Potty training-basic questions

[diamond]

I am brand new to potty training and I have a few questions. I just ordered some hanna training unders which I am planning to use---

1) what happens if DD poops in the under?? how to clean the poop from under? how soon? what do you guys do?? wont it dry till wash time?

2) how frequently do you guys wash the unders-- everyday? or once a few days? hand wash? or machine wash? does it seem like a lot of work?

3) how will unders look with all the poops and pees after a few months? is it worth the $$$ I spent buying them?

ty

[JBaxter]

I use cloth diaper and only ever potty trained in cheep underpants. I am WAY to cheep to buy Hanna undies. yes they poop in their underpants. Looks just like poop in their diapers its a royal mess when it happens but it does. Recall a nasty runny poop I cut off one of the boys with scissors and tossed the undies shorts and socks < think diaper blow out>

I did alot of naked potty training with my boys and had a few messes but over all the first 3 weren't bad. We had a TON of character undies I found on sale here and there. I think my boys were probably potty trained a full month before we used underwear. I just put shorts or sweats on them wearing undies AND pants took to much time for them to get down and they peed the front of their pants alot. OH there are lots of dribbles during potty training ( not quite peed but still a little damp) my boys would NOT wear them if they dribbled. We could not have accidents ( fully) but still go through 4 or 5 pairs of panties a day.

[edurnemk]

We cloth diaper so we did the same routine for the unders. If you wet it before putting in the pail/laundry bin, it won't stain. If it was too bad I would immediately put it in the wash (after dunking in the toilet, I know, gross). We use a bit of oxiclean an detergent, hot water if they're stained, and some vinegar in the rinse. We so far have no stained unders. I guess you could also get some flushable liners to put in the unders to avoid all the mess (we used those for CD).

The first days of PT we washed everyday or even twice a day! We ran out pretty quickly, now we wash every 2-3 days.

We got a couple packs of Gerber training pants (unders) which are not expensive, then I found nicer ones and we've been using those. I like them better than regular undies since they absorb small accidents without the entire outfit getting wet.

[the2bobs]

I recommend doing the naked potty training, too. DS1 will be 3 in Nov and decided it was time to quit the diapers, so he was ready (I wasn't). He went naked for the last 2 days around the house, pull ups when napping/bed, and today in just underpants. I find that if he's in pull ups he thinks they're diapers so he just pees/poops in them---and tells me he just did it. So only use them if you have to.

[HIU8]

I second the naked PT thing. We did that with DS for one week. He had one accident and then none. I used target undies (and still do) for DS. I did not go for the expensive ones. DS outgrew his first set of undies really fast. I sized up 2 sizes after that (and DS is still in those). We rotate through and get rid of old ones as needed. All of DS's poop accidents (he had them for 3 months after he pee trained) were hard, not soft. I would still rinse the undies in the utility sink and use some oxyclean spray on them. I put them in the wash immediately (we do wash every day here).

for DD I did basically the same thing, only no naked pt. She pted herself at 18 months. She had a few accidents from not making it in time and has never had a poop accident at all. I still rinse her undies and put in the wash immediately though. FWIW, she wears target character undies as well.

[suomi777]

DS we PT at nearly 3, we initiated, not him. Needed to for preschool. Did bottomless PT for a weekend. We used cloth diapers for DD at that time, so if we had a dirty underwear, we rinsed it using our diaper sprayer attachment to the toilet, and tossed it in the diaper pail. Did not have a problem with stains.

For DD, she started PT at 18 mos on her own. She was really into horses, so when we finally gave up on pull-ups (I agree with comment that they think of them like diapers), I searched and searched for horse panties and told her she could only wear them if she could keep them clean. I also told her how sad the horses were if they got wet or dirty. That really inspired her and she did well. However when she hit the terrible twos full-on, PT became a battleground for us and we went back to pull-ups (but not really PT) for three months or so, then brought out the horse panties again and it worked. This time we didn't have anyone in cloth dipes (I had her in pull-ups at night) so when she had an accident, if it was poop I ran it through the wash on a rinse by itself to get rid of the poop (after using the diaper sprayer if it was a lot). If it was pee I would just leave it until nighttime and wash it that night with a load of like colors. Again, no stains at all, maybe a couple times had to use Oxiclean but very, very rarely.

I would like to suggest if you have a boy that you check out Sears brand underwear. They have really cute boy prints, and I found that their underwear held up much, much better than the character underwear from Hanes and the like. They are also softer and much better quality. Plus, if you join KidsAdvantage Club (free) at Sears, you get points for your purchases that eventually earn you coupons. Better yet, anything you purchase on KidsAdvantage is guaranteed to not wear out. So the one time I had a pair of underwear that the elastic fell apart, I took it back to Sears and they didn't even look me up in the computer, they just told me to get a new pack (I think I brought along 2 good pairs to make an even exchange). I threw away a ton of Elmo underwear that fell apart before I caught onto Sears. My manager has two boys and swears by Sears underwear for them, too. And I am not normally even a Sears shopper!

If your son has to have a certain character (like my daughter with the horses) then just see what you can find. I just saw socks and underwear at Kohl's buy one get one 50%, plus you can add on extra coupons to that. You just have to stock up when you find what you need (like me buying all of the 4T My Little Pony panties I came across at Kmart one night . . .)

My friend recommended not to teach them to pee standing up until they are poop trained. That was great advice.

Also--my favorite take along potty seat is the Potette Plus. You can put it on top of a toilet , or pop the legs up and put a plastic shopping bag over it with a small diaper inside, and then it is a freestanding potty. Ours has been everywhere, and in the early days of training I would have it set up as a potty even at the playground so they didn't have far to run. It fits great in a Happy Tushies bag, and my son picked out the turtle print of the bag and was proud to carry his potty seat around in it. You can put an extra change of clothes and a bag for wet ones in the other half of the bag. We are now on the 3rd year of almost continuous use on that bag and it still looks new.

Good luck with the potty training. Candy also works wonders as an incentive!

Brandy

[natness]

Also--my favorite take along potty seat is the Potette Plus. You can put it on top of a toilet , or pop the legs up and put a plastic shopping bag over it with a small diaper inside, and then it is a freestanding potty. Ours has been everywhere, and in the early days of training I would have it set up as a potty even at the playground so they didn't have far to run. It fits great in a Happy Tushies bag, and my son picked out the turtle print of the bag and was proud to carry his potty seat around in it. You can put an extra change of clothes and a bag for wet ones in the other half of the bag. We are now on the 3rd year of almost continuous use on that bag and it still looks new.

Had a little look at the Happy Tushie bags... Which bag does the Potette Plus fit in? I think I'm going to take all of your advice to heart!