Pull-Ups: Waste of Money or Must-Have Potty Training Tools?

Don't Fall for the Hype About Pull-ups!

You've heard the "facts" time and time again. Once your child is ready to potty train, you should make the switch to pull-ups. They are easy to pull up and down and the child will feel like they are using real

 

underpants. In addition, they save parents from the inevitable mess you'll encounter when potty training. Once they have mastered using pull-ups, parents can help their child transition to potty training. The fact of the matter is, it isn't that cut and dry. While pull-ups may seem like the answer to your potty training woes, the truth is that they may actually hinder your child's ability to learn to use toilet.

Problem #1: Pull-Ups absorb like a diaper.

No matter which brand or style of pull-up you choose to use they are designed to contain wetness so parents do not have to clean up a mess and children don't end up wearing wet clothes. As a result, they will always contain absorbent material. But by absorbing wetness, children aren't able to feel when they are wet as easily as they would if they were wearing regular underpants. This can actually delay potty training, instead of encouraging it.

Problem #2: Pull-Ups confuse children.

If you are using pull-ups sometimes, diapers sometimes, and underpants other times, your child will simply end up confused. When will they get wet and when will they stay dry? When should they head for the toilet, and when can they just go? By using pull-ups, parents confuse their children and don't give them the opportunity to learn that if they go wee or poo outside of the potty, they get wet or messy. This is part of the learning process for children, and parents who use pull-ups don't allow their children to experience this.

Problem #3: Pull-ups are costly.

If you have waited to see cues that your child is ready to potty train, it should happen in a timely manner. In fact, you will save money by switching to cheap underpants instead of pull-ups. Underpants can be rinsed and washed when accidents occur, but pull-ups cannot. As a result, they can be a major waste of money for parents.

ARTICLE FROM: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/382629/pullups_waste_of_money_or_musthave.html?cat=25

Fail??? I think

So three days have gone by and the "three-day naked method" did not turn out the way it should have or how I'd hoped but maybe I made some progress.

During these three days my daughter made it to the potty to do #2 and knew it was wrong to pee on the carpet but still did it anyways at least half way until she was ran to the potty. So none the less I used all of my extra towels and she is back in her pull-ups and clothes. We will continue to take her to the potty every so often and continue searching methods. I have heard that pull-ups might make potty-training harder as toddlers still see them as diapers that they can go in. I'm thinking of only using the training pants at night and we will see how that affects my trials.

Today is the DAY!!

Today is the day I begin the "naked method."
Deserae is asleep right now and I have everything ready including extra towels, carpet cleaning spray, and her potty in the living room. When she wakes up I will give her a bath and let her run free. She thinks it's a game when I let her run around naked and has peed on the floor ONE time before and did not know what was happening. I'm hoping she will quickly get to the potty when she feels the need to go. To feel that need is to know how it feels when she is actually going. I think this will be the hardest part and I am actually hoping inside that she will not wake up soon. I know right? I should be excited!

The NAKED CHILD APPROACH to toilet training

Another commonly cited approach involves keeping a child naked as much as possible for several days in a row. The philosophy behind this approach assumes children do not like to be wet and loose control of their urine. Variants of this approach allow the child to be in underwear but require the child to wear the wet clothes for a while if they have an accident. In order to try this approach, parents must view this as not being a form of punishment for being wet.  Parents must allow accidents to occur without getting upset. If a child is allowed to have accidents and not get punished, then a child who is otherwise unaware of their bodily functions can learn valuable lessons. The message for using the toilet to avoid being wet or having an accident is made more evident. Children are allowed to learn by observing and feeling, they begin to understand that urine and stool comes out and they either need to go into the toilet or they will go into the clothes/diaper. This technique can be rewarding for both child and parent since it employs a very simple concept of learning the normal bodily functions and how to avoid feeling wet or sticky.

If a child is not ready to train or is unwilling to change his behavior when an accident occurs, then this approach fails. Continuing to force a child to be wet or have accidents over a long period of time can result in humiliation and resentment. It can be difficult for parents to maintain a loving and encouraging environment if the child continues to have accidents. This approach can be very successful, but without also encouraging a child to sit on the potty, it will probably fail. Children do not always equate being wet with not using the potty. Parent instruction is necessary in order to explain that accidents do occur when you do not use the potty. This approach is very similar to potty training in a day, but it spreads the emphasis over several days and allows the child to learn from their mistakes.

