Using Pull-ups when Potty Training

Ami - posted on 10/04/2011

If you do go the route of plastic pants, be sure to find the right fit...if it's not snug enough around the legs, you can still end up with leaking a mess to clean up, but if they're too snug, it'll irritate the little leg crease. Pull-ups just absorb it all. Luckily, we never experienced any confusion issues...daughter was potty trained in about a week, but we used the Pull-ups at night for awhile until we knew she could wake herself up to go to the bathroom at night.

Rachael - posted on 10/04/2011

They also have plastic pants to go over the underwear so that there isn't the confusion of the pullups.

Ami - posted on 10/04/2011

What worked for us was to use underwear with the Pull-ups...with the underwear, the child can feel when they're wet, and that's something they usually don't like and can help speed up the training. However, with the Pull-up on over the underwear, it spared us from wet clothes, beds, etc.

Rachael - posted on 10/04/2011

My sister's son and my daughter were both potty trained after we quit using pull-ups. My daughter is 2 1/2 and has been potty trained for almost a year, but during the last year she was still wearing pull-ups to bed, and still having accidents during the day. My sister said the only way should got her son to stop that was to take the pull-ups away at night too. So I did this, and she stopped having accidents during the day and very rarely has accidents at night. She may not get up in the night, but we make sure she goes before she goes to bed, and then she can come out of her room if she does wake up to go. Also, we have a plastic protector on the mattress just in case so the only pain is washing the sheets, but we don't have to worry about the mattress. When she started having accidents at night, I thought maybe we needed to go back to pull-ups, but then she started having accidents during the day again too. So in my opinion, it is best when you are ready to potty train, to go straight to big boy pants and skip the pull-ups. Less confusion! Then it is a matter of consistency and patience, and all will fall into place.
Hope this helps. Good luck.

Heidi - posted on 10/04/2011

TOTAL waste of money for us. My DD just used it like a diaper. Occasionally on road trips or outings that I am not sure about bathrooms I will put her into regular underpants first THEN a pullup. She gets the wet sensation if she has an accident, but I don't have the entire mess. Good Luck!

Sue - posted on 10/04/2011

We did use pull-ups with our little girl initially, especially as she took longer to learn to go #2. But they were confusing and she kept having setbacks. Once we removed the pull-ups the PT went much more quickly, and she's been fully dry for over two months now, at 2 1/2. Then she herself refused to wear them at night, and she's been dry at night almost ever since except once when we were away. So I would say they are useful up to a point when you first start with the potty, but you won't ever complete the process until you change to big boy pants.

Nicola - posted on 10/04/2011

My son was 28 months and had been wearing pull ups for awhile but see some pants we had brought him and said he wanted to wear them. I told him that if he wee'd buzz lightyear would get wet. We had couple of accidents but within say 2 weeks he was dry completely even through night. Get them some pants they really like and they won't want to get them wet. As only accidents I had was when he was wearing pants he did not like. All the best with potty training

Becci - posted on 10/03/2011

I have 2 boys and used the pull ups just after bathtime so then it was bed,in the day just underwear as it confuses them u will have the occasional accident but when u start potty training there's no going back to nappys/diapers good luck I know some days will be stressful but in the end it will be worth it try buying big boy pants with their favourite character on :)

Janessa - posted on 10/03/2011

I've never used pull ups, because I figure when they are done with diapers they are done. If they're not done, I just use diapers, a lot less expensive. The few times my kiddos have had pull ups on they just treat them like a diaper and don't use the potty, so I opt not to use them at all.

Amanda - posted on 10/03/2011

well when my 2 girls were going through their potty training phase, i dropped the pull ups altogether and started them to wearing little undies. yes there were a few accidents here and there, but it helped them to gain a little bit more independence and feelings of being a "big girl now".

Sherri - posted on 10/03/2011

So get rid of them Alexandra and go straight to underwear??

Alexandra - posted on 10/03/2011

my son likes pull ups but peepees in them all the time. so we are in diapers still. he will be 3 in november.

