first time at training and I am so confused! pull ups or not?

[mamaesi]

Why are pull up so controversial? I thought they would be a good way for my toddler to transition...

but I have recently been told it confuses them. I have started training at home, just letting my girl go free with no bottoms wearing a dress. She has had only one accident and has been going on the potty pretty well. However, I am in no way confident to put her in pants to go on a long bus ride to playgroup...in fact I am scared to leave the house. She has been telling me she needs a wee if naked, but if she has a nappy on she only tells me after the poo.

Am I messing things up by trying training at home and then putting on a nappy? How else do you do it?
Please tell me your top tips...

Glad you posted this as an in same situation so watching with interest...

I was equally scared, but
a) an accident when you're out is not as bad as you think it will be (DS had one in the co op having announced he needed a wee just as I was paying at a self-serve till so couldn't even dash outside with him!) as long as you have spares of stuff
b) we bought a potette travel potty which is tiny and useful for actually going places,
c) we bought a couple of pair of potty training pants from mothercare which are like normal pants but with towelling inside that could help to avoid leaving embarrassing wet patches on the seats on the bus (although sods law so far means DS has had an accident in them before we've actually gone anywhere!),
d) DH has cut a couple of nappies into squares and put them in an old cushion cover to use as an special absorbent seat in the car - no reason why you couldn't have something similar as a bus seat?
e) when we got really scared about going out for lunch with friends who didn't have kids, we put DS in normal pants, but put pull-ups over the top to avoid leaks - we explained to him why we were doing it and that he was still wearing big boy pants and needed to use a potty (not the nappy!) and it didn't seem to phase him in the slightest.

Hope some of that sounds useful!

There seems to be a general view that using pull-ups while potty training is going backwards and while I would probably be in favour of them if it was something really important (like a family wedding), I'm just not sure it is necessary. The main issue being that they are so good at being absorbent that kids just can't tell if they've done a wee, and there's no consequences to accidents so if they're playing or distracted they don't have to stop to use the potty so they can stop telling you. Of course, these may influence some kids more than others.

my dd went without nappies when out straigt off just as she did at home. I sat her on the potty before we left and I took about 10 changes of pants and trousers. we walked about 20 mins to the library and she wet. changed her when we arrived and she had abut 5 accidents in the library in thye space of ! hour then another on the way home. I think she was doing these deliberatly for the sensation. She never had accidents like that again. even the next day we where out for lunch in a resteraunt and she wet once. I would not worry about the bus ride, it is amazing how discreete you can change a child on a bus, if you sit at the back no one would probably notice. Just dont get stressed or embarrased, just say, never mind and get on and change if needed. good luck.

I think pull ups are aimed prior to potty training, when children are getting used to maybe sitting on potty or toilet if they request, but not actually ready for potty trainning. I must say though my dd did have a set back where she went back into pull ups at night as she had been dry for months at night before we started potty training but then she regressed and had lots of wet nights. but she did come through the other side but months later. I would not view any st backs as failure either as they may well happen.

Pull-ups are a marketing gimmick and are simple nappies under another name.
They will not help train your child- I speak as a very experienced nursery nurse who has potty-trained dozens of children.
Go straight to pants and don't waste your money on pull-ups.

I actually found pull ups really useful. I think that the thing to remember is that they are just nappies, not pants. Like festi said I used them prior to potty training proper. So I used pull ups from about 20 months ish and tried to incorporate regular trips to the potty into the day (much easier in pull ups than nappies) and a bit of nappy free time when at home, but no pressure. But when I decided to actually potty train (DD2 at 22 months and DS at just 2), all nappies (inc pull ups) had to go. So if you are still in warm up stage getting your DD used to the idea of the potty then pull ups are helpful, but once you decide to go for full on training then you need to bite the bullet and switch to pants.