When to start using pants when potty training?

lmahoney79

I have just started to potty train my 3 year old son and he's doing well. He will wee and poo in potty but still lots of accidents. At the moment, he is naked from waist down while at home and wears pull-up pants when we go out. I want to get him used to pulling down his pants when at home but not sure if I should put proper pants on yet? Don't really like the pull up pants as they still look and feel like nappies......any advice welcome!

ene

having worked I'm creches for years, pull-ups are a nightmare and children find them very confusing

best thing to do it start off leaving offering the potty at nappy changes, this leads on to having a hour of pant time a few times a day (push liquids before the hour).

after that you just have to find a blank few days to be housebound and just go for it! buy lots of tracksuit bottoms and pants you don't mind tossing for messy poo accidents but hopefully they won't happen often.

obviously continue using a sleep nappy at naps and at night.

if you have any questions let me know! i have potty trained way too many children at this point!

Toots

I put pants on my son pretty much straight away when we started potty training. When we were in the house I just put pants on him and dealt with accidents (in fairness, I've got wooden floors, so it wasn't a big deal, not sure how it'd work out with carpet though). I'd put him on the potty about every hour or two and make a big fuss of him when he did his wees in it. I understand about going out and about with pull-ups especially if you're going to be out for a while. My PHN mentioned putting a pair of pants under the pull-ups, that way he'll know when he's wet but won't be destroyed when we're out and about. I found that worked very well for us.

Personally, I'd focus less on being able to pull the pants up and down, more on being able to tell you when he needs the loo. At this age he's not going to be able to use the loo unassisted anyway, so it's that's something that'll come with time. Also the pull-ups are actually more difficult to pull up and down than regular pants. My little guy was trained by about 2 and a half and he'd still need help getting pants on and off, he's not too bad pulling them down, but when he pulls them up there's usually a butt cheek left hanging out

How Strange

I went straight to pants as other people said the same as ene that pull ups are confusing. You have to get into the habit of asking him every 10-15 minutes if he needs to go for a wee or a poo although I think the poo is easier for them as they feel it coming. It'll click eventually but the constant reminder may be helpful at the start.

Lots and lots of praise when he goes in the potty or tells you he needs to use it. We used to dance around like eejits for those first few weeks everytime he got it and we always played down any accidents.

As a Toots said lots and lots of cheap underpants, trackie bottom or elasticated shorts. My son trained at 2 yrs 9 months and he's almost 3.5 now but I still have to check that everything is inside his pants when he pulls them up.

lmahoney79

Thanks for all the tips everyone, we are going shopping for big boy pants today!

ene

i agree with how strange, take him to the bathroom at least every half hour for the first while and praise for even just sitting on the toilet or potty

it will be repitive but worth it in the end

Toots

How Strange wrote: »

My son trained at 2 yrs 9 months and he's almost 3.5 now but I still have to check that everything is inside his pants when he pulls them up.

My son's usually fairly good at getting the front bits in, it's me that makes a mess of that. I'd have pulled his pants up and be about to pull up his trousers and he'll say "Mammy! My nads are not tucked in the pants!" He's got a few pairs of boxer type pants as opposed to the knicker type ones and I swear when the knicker ones get too small I'm only buying boxers - much easier to keep all the bits contained!