ARTICLE FROM: http://www.greatdad.com/tertiary/363/1984/.html

Sticker Chart PLUS another method...

So it has been a few days since we started the sticker chart. She is doing pretty well with going number one on the potty and placing her stickers on the chart. The difficult part has been that she would go potty in her pull-up still if I will not have her go to the potty in time.

Another method of potty-training I have done some research on is the running around the house naked for a few days until the child is potty-trained. The theory behind this method is that the child will get to feel going to the bathroom on theirselves and learn that it doesn't feel good and find an alternative. The alternative being the potty is where I would hope she would go potty and am hoping tomorrow that she will get this quick or I will have a lot of carpet cleaning to do.

Day 2 of sticker chart method

After reading articles and printing out my out potty training chart, I have begun to test this method out. The first day began with me sitting her down on her potty, waiting about five minutes and then seeing if she went. She did!! Okay so then I showed her the chart, handed her a sticker and she placed it right there on the paper(not perfect) and was happy with what she did.

I do not know if being only 21 months that she gets what the sticker chart means, but I plan on using the chart until she is accident FREE!! As of today she has about 6 stickers on her chart and is still going along okay. She still will not tell me when she is wet and only when she is having a bowel movement so we will keep trying!!!

The Potty Training Sticker Chart

and Other Ways of Motivating for Potty Training

In order to make potty training as stress-free as possible for both you and your child take a positive approach. Motivate and incentivize your toddler to encourage them through the potty training journey. Using rewards and praise will achieve better results than punishment and anger.
Start using motivational tools such as sticker charts to get co-operation in other areas. By introducing this practice early, your child will become familiar with how your family reinforces and celebrates success and co-operation.
What to reward for
Decide in advance what and how you will reward. Ensure that all the family is on board so that you have a consistent approach. You may want to use praise for some and double rewards for other more difficult to master skills. Some suggestions are:
1. Sitting on the potty
2. Successfully urinating or doing a bowel movement in potty or toilet
3. Staying dry
4. Don’t forget hand washing
5. Putting the seat down afterwards – for little boys
Ways of motivating for potty training
If you are not sure what tools to use to motivate your potty trainee, consider what has already worked to incentivize them in other areas such as discipline. If they are familiar with star or sticker charts and they have worked before, use them again. Consider asking your tot what she would like for a reward. Here are some ideas:
1. Verbal praise – always give lots of verbal praise to your training toddler. Verbal praise allows you to reward her for smaller victories which might not warrant stars or full rewards. Your child values your praise.
2. Potty prizes – this is a bowl of either small, cheap, wrapped prizes or some people use M&Ms or Smarties in bathroom. Use a clear bowl which means your tot can see and covet the prizes.
3. Sticker chart – star or sticker charts can be used in many ways. They allow you o space out actual rewards as your toddler is motivated by getting the stars on the way to the ‘big’ reward. An effective way of using a star chart for you and your child is to put a cross in the box when a request is made (please sit on the potty), and then covered by sticker if they comply. This way you will have a way of keeping track of how many requests you have made. ‘Big’ rewards can be almost anything – extra bubbles in the bath, an extra bedtime book – or check with your toddler, ask her what she would like!
4. Stickers for potty – a cheap, fun option is to reward with fun stickers of the child’s choice. This way they can personalize their potty as they receive their rewards. It is a highly visual way for your tot to see how they are progressing.
5. Real knickers – let your child pick their own ‘real’ knickers. Most young children have a favorite character or color. Knowing that when they have mastered potty training that they will move from trainer pants to these special ‘real’ knickers is a strong motivator for toddlers and preschoolers.
6. Toilet targets – for little boys who have mastered sitting and are now moving on to standing, put a target in the toilet bowl to encourage them to try the new technique…with the bonus that it should reduce mess and splashes. Small ball of paper and Cherrios make great toilet targets. Another option is to add some blue or red food color to the bowl so that your wee man can watch the water change color (green from blue and orange from red).
Don’t forget to pre-sell rewards to your toddler to get her excited about what is coming up. It is essential that your trainee buys in to the process so that she is looking forward to potty training.
No matter how exciting the reward, some children get bored with the process over time and might need extra incentive to persist. Consider having special activities for potty time – songs, games, book reading or a favorite toy.

article from: http://totalpottytraining.com/potty-training-motivation/