn cold when wet, but that never seemed to bother her! I mentioned this to her doctor, and she said that they were a HUGE waste of $$. As already advised too, use the heavier cotton pants (with the rubber covers if you can find them), and be prepared to clean up until it sinks in :) Good luck!

We did use them - mostly just to instill the idea of pulling up and pulling down pants to get used to the idea.

Yes, my oldest started using it to not have to go potty, but when that happened, we just quit buying the bigger size and the size we had started becoming uncomfortable for her to wear. Then she'd ask to wear her regular underpants, and we'd tell her, "That means you're going to have to go potty on the potty." And that was that.

You're either going to be spending money on pull-ups or spending money on carpet cleaner not to mention the time it takes to clean it up while you have two kids running around. So the question becomes how do you really want to spend your time? Cleaning up the messes, or trying to work with the kids on potty training?

The other thing to try would be the "potty first" rule. Anytime they want to change activities, get a snack, or get a drink, your response is, "Okay, but you have to potty first." So you're making whatever they want be the reward/incentive instead of trying to find something that will be enough incentive for them to actually use the potty. Then after they go potty, make a mental note of the time, and in about 20-30 minutes, if you haven't had the opportunity to tell them to go potty, stop whatever's going on, and say, "You can continue AFTER you POTTY first."

For what it's worth, and good luck!

If your child is using it as a diaper it is ineffective. Go for the underwear that is a little thicker (gerber near the onsies) and stay home for 3 days. They were useless with my first as he used them as diapers then. They worked for a while with my second until he discovered it was really easy to pee in them, then we had to go to underwear.

We used pull ups with our oldest when she started requesting to go potty. She was barely two at the time and was at the sitters with some older kids who were doing the potty training thing. Knowing that she was too young, we did the pull ups because they were much like diapers, yet it made her feel like she was a big girl because she had "underwear" on. When we really felt she was ready to train, we went to real underwear and it only took a few days. Good luck.

Honestly - every child is different. My cousin (who has 6 of her own and takes care of my child and others) suggested not using them because her own kids and other kids she watched seemed to regress while wearing them. However, my daughter did well with them. We still use them overnight and probably will be for another month or two (she'll be 3 on early October). She does very well during the day - she has for months now - we have an occassional accident - but those are usually sleep/nap related. She completely wears big girl underwear during the day...and we started with the pull ups. We just encouraged her to want the underwear and we bought fun ones so she was motivated to use them instead of the pullups. We probably used the pullups full-time for about 3 months or so - maybe and then moved on to underwear. The whole time though - we encourage using the toilet. And we had an open door policy with her, myself and my husband - so she could see what pottying was all about. I know it sounds icky - but it works.

I think the key is - when you do make the transition to big girl/boy underwear - try not to go anywhere with them for three days so you can let them run around the house without underwear or pants or however you want - and so you can concentrate on the potty.

Really - go with what you feel your kids will respond well to. If you see them using the pull-ups as diapers then maybe it's time to try the underpants...but keep in mind that you'll be doing a lot of cleaning up afterwards for a while.

Good luck!!!

No pulls ups used here. Well, we use them at night. I tried to go straight without them and he didn't get it at all. (We have family history of bed wetters and sleep walkers so I'll live with the pull ups until he grows out of it!).

We went straight to underware. If he's ready he will take right to the potty and not have many accidents. If not, you will have many accidents a day.

Reve up the fun by putting a date on the calendar-a day you'll be home all day-say Saturday- so then all week long count down the number of days until he goes to big boy underware. Make it very "party" like. On Saturday morning take all the diapers and have him throw them away! (If you are worried you might need them you can sneak them out later or make sure they are in a clean garbage bag and when you take them out hide them somewhere else). Spend the day reminding him to go to the bathroom often, every hour. Then on Sunday or Monday, move up to every two hours.

If it doesn't work after a few days, if he starts having a lot of accidents again, you may have to go back to diapers. Once you do that it makes it much harder I think the second time around.

Best of Luck!

Hi C.,

My daughter is 2 1/2 and is potty trained. We did not use pull ups because several parents told us the child doesn't feel wet. So we did the "rubber" or vinyl underwear, cloth on the inside, vinyl on the outside, or just vinyl. We found them at KMart. I don't think they're expensive when you compare them to pull ups and they're washable. We had about 8 of the vinyl ones and two of the heavier cloth/vinyl ones. They keep furniture and such dry but my daughter knew when she went because she could feel it. I just packed two sets of clothes for her every day in case of accidents. It really didn't take that long. She would get really upset if she messed her pants and we had to leave the park or wherever we were. And she liked wearing big girl underwear. Now she only wears diapers at night.

Good luck!

L.

I have a 2yr old that starting potty training at 1 1/2. To get a boy to pee on the toliet. Sit him up there and pour a warm cup of water over his "stuff" and pee should come out almost immidiately! I think I got the suggestion on here and it worked like a charm the very 1st time. I cheered and was so excited. He then looked at me all happy b/c now he understood what I needed him to do. Now he takes his pullup off and runs to the bathroom all the time and sometimes goes pee and doesn't need my help at all and flushes too. However... the poop thing isn't going well for us.. now he still poops in his pullup and then takes it off and brings it to us... (not exactly what I want) I tried to put him in underwear but the 1st time he pooped in it and I was not happy about having to clean that out

When I was working in daycare (I worked with kids ages 3 months to 5 years), I HATED using the Pullups. Whenever parents would bring their kids in with pull ups, we'd all groan a little bit, because of the hassle. However, some of our parents swore by them! I personally would see whether they work for you.