Jen - posted on 10/03/2011

My son was just shy of 2.3yrs when i began potty training, we knew he had been ready for a couple of months. i used only underwear and stayed very close to a potty for 1 full week - using pull-ups only at nap time and bed time... he caught on very quickly and within 2-3 weeks he was trained. now, when we go on long car rides or if we won't be near a potty we use pull-ups and he treats them just like underwear, he does not use them 'like a diaper' and 9 out of 10 times he is dry... they are really just there "in case"...he also wakes dry from naps very often...i suppose it all depends on the child, but for me the pull-up is not an issue. good luck!

Erin - posted on 10/03/2011

Don't resort to pull ups until your child has made progress toward potty training. For instance, has already peed and or pooped in the potty. Otherwise, you are just substituting pull ups for diapers and wasting your money.

When my boys have been potty training, I use pull ups over underwear when we go out. That way they feel the wetness for sure, if they have an accident.

Good luck!
Erin
www.BeenThereDoneThatMom.com

Kylie - posted on 10/03/2011

some kids can't use them, they don't see them as a step, just a diffrent kind of nappy (this is what my son did). but some kids it works great, i used to use them as a preschool teacher, and some kids just got it right away that they were for accidents, and not a nappy.

Caamilya - posted on 10/03/2011

I have three girls and I found that when potty training pull ups act as a crutch and were a set back every time. I struggled with pull ups for over a year with my youngest two ages 3 & 4 as soon as I put them in pantie they were trained in less than a week. They need to really feel it when they have an accident and it won't happen again. Hope this helps good luck.

Amanda - posted on 10/03/2011

we started potty training my son between 2.5 to 3 yrs old and we used pull ups and we were at if for a long time...they feel like diapers so he used them like diapers. we had enough and stuck him in underwear and he had a few accidents within the first couple of weeks NEVER any accidents at night probibly because we use to wake him up around midnight to go pee and we never went very far for the first couple of weeks because we didn't even use diapers outside always underwear all the time and it worked. now i have had mothers in my family who swears by them because they are suppose to catch the leaks or what not but there kids are in there teens (17 and 18 and even a 21 year old) who still wets the bed! i frankly believe its out of pure lazyness but still...the parents told me it would work and i found it did not work for my son.

Genevieve - posted on 10/02/2011

I used Pull Ups/Easy Ups with my daughter. But only at night. We started potty training around 18months and she did really well. But at night she just wasnt staying dry. She wouldnt wake up. Shes 5yrs old and we have only been out of nightime pullups for about 6 months. Shes actually really tall and big for her age. So she wears size 8 clothes. And I switched to Underjams at about 3.5yrs old. They are softer and go into bigger sizes. We just couldnt fit her into the Pull Ups or Easy Ups brands anymore. Boy was I glad when we had gone a month with all dry nights and her waking up so I could be done with buying those darn things. When you have a taller kid you are stuck buying them cause diapers just dont go big enough.

Tracy - posted on 10/02/2011

It's a mixed bag. I think you can give them a try and see how your child reacts to them. Some kids use them like diapers and they won't do any good at all. My daughter never had an issue using them that way, and I think part of the reason is that we made a BIG deal about giving her diapers to a friends baby and banished the word Diaper from the house. Then we bought several packages of underwear and a package of Big Girl Pull-Ups. If she kept her underpants dry between pees she got to keep using them, but if she had an accident she put on a pull-up. We also used pull-ups when traveling for a while when I wasn't sure about bathroom access. She treated the pull-ups like underwear and would go potty while wearing them unless she got distracted or just didn't pay attention. Slowly, she was in underwear more and more often until we stopped using pull ups accept for nightime. So, they worked GREAT for us, but you will have to try for yourself.

ERICA - posted on 10/02/2011

I didnt use pull ups because.too babies it still represents a pamper my son been out of diapers right after he turned 2 what i did was made a potty training chart from mon _sun brought reward stickers if he peed i will put one sticker if he made Poonum #2 i put two stickers if he didnt go.at all i would draw a sad face good luck guys

Ashley - posted on 10/02/2011

I just potty trained my 21m old. I completely got rid of all diapers even at night. She had 1 accident at night and 3 the first day 1 the second day during the day. She is now completely potty trained and I would never ever use pull ups. Completely a waste of money if you ask me because all it does is keep you from cleaning up accidents but if they feel it go down their leg they will not want to do it in their panties. I had my daughter naked for the first day then in panties from then on.

