What is the point of pull-ups? (potty training) *poll added*

[freesia]

I will just say this... I used pull-ups at bedtime for two of my kids and they continued to wet past the age of 10. I didn't use pull-ups for the other three and they were night-dry very early. So I think that pull-ups CAN teach kids it's okay to pee. 

 

That reminded me. Although my oldest day trained quickly at 2, he didn't night train until 4  I think it's b/c of the pullups b/c I told him it was costing me a nickel a night for him to wear them and that if he stayed dry, I'd give him the nickel  He did. Immediately  I think he woke up and wet instead of going to the bathroom.

[SKL]

I put my kids in regular undies overnight a couple weeks after they were day trained (about 1.5yo).  They had a plastic-covered crib mattress and a waterproof flannel pad on top of their sheet.  Each had maybe 2 bedwetting accidents and then no more.  Before I let them sleep in undies, they used to wet every night.  So yes, I do believe the feeling of wearing a diaper vs. undies makes a difference for many / most kids.

[Guest]

I used them because he outgrew diapers. Pullups (out) and green edge GMD prefolds (at home) were *it.*

 

It my sincerest, most emphatic advice to wait longer versus earlier to insist on the potty, if it must be one or the other.

 

I don't have an age limit where I'd cut it off, but it's not anywhere in the third year.

[Guest]

I will just say this... I used pull-ups at bedtime for two of my kids and they continued to wet past the age of 10. I didn't use pull-ups for the other three and they were night-dry very early. So I think that pull-ups CAN teach kids it's okay to pee.

Is that chicken or egg though?

[Scarlett]

I put other because I think they are a little useful.  Not worth a hit to a tight budget though.  I liked having them for nighttime for a bit and for visiting other people's houses.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I will just say this... I used pull-ups at bedtime for two of my kids and they continued to wet past the age of 10. I didn't use pull-ups for the other three and they were night-dry very early. So I think that pull-ups CAN teach kids it's okay to pee. 

 

Night time bed wetting past the time of being potty trained is a completely different animal IMO.  My hard to train kid?  Who used pull ups?  Who took FOREVER to learn?  Never wet the bed past that time.  My non pull up early trainer...never wet the bed.  I grew up wetting the bed until I was 12.  There was no such things at pull ups when I was a kid.  Nothing my parents tried changed it.  I just out grew it.  And believe me they were not ok with it and I didn't think it was ok.  It was a pretty terrible problem to have!

 

So I don't think it's always within our control.

[G5052]

I used training pants, but I bought a box for my oldest when we were travelling for a few days and didn't have the ability to do laundry. That box lasted through that same situation with his sister (we never have travelled much at all), and I used the last ones when she was on heavy antibiotics and quick clean-up was in order.

 

So one box lasted through two kids!

 

[Rachel]

We are currently using these:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Gerber-Sports-Training-Pants-Bundle/dp/B012U6XBQG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1487683986&sr=8-3&keywords=gerber+training+pants

 

(they are cheaper at Walmart)

 

To me, these are basically cloth pull-ups. They have padding in the crotch. But not so much padding that he thinks he's wearing a diaper when he goes. I'm just trying to figure out if a pull-up would do anything helpful in this situation where a child is not motivated to go in the potty.

These are what I used with my kids. If your child empties their bladder in it, you will still have a wet floor. However, if they start peeing and then finish in the bathroom, they work well.

 

I don't like pull ups because they are expensive and it seems to me kids use them as a diaper. Cleaning up poop is easier with a diaper than a pull up. However, you are an experienced mom, if you think they will help, by all means try it.

[Sneezyone]

I used cloth so no pull-ups. No need. Whatever happened to those thick training underwear? I used those with both my peeps and with a pair of plastic pants...ta-dah!!

Edited February 21, 2017 by Sneezyone

[Farrar]

I just found them dramatically easier to use for my kids past a certain age. My kids learned to be day dry just before they turned 3 with only a few accidents. But they needed nighttime protection for years longer. It was not in their conscious control. We finally were able to ditch them before they turned 6. This was a physical thing. Not a lack of willpower on anyone's part. But I had zero interest in diapering my kids at age 4 or 5. They could dress themselves fine. And take care of their needs in the morning and toss the pull ups. 

[Guest]

Murphy and others who are ok with waiting however long it takes for a child to be ready to potty train...