I never used Pull Ups with my now 5-year-old, but she was super easy to potty train. My 3-year-old is a different story. We have used our share of Pull Ups with her, although she has finally turned the corner with potty training and will take the Pull Up off to go to the bathroom ... even when we're out and about. She's not quite there yet with #2 which is why we're still using Pull Ups ... it's much easier to clean up than panties! As you're probably figuring out, the kids call the shots with the whole potty thing and you need to do whatever works best for you.

Good luck!

I did the pull ups and everyone told me the samething. They were right. After about 2 weeks he was good to go. Now we still use them at night time but going to stop here pretty soon.Good luck!

Hi C.! We used the "bare-bottom" approach with our almost 3 year old. It worked so well, I am still in a little bit of disbelief! It took ONE day of allowing our son to run around bare from the waist down to learn all about his plumbing. He used the potty all day, except for #2 (he is still scared of that process). However, he no longer wears diapers during the day(only at night) and we have had only one accident in 2 weeks. Granted, he still will not poop in the potty, but he always uses the potty for pee-pee. He is so proud to wear big-boy underwear- I am SO glad I did not buy him pull-ups. I agree, pull-ups may feel like really cool underwear for the little ones and they may get confused. Underwear is the way to go!

I stay at home with my children so it was easy for me to use this process. Also, I read that the child has to be at least 2.5 years old to understand his "plumbing" for this process to work. Finally, you have to be consistent with it. My husband and I went on a hike with our children the second day of training and we were nervous, but we did not put a pull-up on or a diaper. He was dry!!

Good luck with this new adventure!!

Hi C.,

I tried the pull ups route for a bit. And I have to agree, they KNOW they can "go" in the pull ups. So, we switched to underwear pretty quickly. However, I did keep the pull-ups for naps and bedtime. We call them "princess panties" to emphasize the thought they are NOT a diaper. We ditched ALL diapers. It has worked well. We are now working on night time training. Been difficult because in the midst of it all, we moved from Mi to Oh.

Good luck!

I went straight to underwear with my daughter. I used pull ups at naptime for a month and then switched to panties. She hasn't had an accident IN her bed...but tried to make it to the potty once and ended up leaving a trail to the bathroom. We still use pull ups at night (I have a one week old and really can't be changing sheets in the middle of the night). She is really to the point where she wakes up dry most days, and I reward her for it. Everyone is different and I would say that there is a good chance that your twins will handle potty training differently too. Good luck!

C., it is more work in the short, but the results are better and thorough.....just use regular underpants or the "old-fashioned" training pants that are cloth. They hate that feeling and will learn quickly not to continue to go on themselves. Good luck.

I used regular plastic training pants. Gerber makes them, I bought them at Meijers. They are cloth on the inside, so the child feels wet, but vinyl on the outside, to keep things dry. They are expensive, but washable. My daughter wore pull ups for a few days, but to her they were the same as diapers, even the ones that change colors when wet, because she couldn't or didn't take the time to look way down there to see whatever it was that was suposed to mean she was wet. The training pants were easy, I could leave the house without worries and they worked. Good luck.

Yeah...they say it's best to use something cloth. You can get cloth "training diapers" that are thicker like a diaper and don't leak. Or, just get training pants. It's better to just stay home for a weekend and let them have accidents so they can feel when they are wet. Have them sit on the potty every 15 minutes until they start to get it. What worked best for me is to put the potty seat in the living room and tell my son he could watch his Elmo video as long as he was sitting on the potty. He wasn't allowed to watch TV at that point at all, so it was totally worth it to him to sit on the potty for up to 30 minutes!!

We did use Pull-Ups. My oldest used them like diapers as well, but she felt like a big girl because she was wearing pull-ups and not diapers anymore. She has also always been my kid that would do things when she was ready... so, when she was finally ready to potty train, she was very easy and we had it done in a weekend. I looked at the pull-ups as training for how to "work" underwear and more independence. It was a good intermediate step until SHE was ready. With our 2nd daughter, we also used them but she didn't wear them as long because she wanted to wear undewear like her big sister and potty trained even faster!

I have heard of bare bottom approach and going straight to underwear, but we had brand new carpeting and I didn't want to ruin our carpet or furniture.

Good luck!

Pull ups were too much like diapers for my little guy. We did use them for longer shopping trips or car rides and for naps, but I just put my son in underwear and told him that if he had to potty he had to tell me or else he would get pee pee on his favorite shoes. We never had one accident in public! All kids are different, but most find pull ups to be just like diapers, and they use them like diapers.

Hi C..
My daughter used pull ups during potty training, but she also used them as diapers. I did have to just go straight to underwear, and she got the hang of it after a few days. She still wears pull ups during nap and bedtime, though she usually wakes up dry now. Good luck.

I went straight to panties and basically (Accidentally) taught my daughter to go in her panties. She would actually sit on her potty and scream to put her panties on so she could go. She thought that's where she was supposed to go. Finally, I had to let her go in dresses and no panties for three days. (No we did not leave the house) Evert time she started to go I put her on her potty. She was trained in no time. (And probably would have been faster had I not trained her wrong in the beginning) Good Luck!

I agree with the other posts - waste of money - instead spend your money on some good carpet cleaner.

I agree. Pull ups are a waste of money. My son didn't treat them any different from diapers even though we tried to play the game of don't let your "piston cups" disapear they don't like to be peed on. We had to go straight to underware. I have a feeling that if I didn't do that, he would still to this day want to wear a pull up -- and he's 5. However, it is a process and every child is different and it will take a little time unless you are super blessed like Jen K. :) I have a son who is 15 months old and I am going to skip the pull ups. Best of luck to you!