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Original poster

To wonder how pull-ups work as part of potty training?

28 replies

ChevalierTialys · 31/05/2018 10:58

My DS (age 3) started potty training this week, I've been putting him in them for naps and at night. He treats them like nappies. And no amount of telling him "they are pants and we pull tgem down to wee in the potty" will make them look and feel any less like nappies.

How is this supposed to work? Am I completely missing the point?

OP posts:
FASH84 · 31/05/2018 11:00

They didn't work for DN for the same reason just use pants and a waterproof undersheet on the bed

rebelrosie12 · 31/05/2018 11:01

Personally i think they're useless at potty training aids. Bit of good marketing there I think. They are nappies, he's right! We use them at night time because they make my son feel a bit more grown up, but really, going straight to pants works much better if they're ready. Bambino mio sell some training pants that hold a bit of wee but still feel wet, which can be helpful for some children.

Idontbelieveinthemoon · 31/05/2018 11:01

Nope they didn't work for either of mine years ago when we potty trained; the feel and texture and padding (I think) made both DC think "it's a nappy, I can pee in it" and rendered them pointless.

We ended up stopping using them after a day or so and just sticking to pants. Just use pants and risk a few early-on accidents and deal with them in a chipper no-problem way and he'll crack it soon enough.

MrsPreston11 · 31/05/2018 11:02

No I never saw them as a training aid. Just a "I can't afford wee/poo to happen right now" back up.

So long car journeys, out somewhere I couldn't risk an accident, sleep.

Although my girls trained quite late and both got it very quickly, so even in pull ups in the car they'd often be able to hold until I pulled over and got the potty out.

And then I'd be SO excited that that they'd waited and the pull up was dry that they'd really feel proud and then they sort of got the idea more.

But my youngest was scared of pooing on the potty (apparently a strange sensation) so she would often hold it until a pull up was on for a week or two.

CanaryFish · 31/05/2018 11:02

I used pull ups for if we had to go out while my daughter was training.
She knew the difference between the “green nappy” (regular one) and “pink nappy” (pull up). So basically I would remind her to go before we left and ask her to try when we got wherever we were going so treating the pull up like underwear but IF she did have an accident while out and about it wasn’t as messy as if she had normal underwear on.
Then she had an ordinary nappy at night until she was dry at night.

BumpowderSneezeonAndSnot · 31/05/2018 11:03

They don't work they are just nappies and a great money spinner for the nappy manufacturers.

SaucyJack · 31/05/2018 11:06

I think they're more useful for parents than kids, as you can just pop your child on the loo when out and about just in case.

I don't think they feel any different to younger toddlers though- although we (same as PP) use them at night for our four year old as she finds them a bit less babyish than nappies.

I wouldn't recommend them for home meself. Just pants off, potty out.

Pastaagain78 · 31/05/2018 11:07

Naps and nighttime dryness is very different to daytime. If you are just using them for sleep DC probably can’t help weeing in them.

GoToSleepLittleBear · 31/05/2018 11:08

We had the same problem initially when using pampers nappies and pampers pull-ups, I think because they looked so similar he just thought of them all as nappies. We switched to using ones that looked completely different (the Huggies "Cars" themed ones) and that seemed to register the difference in his mind, that these ones were not for weeing in.

OneStepSideways · 31/05/2018 11:09

I don't think they are designed for potty training are they? We used them from 10 months as DD was so wriggly I couldn't get normal nappies done up.
She just treated pull ups like nappies. We're a few weeks into training now and she only wears a pull up at night. In the day she wears knickers and I remind her to use the potty every half an hour. When we go out she wears GroVia training pants, they're machine washable and feel like knickers, but hold one wee if she has an accident

SoyDora · 31/05/2018 11:12

I didn’t use them as part of potty training. Used them at night but only because once trained she refused to wear nappies at night and pull ups (with princesses on) were the compromise.