 

Are you ok if and when you have a child who's content to be in diapers until 4 or more years old?

 

Saying that pushing them to train before they're ready makes it worse now makes me wonder if I have set him back. I do try to get him to go in the potty.

 

I don't know.

Yes, I've had a kid do that. We did cloth diapers too. Not my favorite but much cheaper. We actually bought a cloth version of pull ups that can unsnap on the side so they can pull them up and down but we can remove them with an accident. I've had three kids need diapers past three for nighttime and sometimes during the day, and pull ups were a much worse choice than either normal diapers or the cloth pull up I just mentioned. We just couldn't afford the disposable pull ups and they weren't really necessary anyway. The kids who genuinely weren't ready stayed in diapers, or we used underwear during the day and the the cloth pull ups at night if they're actively trying to use the bathroom but still have issues with consistency.

[MistyMountain]

I never used them. When we potty train they start with just wearing underwear. They have accidents and feel it happening and then catch on and no longer need them. I used the 3 day method where you ask them to tell you when they have to use the bathroom. I thought pull-ups were too much like a diaper so it would take longer to train in them. Plus I used cloth diapers and I did not want to use all those disposable diapers. Potty training was pretty easy. The first time I did it I was worried it was not working but it finally did.

[Rachel]

I can't edit my above post. We do use them at night because at a certain point my kids daytime trained but still wet at night. Diapers only get so big.

 

Night and day time training are two different beasts.

[EmseB]

My kiddos used pull ups for night time. If they do wake up they are easier to get up and down than a diaper. If they don't wake up to go then it saves me changing the sheets. I find them to be just as absorbent as diapers.

Edited February 21, 2017 by EmseB

[Guest]

I can't edit my above post. We do use them at night because at a certain point my kids daytime trained but still wet at night. Diapers only get so big.

 

Night and day time training are two different beasts.

Just as an FYI they do indeed make bigger diapers. Plenty of special needs kiddos and adults use them. They're just a little trickier to find sometimes :)

 

The wet at night has been a big issue here. Even one of my oldest kiddos still sets the bed a fair bit. We just put them in clothes on a chux pad since they're dry most nights. But the cloth pull ups we use (super undies) do indeed go up to like ten and twelve year old sizes!

 

Here is the link, I highly recommend them for kids who aren't usually pooping in their pants. They can be cleaned from that but it's a bit more fiddly and messy than a normal cloth diaper:

http://www.superundies.com

Edited February 21, 2017 by Arctic Mama

[zoobie]

I will just say this... I used pull-ups at bedtime for two of my kids and they continued to wet past the age of 10. I didn't use pull-ups for the other three and they were night-dry very early. So I think that pull-ups CAN teach kids it's okay to pee.

Nah. Not for overnights. My DS had night accidents until his adenoids were removed. He had maybe one accident once he started pottying. My child who took the longest to day train and used the most pull-ups has only had one night accident ever, and it coincided with her having a stomach virus.

[Murphy101]

Murphy and others who are ok with waiting however long it takes for a child to be ready to potty train...

 

Are you ok if and when you have a child who's content to be in diapers until 4 or more years old?

 

Saying that pushing them to train before they're ready makes it worse now makes me wonder if I have set him back. I do try to get him to go in the potty.

 

I don't know.

Yes, I am 100% okay with it. Because whether I am okay with it or not won't change one thing other than to make a situation I cannot control worse. I cannot control when or how someone else pees or poops. All I can do is choose to either make everyone more miserable about it or let them develop as is. It has nothing to do with how smart, how *nice* or how advanced they are. It's biology and biologically 10-20% of children can't (not won't) potty train by age 2. On average they do, but in my experience with my kids, those that will, do so without training or extremely little of it. When my kids are three if they haven't decided to go on their own, I'll go to the pediatrician just to make sure there isn't a medical problem, but otherwise, we don't sweat about it.

 

Oh wait. I'll modify that a bit. When summer comes around, that's a big incentive for them to use the potty. I don't pressure them or make a big deal out of it, but places like swimming pool or VBS won't allow kids in diapers, so that might encourage them or it might not. Because I don't care if they go swimming or to VBS, but some of them did. And for the ones that weren't ready, we didn't make a big deal out of it, bc obviously if they could control it they would have and brow beating them with how much it sucks that they can't go to whatever isn't going to change anything.

