Question About Pull Ups

Pull-ups are the worst invention ever made. They do not help with potty training they hinder it. If you want to potty train you need to go straight to underwear. Pull-ups are not different than wearing diapers. They just absorb the wetness and children do not learn from wearing them. I worked in daycare for 6 years and nannied for families for about 3 years and now I have a 2 year old of my own who has just become potty trained. So, I have done a lot of potty training in my years and pull-ups just delay potty training.

Hey R.!

My kids have been out of pull-ups for a while, but I used the Pampers with the little designs that disappear when they are wet. I know things have changed and they come out with more new products all the time, but I would choose a pull-up that makes her feel uncomfortable about the wet feeling. That way she'll be more inclined to want to go potty. I think at wal-mart (or CVS) there is a brand called goodnites...they worked pretty well with my daughter also.

Hi R.
I kinda had the same problem with my 5 year old at that age...She wouldnt tell me when she was wet had to potty or needed to be changed either...I found NONE of the pull ups worked unless the child wants them too. The best way to train is Putting panties on the child and letting them experience the "mess" first hand
Thats the only way my daughter trained, also a timer helped as well. Put a timer someplace where she can see it explain to her what it is and what it is for every half a hour set it for potty time and take her to go potty wheater she may think she has to go or not. She will get used to that sound an associate it with the potty and start to train. There is also a boook and a video out there that helped my 13 year old train.
Its just called Ohh I think its SO in so first potty or somthing like that they have them for boys and girls
along with a boook to look at as well.
Good luck
M.

I don't think that there is a "best" brand of pull-ups. Each child is different, so what works for one, may not work for others. My son didn't mind being wet, even in underwear.

You know your daughter best. You may have to try different strategies, but remember that you really can't force a child to be potty-trained. She will get it in her own time, but like the other mom suggested, you should reward her and make a big deal about it when she does use the potty. Try not to pressure her, though, because this can often backfire. Good luck!

I haven't read the responses yet, but I've heard from many people that the best way to go is straight to real undies. They say it only takes a week or two and you may ruin a few but that it's much easier. When isaiah gets old enough this is what I'll do. To me, it seems that they would thing pull ups are just like a diaper, ya know?

Hee. I tried those too and my son could have cared less whether it was a cool feeling or not. I had somewhat better luck with the Feels Wet liner ones...and if I recall the Pampers ones are better b/c the liner actually is separate from the absorbent part of the diaper. In the end though, I don't think it made that much difference in the potty training outcome. I am not ashamed to admit that we used bribery...I know some people use m&ms or something, but my son isn't a candy kid...he could care less if you were going to give him ice cream or candy.

We had a miserable frustrating potty training experience until I copied a friend of mine's technique. I went out and got a bunch of toys (nothing too big of a deal...some matchbox cars, watercolor paints, etc.) and wrapped them up so he couldn't see what they were. Each time he went in the potty he got to open a present. I had a couple of bigger presents for the first time he went pee in the potty without help, for the first time he made poo (that took a little longer). Also, it got to where he would just try to make the littlest squirt of pee just to get a present, so we started giving him a coin for his piggy bank for the little visits to the potty. Within a couple days he forgot to ask for the presents and he was going to the potty and not needing a pull up.

He still used a pull up at nap and at night for awhile. Eventually he told us he didn't want a pullup at nap, and then a few months after that, we accidentally ran out of pullups for night, and said, oh well, we'll try it. That was just about a month or so ago. He still has some accidents, but overall it's been pretty successful. I still had him wear pullups when he was sick, because cold medicine makes you have to go to the bathroom a lot.

One thing you can do, too, is when you discover that she's wet put her on the potty after the fact anyway and praise her. Tell her the potty is where we go pee-pee (or whatever words you use).

We stopped with pull-ups b/c they gave my son terrible rashes from the chemicals. It became traumatic for him. He's still in diapers but we do scheduled trips to the potty and he goes on it after he's wet, too. He's starting to get the idea!

If you don't already, try to get your daughter on some sort of potty schedule. Not that she has to pee on a timetable! But it helps reinforce the idea that there's a certain place for things.

Good luck!

Hi R.,

In my opinion and experience....Pull-up are just fancy diapers!!! If you want to potty train then you should use regular underwear. Yes, you will probably have a few accidents to clean up but it is so worth it in the long run. Put her in underwear and tell her that we are going to be a big girl today and use the potty. Check on her every few minutes and praise her for staying clean. Periodically ask her if she needs to go potty. If it has been a while and she still hasnt went to the bathroom then you make her go and atleast sit on the potty. Make it fun and rewarding not forcefull and no pressure. When she has an accident (since you will be checking on her every 10-20 minutes)and you probably caught it before it got everywhere...you just tell her, "thats ok we had a little accident. You peed your underwear. Where are we supposed to go pee??" Take her to the potty to reinforce this. She can sit on the potty while you clean her up. This helps to make the assosiation between pee or poop and the potty.