Jennifer - posted on 10/02/2011

I have Two daughters. I tried pull-ups with both, my first did great and was potty trained with them. My second did not respond well with them. she treated them as normal diapers. When we decided to train her with panties instead of the pull-ups I actually caught her putting on a pull-up to go potty in. So to your question just do whatever your son responds to best.

Becky - posted on 10/02/2011

Nope! I tried with my daughter & we bought pull ups at first, but she never used the toilet! In fact I had to hide the pull ups because if she found them, she would change into them! lol! I did let her use them over night, otherwise we used the padded training underwear. That worked a lot better for us. I continued to use the pull ups for overnights because she was a heavy sleeper and she would sleep though wetting the bed and wake up wet in the morning . . .with her eczema inflamed! No fun! If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have bothered to keep them on hand at all.

Mia - posted on 10/02/2011

Each to their own I guess & they do have their uses but I found my son truly didn't feel how wet he was with them on & got a bit lazy, not telling me he needed to go. I used them when we went out when he was first toilet training.

Marie - posted on 10/02/2011

My son is also 3 in december. When I first started potty training him in the summer I would have him naked around the house (as if he wore trousers and/or pants he would not be able to differentiate between a pull-up and pants, I would put a pull-up on him at night or if we went out. Unfortunately this didn't help his potty training so I decided to put him in 'normal' pants from then on and at nite I put bed liners on his bed incase of accidents. I was prepared for accidents and would ask him if he needed the potty, sitting him on their before we would go out. Within a week he was basically potty trained, and now has few accidents. He knows when to go and can pull dwon his own trousers; he has even took to standing up mostly to wee which he decided to do himself. At night he goes wee before bed then when I go up to bed later I take him to the toilet and tell him to have a wee, he doesn't even wake up now as he's used to it. But I find by doing this that there are very few wet bedsheets to wash...

Marie - posted on 10/02/2011

My son is also 3 in december. When I first started potty training him in the summer I would have him naked around the house (as if he wore trousers and/or pants he would not be able to differentiate between a pull-up and pants, I would put a pull-up on him at night or if we went out. Unfortunately this didn't help his potty training so I decided to put him in 'normal' pants from then on and at nite I put bed liners on his bed incase of accidents. I was prepared for accidents and would ask him if he needed the potty, sitting him on their before we would go out. Within a week he was basically potty trained, and now has few accidents. He knows when to go and can pull dwon his own trousers; he has even took to standing up mostly to wee which he decided to do himself. At night he goes wee before bed then when I go up to bed later I take him to the toilet and tell him to have a wee, he doesn't even wake up now as he's used to it. But I find by doing this that there are very few wet bedsheets to wash...

LaLasha - posted on 10/02/2011

My children did not respond to them at all and treated them like diapers so I used the gerber brand cloth training pants worked great.

Dani - posted on 10/02/2011

lots of good stuff here. I'm ready to do this, we've been slacking in the commitment department. My daughter is showing all sorts of signs of being ready, I think I'll go buy her some big girl panties today and start right away.

Sarah - posted on 10/02/2011

I started potty training my twin girls on a Thursday and by Saturday there were no more accidents. We had already been wearing pull ups because they would take the other diapers off. So I didn't use them. They walked around the house naked. Even at night. If they had panties or pull ups on they would pee almost everytime. I also used a star chart and they got a star everytime they pee-peed in the potty. They knew once they got 10 stars they got a gift (some grab bag cheap things) They liked that too. I think naked might just be the way to go...

Keri - posted on 10/01/2011

We used pull-ups (store brand) and they worked well. I think the way they fit around him so snugly ("like underwear") really helped him know when he was dirty/wet. When he started using the potty alone or needed to change them, he was able to pull them off himself and get a new one to put on. When I noticed he was having less and less accidents, we got him regular underwear which I put OVER the pull-ups for a while. When he started liking the underwear best, there were VERY few to NO accidents and when there were he would come tell us right away and ask us to clean up his unDERwear.