[Petrichor]

I voted useful, but not the disposable ones. Even with my child who I used disposable diapers with. We used cloth training pants with a PUL layer (more expensive, but keep the pants dry), or the gerber ones with the extra absorbency (to prevent puddles on the floor in public, but pants need a change if there's an accident)

 

We started potty learning at 9 months, and DS was poop trained very early, but he was still having frequent (wet) accidents until 4 or 5 years old, so training pants came in handy.

Edited February 21, 2017 by Dust

[eternalsummer]

They are good for that period where your kid uses the little potty at home regularly but cannot quite be trusted to make it through a grocery trip or a park day. 

 

I think maybe they'd also make more sense for people who potty train later - we potty train pretty early (18-24 months) so largely the kid does not have the manual dexterity to pull up and down the pullup, or to recognize that it's not another diaper.  When we had to re-potty train one after a new baby and 2 moves in 6 weeks regressed him, pull ups were perfect - he was 3.5, so he knew how to use them and they made him feel secure while he got used to the idea of the potty again.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I didn't use them with any of my three kids.  We used cotton training pants.  They get very soggy when wet, so they're effective in making accidents a very unpleasant experience.  We were home, so the mess factor was contained.  Might have been different in a daycare situation.

[Rachel]

Just as an FYI they do indeed make bigger diapers. Plenty of special needs kiddos and adults use them. They're just a little trickier to find sometimes :)

 

The wet at night has been a big issue here. Even one of my oldest kiddos still sets the bed a fair bit. We just put them in clothes on a chux pad since they're dry most nights. But the cloth pull ups we use (super undies) do indeed go up to like ten and twelve year old sizes!

 

Here is the link, I highly recommend them for kids who aren't usually pooping in their pants. They can be cleaned from that but it's a bit more fiddly and messy than a normal cloth diaper:

http://www.superundies.com

We tried Superundies, they weren't absorbent enough for my kiddos :(

[Donna]

I voted other.

 

They are not useful as far as potty training goes. I found if mine didn't feel wet, they didn't feel the need to use the potty so regular underwear (or no underwear under a dress) worked best and I used plastic cover pants when home. They were useful when going somewhere with a potty training child who might/might not make it to a potty in time but when wet pants would be very inconvenient.

[MomtoCandJ]

We used just cloth training pants with dd1 (she didn't like pull ups) but we did use pull ups for dd2 because we were on the go so much more. Dd2 only wore pull ups though when out and about and during naps/bedtime, while at home she wore the cloth training pants as well. We used a sticker chart, 1 sticker for pee, 2 for poop. 10 stickers was a sucker and 100 stickers was a small toy.

[Guest]

We tried Superundies, they weren't absorbent enough for my kiddos :(

I have had to layer a preofld under the mesh for one of my kiddos, and we still get leg leaks if they wet too heavily. Interestingly not all my kids out-wet them. Maybe it's a leg fat thing?

 

I'm sorry they didn't work for you :(

Edited February 22, 2017 by Arctic Mama

[Zinnia]

Yes, I am 100% okay with it. Because whether I am okay with it or not won't change one thing other than to make a situation I cannot control worse. I cannot control when or how someone else pees or poops. All I can do is choose to either make everyone more miserable about it or let them develop as is. It has nothing to do with how smart, how *nice* or how advanced they are. It's biology and biologically 10-20% of children can't (not won't) potty train by age 2. On average they do, but in my experience with my kids, those that will, do so without training or extremely little of it. When my kids are three if they haven't decided to go on their own, I'll go to the pediatrician just to make sure there isn't a medical problem, but otherwise, we don't sweat about it.

 

Oh wait. I'll modify that a bit. When summer comes around, that's a big incentive for them to use the potty. I don't pressure them or make a big deal out of it, but places like swimming pool or VBS won't allow kids in diapers, so that might encourage them or it might not. Because I don't care if they go swimming or to VBS, but some of them did. And for the ones that weren't ready, we didn't make a big deal out of it, bc obviously if they could control it they would have and brow beating them with how much it sucks that they can't go to whatever isn't going to change anything.

my kids were highly motivated by the IKEA play room. No diapers allowed. They were so proud the first time !

[Terabith]

They don't help the act of potty training; it works much better for most kids to feel the results of their accidents.  However, they are useful when you need to go somewhere with a not reliable potty-er and can't afford an accident.  They are "airplane underwear" and the like.  Putting a child in pull ups who is going to use them as a diaper and is not going to use the potty is silly, since they are more expensive than diapers. 