Dont be overwhelmed by the fact that she may pee in her underwear and make a mess. Just clean it up. This will help her to learn her bodys signals and she will learn to control them and recognize them sooner.

I have helped to potty train several of my friends little girls and I potty trained my son in less then a week. He has never had an accident since!!

Please feel free to message me if you have anymore questions!! Good Luck.

P.S. If you do decide to do this you cant change your mind unless she is REALLY not getting it at all. If you keep going between diapers and underwear it will just confuse her!!! Pull ups are great for nap and bedtime but I would just use the regular ones. I always called them our night time underwear. Dont be afraid to go out in public with her in underwear. Just take a change of clothes and a plastic baggy. I always did that but never needed it them.
Mel

When potty training my daughter I got frustrated in the beginning as well because she stopped telling me anything. However, I quickly realized she is strong willed as I am and I decided to take the approach of when she is ready she is ready. So I stopped asking her and decided that when she is ready she'll let me know. Well it took about a week of me not asking her then she decided to start telling me she was wet and she didn't like it. I hated to do it but even if I knew she was wet I said nothing. Anyways, so that moved her to the phase of as soon as she was wet she was like ewww mom can I have a new pull up... After a couple of months of this she decided herself to try and go use the big potty. We did this for a couple of months again I never asked her I let her do it on her time and it worked. Took a few months but it worked without any fussing. She all the sudden came to me one day and said I want some princess panties so we went to the store and bought a few packs and she did have a few daytime accidents after that but she basically said I'm a big girl and I want to wear panties and that's what she did. You really can't rush children that is one thing they need to do in their own time. She wears goodnights at night I can't get away from that but she'll eventually outgrow those as well. So If it were me I'd relax and let your child do it in his/her own time the more pressure they feel the worse it would be in my opinion.

I thought I had previously responded to you, but it must have been another parent with similar questions. First of the cool alert is a waste of time. My son could care less and never told me until after we took him out of diapers. They do make the plastic covers and even plastic diapers (gerber), but I have found these leak more then some other brands/types. I loved ones that are called Kooshies and they are basically a cloth diaper with outer layer that is supposed to keep things somewhat dry. Well, they are not perfect, but in the training aspect they are better then pull ups and less messy than panties. The web site I looked at a lot when going through this with my son was Potty Training Solutions (type that into google). My son had the same issues about the day care not being helpful at ALL! I would go and pick him up and they would say he had many accidents, but it turns out in 8-10 hours they took him 2-3 times. COME ON. As adults we go that often, but kids need to go every hour until they are fully trained. Anyway enough venting. I lucked out in that he was old enough to go to a montessori preschool and they helped him with the last bit of training he needed. So, Kooshies or other brands of toddler diapers meant for toilet training are great. Hope that helps. Feel free to contact me if you have more questions.

Not personally but my daycare children have them and they don't tell me either. I think it is a gimmick to sell them.

I found that once I got rid of the pull ups we were through the potty training. I would recommend not using them. I found them to be a crutch for both the child and the parent. Once we spent a couple days staying home and wearing real underwear she took to it in a matter of days.

Good Luck. I found this time in my daughter's life the most trying. I know...we haven't reached the teen years yet!

I personally have found that pull-ups don't work at all for us. I never tired that type- usually "pull-ups" or the off brand type. I am currently potty training my son and the only thing that works for him is being naked from the waist down. He can't have pull-ups or undies on or he will pee. If he's naked, there are no, NO accidents. I was told to try this by several moms. Of course this means you can not have a life- no leaving the home with a naked child in tow for you!:) Good luck and I hope this helps.

I used pull ups at night and regular panties during the day and we were pottytrained in no time.

Hi, I agree with the other moms. In my "pre-baby" life I was a pre-school teacher who potty trained hundreds of kids. Our school didn't allow pul-ups when I started, so I never thought of them as an option until I had my own little girl. We tried them and they didn't help at all. I thought maybe technology was the way to go, that she would tell me she was wet and it would make her want to potty. No such luck! I suppose she was already used to the diaper being cool from overnight, so why would this be any different. We do use pull-ups for naptime and nighttime. We call them nighttime panties and she gets to choose any kind she wants. We had about 2 weeks of her peeing anywhere and everywhere until she got used to the feeling of holding it and asking to go potty, but it was
MUCH easier when we stopped the pull-ups during her waking hours! Good Luck!

Pull-ups are no different than diapers. You should just put her in panties. Sure, there will be accidents, but many times the feel of the accident is enough to end them, if the child is really ready. This time of year is perfect because kids play outside so much, it isn't a huge mess in the house when they have accidents. If you get panties with her favorites characters or designs on them, that helps because you can tell her that she doesn't want to get the ruined.

Frequent trips to the potty, and a small reward for success are also great for encouraging potty training. I would steer clear of the pull-ups though.