Amanda - posted on 10/01/2011

I've tried the Elmo movie. My daughter loves Elmo but has NO interest in it when the real people come on. She wants me to shut it off.

Shaquita - posted on 09/30/2011

Thick panties with rubber pants ( I believe that's what they're called) over them to help with the accidents during the dsy, and pullups at night, and on outings in the beginning. My oldest was potty trained by 12 months, she really wanted to we had a lot if we women in the house she saw and just did great, my 5 year old was 2, she was stubborn, she was mostly trained by 18 months but had moments where she wouldn' t go. Pullups do make them lazy.

Jennifer - posted on 09/30/2011

I switched my son to Pull-Ups shortly after he turned 2, simply because he no longer fit in diapers. I can guarantee you that pull-ups will NOT speed the toilet-training process up in any way whatsoever. When I finally switched him into underwear cold turkey at age 3 over Christmas Break, that was what worked, and worked fine. He still wears Pull-Ups at night (age 3.75), but he can't take them off or put them on himself, so it's a big problem. He wakes up us at night more than our 18 month old (Mom, I gotta pee, take the diaper off). Yes, we're about to stop having him wear pull-ups at night.

Jennifer - posted on 09/30/2011

Only used the pull ups for car rides and bed time, cause accidents happen. Did use the sink the cheerio method, though and lots of stickers on a potty chart that Grandma had found.

Kathy - posted on 09/29/2011

I used pull ups when we went asomewhere or were traveling to the grandparents otherwise I used training pants so he would know when he wet and how it felt to connect the potty with the wetness, he was potty trained in about 3 weeks completely and never wet the bed either.
Good luck as with each of my sons they were all different but the train pants verses the pull ups work best for me and all 3 of them

Lisa - posted on 09/29/2011

I never bought Pull-ups...they are just expensive diapers that I couldn't afford...I used diapers until my daughter decided she wanted to wear big girl undies.

Catherine - posted on 09/29/2011

Janice, My daughter was the same way. What we did was make her responsible for her pants. If they are wet, she has to change them herself with a little cleanup help from mom or dad. Two days of changing her own pants, she was ready to use the potty.

Carrie - posted on 09/29/2011

I tried to potty training with pull ups. Once I actually took them away and started using underwear he was trained in one week. I don't recommend relying on them. We have 5 children and each one was the same.

Heather - posted on 09/29/2011

I personally think Pull-ups are just very expensive diapers. I have potty trained my three older boys w/o pull ups, and I had everyone trained within a week. I used the underwear for toddlers that has a thicker area in the middle, to help prevent so many puddles on my floor! My method also includes putting the child on the potty every 15 minutes for the first day. If they go then I will extend it to 20 minutes. I use a kitchen timer for this. The key is to be more hard headed then the child. If you're not, then there will not be success. Oh and when they do use the potty for the first time, you have a parade through the house, you call everyone they care about and let them help tell the good news, and never under estimate the power of M&M's!

Lori - posted on 09/29/2011

@Janice, I think you can buy an ebook version too! My son wouldn't even sit on the potty! It was like murder just to try to sit him on the potty! We went to the zoo 5 days after starting to train him, and no accidents! No diapers either! I have 3 boys, so I am not familiar with training a girl. It is absolutely the greatest book to teach because it even gives examples of things to say and do. You do need to follow it to the T, but the reward is a diaperless child! And they feel so good about themselves! There may still be accidents once in a while (especially when really busy playing with others) but it is rare! Good luck! I let a neighbor use it with her son on a Friday, and come Monday at the bus stop he was trained (my oldest was in JK by this time, and she has older kids too)!

