Being independent and taking care of personal hygiene is a significant achievement for any child. But they might not realise this until they do not understand the importance of using a potty seat or are in diapers. But once you start with their toilet training and start putting them on potty training pants, they want to be like adults, not soil their potty training pants & start using the toilet.
It is difficult to bring them to this stage, but you need to start the conversation about toilet training before starting the actual training process. Kids need to see that grown-ups always use a washroom when they want to pee and poop, always wash their hands after they are done, they do not ask for help from others. At around 2+, kids start to like being appreciated, being independent, and having a sense of achievement. At this age, you need to start putting them in potty training pants and start their training journey for faster success and lower chances of frustrations.
But now the question is, which are the best types of potty training pants for your child? Let us begin by first understanding potty training pants and the different types of potty training pants available to choose from.
What Are Potty Training Pants?
Pants or an undergarment that helps your child’s toilet or potty training is known as potty training pants. They are meant to ease your child’s transition from a cloth diaper to regular underwear or bloomers. Potty training pants have the convenience of a diaper and help avoid all the mess that would otherwise be all around if your child is in regular underwear. But they do not feel dry on the inside like different diapers. This way, your child can identify the dampness and start to communicate the need to be taken to a washroom before soiling the pants.
Types Of Potty Training Pants
- Disposable Potty Training Pants – Just like disposable diapers that can absorb and last for hours, pull-up style pants are used as potty training pants. Usually, diapers come with adjustable sticking tapes and elastic that can be adjusted as per the baby’s build and fit. But pull-up style pants are easier to wear and remove for the baby. In addition, disposable diapers, even the pull-up style, have a high absorbance level and can last up to several hours if your baby doesn’t poop in them.
- Reusable Potty Training Pants – The potty training pants made of cotton that can be washed and reused after every use by default have an upper edge over the disposable ones. Reusable potty training pants or padded underwear are the best type of potty training pants for your child. We will discuss the reasons in detail in the next section.
5 Reasons Why Padded Underwear Are Best Potty Training Pants
They Solve The Purpose – The purpose of potty training pants is to make your child understand the relationship between the body cues before the urge to pee and poop and the mess created in the pants. Disposable diapers and adjustable cloth diapers are super absorbent and have a feel dry layer touching the baby’s skin. Therefore, the child does not feel dampness or moisture after peeing. On the other hand, padded underwear is designed to absorb only up to one pee and make the child feel wet. Thus, your child will start communicating the urge to use the washroom beforehand.
Pull–Up Style–Compared to diapers with snaps and sticking tapes, pull-up style diapers are more convenient at this stage. A child can himself wear and remove pull-up style pants; thus, the process becomes more manageable, and the child is trained faster. In addition, they can take charge of the toilet training process on their own.
They Are Cheaper – Well, this is true for any reusable, washable diaper. Potty training pants made of cotton and padded underwear style can be washed and used all through the potty training journey of your child. They also make for an excellent passed-down gift for younger kids in the family. A few padded underwear clubbed with a few regular underwear are enough and are just a one-time investment against the regular investment in buying pant-style disposable diapers.
They Are Sustainable – Cloth over plastic. Potty training pants that are reusable and washable are also good for the environment. They do not end up in landfills waiting for 400 years to decompose. Thus, even for the environment, they are a better choice. And the satisfaction of knowing that we are contributing toward cleaner and greener earth is also unmatched for parents.
They Cause No Rashes – The most crucial reason why reusable potty training pants made of cloth are best for your child is that they are best for their skin! Disposable diapers can cause painful and nasty rashes on your baby’s diaper area. Ill-fitted diapers, chemicals present in the disposable diapers and exposure to moisture for a longer period are the main reasons babies experience diaper rashes. All of these are taken care of by using padded underwear or cotton potty training pants. Thus, happy bum and happy baby!
Some Additional Tips
While discussing toilet training, there are other things to remember apart from the potty training pants that will make life easier for you.
- Be gentle with your child. Every child has a learning graph and their speed of mastering a skill.
- Teach additional skills like wiping and washing the bum, washing hands, wearing clothes after using the seat, etc.
- Keep a few extra padded underwear ready in case of emergency.
- Appreciate and encourage every small success.
- Be patient; that is the biggest thing you will need to sail through this phase.
Once your child is toilet trained, there is no looking back. Many more significant milestones would be met soon. Keep hand holding them close and appreciate their successes to help them become an independent individual. Happy Diapering, Happy Parenting!