[Murphy101]

my kids were highly motivated by the IKEA play room. No diapers allowed. They were so proud the first time !

We went to Ikea once and at first my kids were thinking that looked cool. 5 minutes later they had freaked the heck out and were crying for me. Why? Everyone was too loud in there.

[AK_Mom4]

Love polls!!!

 

I voted Other. Used the thick training pants with my three older with no problems. But with youngest DD, she had kidney issues. We used the disposable pull ups when we were out and cleaning up from an accident that she couldn't quite hold back would be inconvenient.

[MercyA]

Pull-ups kept me from going insane. Those padded cloth training pants held *nothing*. I couldn't handle constantly cleaning up pee accidents.  

 

If it took a little longer to potty train my daughter with pull-ups, I'm good with that. It was so much less stressful for both of us. 

[AndyJoy]

With DD, I only used them for a very brief period when she was newly potty trained but not good about getting to public restrooms in time. So I'd put her in one when we were running errands outside the house but still treat them like underwear, taking her to the potty regularly. She never purposely peed in them, but they saved us from a few public accidents (but not that one time at the library...).

 

With DS, pee control was earlier, but bm control took longer. He was often unable to articulate this need until it was urgent and didn't always make it in time. Pull-ups were totally worth it for this.

 

Personally I only found them useful for a child who is already pretty much trained.

Edited February 22, 2017 by AndyJoy

[Seasider]

Once my kids were somewhat trained at home for reasonable periods of time, I'd use pull-ups for long days out or long car rides, particularly to spare the car seat a soaking. That helped provide accident protection but didn't make a new "big kid" feel like s/he were getting demoted back to a diaper. I think I may have called them traveling undies or something like that.

 

ETA they were definitely short term transitional usage for us, not daily.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Seasider

[Guest]

I don't in theory think they are great but if they take some tension out of a situation, I'm ok with that.

[PeacefulChaos]

I voted Other.

 

Because honestly, they weren't particularly useful, BUT - and this is 100% EXACTLY WHY I used them with all 3 of my kids after diapers/before underwear - 

 

They are SO. FREAKING. EASY.  A million times easier to change a pullup real quick than a diaper.

 

So.  That's my $.02.  

[City Mouse]

I will add that for kids with issues/special needs pull ups can be more socially acceptable at 3 or even 4 than a diaper, and much easier to change in a public restroom with a kid who is too large for the little fold down changing station.

[MyLife]

I voted "other." My boys went from diapers to underwear. I did buy some training underwear that was a bit thicker than normal underwear. I used pull ups when we went out and about just to protect the car seat and prevent accidents on other people's floors.

[Amy in NH]

I found cloth training pants to be much more useful.

[maize]

Totally depends on the child.

 

Most of mine never used pullups; I waited to potty train until they were old enough and capable enough to basically just switch from diapers to independent pottying in a couple of days (age 3-4 for most; I'm a very lazy potty trainer).

 

One wore pull ups at night for many years because of bed wetting difficulty.

 

My current 4.5 year old...potty training is just barely starting to catch on. He now goes potty several times a day but also has multiple accidents on most days. No pull up or diaper means I end up cleaning up after lots of accidents. He actually doesn't seem to differentiate between pull ups and diapers though--if he's in a diaper and thinks to go potty he just pulls it down and goes then pulls it back up. Then comes and proudly tells me he went potty.

 

None of my other kids had accidents more than a couple of times after I put them in underwear (at least for day time) so pull ups would have been meaningless for them.

Edited February 22, 2017 by maize

[importswim]

The point of pullups for us was so that my older child who continued to wet the bed didn't feel more demoralized than he already did by having to wear diapers that looked like what a tiny baby used.  ;)

 

I think that, like most things, if they don't make sense to your family then that's wonderful. I don't, however, understand why anyone would make blanket statements about their usefulness if other families use them. 

[maize]

The point of pullups for us was so that my older child who continued to wet the bed didn't feel more demoralized than he already did by having to wear diapers that looked like what a tiny baby used. ;)

 

I think that, like most things, if they don't make sense to your family then that's wonderful. I don't, however, understand why anyone would make blanket statements about their usefulness if other families use them.

Yeah I see no point to blanket statements. They're either a useful tool for your child/family or they're not; says nothing whatsoever about their usefulness to someone else.