Tracy - posted on 09/29/2011

Pull ups are pull up diapers I have been potty training kids for 19 years and the thing that works best is make sure they are ready, then buy those thick training pants and rubber pants to put over them. Buy at least 6 pair of each and plan that it will be the focus of your days for awhile. Encourage using the potty as often as possible and always before and right after naps. I always got a special snack for when they go such as one teddy graham. Only give the snack when they really do go and don't give them for any other reason. If a child is having a problem "pooping" I have offered them a lollipop if they actually go. Give LOTS of encouragement and praise, it's a big deal when they have success. But a lot of their success has to do with your positive attitude and persistence.

Joanne - posted on 09/28/2011

With my daughter I used pull ups a few times and every time she got a bad rash and wouldn't go to the potty if she was wearing them. I switched back to diapers and told her if she trained I'd take her underwear shopping. I put her in regular underwear during the day and told her that I only had 'night time' diapers. She trained within a week. I still put diapers on her at night in case she had an accident, but after a month of her waking up dry I stopped using them and she hasn't had an accident since. I talked to her about it first so she was always good about telling me when she had to go. She trained at the age of three and she's now five. IMO I'd stay away from pull ups and most mothers I've talked to agree.

Pamela - posted on 09/28/2011

First, I am very happy that when my children were babies I didn't have the choice of things like "pull ups". I went straight from CLOTH DIAPERS to cloth "training pants".

This seems to me to be the best answer because the child then does not become dependent of pants that make it "comfortable" to be wet. Wet cloth next to the skin helps to teach the child to get to the potty faster.

In addition cloth training pants and cloth diapers DO NOT ADD to the destruction of our planet by the constant burying of plastic in the ground of Mother Earth.

I vote for the re-institution of cloth diapers, diaper liners and diaper service. If I had the money to set someone up in their own business I would definitely encourage someone to take on starting a diaper service. Plastic diapers have already choked our Mother Earth for a least two generations. TIME TO STOP!!! Time to show the earth that we do love her and are thankful for her support of us versus stuffing plastic down landfills that will never disintegrate!!! Think about it. I hope you will not use pull ups, but rather go straight to cloth training pants.

Tracie - posted on 09/28/2011

i don't care for [ull-ups. for me they are as useful as puppy pads. pull-ups still feel and look like diapers despite the fact they pull up. children need to feel that difference between underwear and pull-ups to know it's a new and different experience. the biggest problem i think with pottie training is parents somehow link pottie training with how intelligent their child is. when a child is ready they will let you know and they will choose to switch from the dia[er scene to underwear with action figures or a princess. this is thei decision not yours. once i backed off with my oldest he chose. i decided to do the same with my other children, worked like a charm and no contension.

Gabrielle - posted on 09/28/2011

I started using pullups when my boys were tearing their diapers off. I don't think that using pullups as a way to pottytrain is bad because they can look at the pictures and know that they are dry. I don't know if you have more than one child, but I've got three boys, and the last one basically potty trained himself because he wanted to be just like his brothers. In fact, he was walking at 10 months, so I knew I wouldn't have much of a problem. However, my middle son still occasionally wets the bed (he's 7), so I've never taken off the sheet protector, but the other two have never had any problems.

Diane - posted on 09/28/2011

With my kids, they didn't make the connection they were "wet" when they'd use pull-ups. I know this sounds crazy, but we actually cut and folded cloth diaper strips into their pullups so they "felt" the wet but the pullup ensured coverage. It worked great. They'd make the connection and were still able to pull their pullup up and down when needed!

Janice - posted on 09/28/2011

Lori, I must find that book. My daughter is sooo stubborn I will sit her on the potty every 20 min. and she will sit for five minutes and then run off and pee on the floor! I was hoping to have her trained by now since we have one on the way. Typically I get gung ho and try for 3 days and then I get sick of clean pee and poo off my carpet and give up. Arg!

Teresa - posted on 09/28/2011

Actually Ashley, my son potty trained himself while in diapers. He was fully day and night trained (w/ zero accidents) for an entire month before his sisters could convince him that it was ok to wear underwear. He's quite an interesting, stubborn kid. ;) ♥

Tracy - posted on 09/28/2011

That's true, Ashley...my oldest called them "diaper panties"

Ashley - posted on 09/28/2011

Would you keep your kid in a diaper while potty training? Probably not.

Pull ups are diapers without the sticky tab things.