Oogle · 31/05/2018 11:12

We use pull ups for night time and if we can't afford an accident (like a long car journey). In the early days of potty training I'd put them on over the top of his pants if we were at a party or on a day out, that way if he was too excited in playing, etc to make it to the loo on time, it didn't really matter.

Dry at night is totally different to dry during the day. My DS has been dry during the day for 6 months but still not at night. He's just started getting up to go to the loo in the night so pull-ups are better than nappies as he can pull them down and go, but equally it doesn't matter if he does a wee in them.

PorkFlute · 31/05/2018 11:13

I don’t see the point in them. Kids know they can wee or poo in them so it’s just a nappy and confusing.
Protect anything that can’t be damaged and take your kids to the toilet/regularly before times where an accident would be a disaster.

howabout · 31/05/2018 11:13

Agree they are pointless as a training aid. Did find them useful when DDs were "officially" dry but needed an insurance policy. One thing we did find useful was DD1 was accustomed to peeing in her nighttime nappy on waking. A week of getting her to see if she could keep the magic stars by going to the toilet when she woke up instead sorted this.

usernotfound0000 · 31/05/2018 11:14

They don't really work, we used them more as back up in the early days. But I wouldn't really worry about having dry nap times just yet. We waited a few weeks until she was waking up from naps with dry nappies and then just put her to bed without them.

Kokeshi123 · 31/05/2018 11:15

I live in a country where all the nappies beyond about 3mo age are pull-up style. They are nappies, seriously! There is no differences.

When our daughter was toilet trained but I was paranoid about her having an accident when we were out (she trained very early, about 15mo), for the first six months or so I used to slip one of these "pull-up" nappies over her knickers when we left the house, just in case. So I guess they are useful for that!

Icantbelieve · 31/05/2018 11:16

Didn’t bother with them with one of mine. The other he wore them overnight so if he got up for a toilet visit it was easy enough to pull them down then up again

AllMYSmellySocks · 31/05/2018 11:16

As PP they don't work. Two out of three of my DC started potty training themselves but taking off their nappies anyway (doesn't make any difference if they were pull ups or not) once they did they just went straight into pants and after a few accidents were fine. The third was a bit lazy but went into pants and again a few accidents and we were good. If they have a nappy on they'll probably use it out of laziness/ so they don't have to stop what they're doing.

megletthesecond · 31/05/2018 11:16

They were useful in the inbetween months when mine had no clue about using the potty and before they finally went into pants.
It gave them the chance to use the potty or toilet independently but if they didn't bother then they didn't need a change of clothes.
They were also good for car journeys and shopping trips after potty trained, though they didn't need them. It just made it less stressful.

JacquesHammer · 31/05/2018 11:17

As with anything for some children they work for and others they don't.

TheBogWitchIsBack · 31/05/2018 11:20

They didn't work for us unfortunately. My dd just used them like a nappy and I think they ended up delaying potty training because as soon as I stopped buying them she was dry day and night within a couple of days.

TheBogWitchIsBack · 31/05/2018 11:20

She's just over 3 btw.

trebleclef101 · 31/05/2018 11:21

I think it just depends on the child. My DD understood that they were different from nappies and would use the potty more when she was wearing them.

We also use them at night as she isn't dry at night yet and they are easier to take off and on if she needs to go overnight.

qazxc · 31/05/2018 11:24

we used them for going out when DD was first potty training and had a lot of accidents, it was easier to change/clean up than had she been wearing big girl pants.
But tbh they are a bit of a marketing gimmick.

whywontteenswearcoats · 31/05/2018 11:27

When potty training DD1 she got an almighty row of MIL for having an accident on her sofa HmmAngry which completely took her confidence away and she begged for her nappies back. I bought pull ups as a compromise but she did use them just like nappies. In the end I put her in pants, so she didn't have a nappy feel and she would be uncomfortable when wet, but with a pull up on top so that an accident was simply that, not the big deal that granny had turned it into. With DS I used them if we were going out but by day 5 he told me he didn't need it.