After going back and forth with Layah for over a year on a “laid back” potty training approach, I threw my hands in the air and decided to try something new: we just stopped using diapers cold turkey. I made peace with having a bit of a mess to clean up during this transition, and I also purchased some Pull-Ups® Training Pants for night-time, when I know it is harder for toddlers to go accident-free, at least in the beginning of the effort. Pull-Ups® had recently reached out to partner together for a post since they knew we were still in the midst of potty training, and I decided that now was as good a time as any to try a different approach since Layah wasn’t fully committing to being out of diapers. Want to hear about what happened when we simply removed diapers from the equation?
Short Answer: It Worked!
I kept my explanation of the changes we were making easy breezy with my daughter, and I had lots of very cool new things to show her, too. I laid out her super cool character underwear for day time and I also chose the so that she would be drawn to the designs on them, as well. Doc McStuffins and Ariel are some great new characters you’ll find on the designs for the girls, and the boys have Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Lightning McQueen. I explained that we would wear character underwear until we had an accident, and then if we had an accident, we would take a break and switch to underwear that didn’t have a design on it.
The main thing Layah was struggling with up to this point was pooping in the potty. This is a major sticking point for a lot of kids. She would ask for a diaper and we would often cave and give her one because let’s be real: who wants to clean poop out of underwear? It’s not high on my list of things I’m interested in doing.
So this time I explained to her that mommy and daddy and big sister were here to help her all day long and to get her to the potty any time she wanted to try, and that it was totally fine to try and not get the poop out on the first try. We could try again and again, no problem! BUT...if she pooped in her character underwear, unfortunately they would get so dirty that we would have to throw them away. I was VERY careful with my explanation of this because I did not want to make Layah feel any sort of shame. I was simply experimenting with a different consequence, as the previous consequence for pooping in her underwear, which was to help us clean it up, didn’t seem to be having much of an impact. And to be honest, I wasn’t so sure that she would care at all whether or not her character underwear got tossed in the garbage.
But guess what? She NEVER pooped in her pants again. She even took herself to the potty several times that first day until she was successful. And OH MY GOSH did we throw an impromptu party for that kid once she pooped in the potty. You would have thought that we had won the lottery by the level of celebration happening!
To further boost Layah’s confidence once she conquered her big hurdle of pooping in the potty, we made use of Pull-Ups® Training Pants at bedtime. We simply called them night time underwear and showed her that you put them on and take them off the same way. We talked about how it would be fine to take trips to the potty during the night and how she could call for us if she needed help. For the first few nights, we were getting up to do a few potty sessions with her and she did wake up a few times having gone potty in her sleep. But she very quickly started to shift to waking herself up and going potty all by herself.
And now? More nights than not, she makes it through the entire night completely dry, and she is good about taking herself potty first thing in the morning. Our youngest is now potty trained.
photo credit: BLUE SKY2 via photopin (license)
It took forever and a day, but once we changed the tactic around and simply removed the crutch (diapers), the process wrapped up very quickly. If you are just getting started with potty training instead of being in the thick of it, you might want to think about starting with Pull-Ups® full-time while your child adjusts to learning how to start using the potty. Then you can gradually start introducing underwear during the day time until your child is in underwear 100% of the day, and after that, tackling night time potty training will likely not take very long, either. Pull-Ups® are a great addition to the potty training experience because they get kids started right away with training on how to be independent by taking their underwear off and putting it back on (thanks to those nice, stretchy sides) while also offering a level of protection against those accidents that are frequent in the beginning.
Special Coupon Offer
If you are ready to ditch diapers and give this approach to potty training a try, be sure to get the awesome coupon for (size Jumbo or higher) currently being offered. You can take $2 off, which is great, and if you share the coupon via social media, you get an upgrade to a $3 off coupon! .
The Pull-Ups® Big Kid Academy
If you want a customized road map for your potty training journey, be sure to enroll in the Big Kid Academy at . It’s totally free, and totally helpful, as you’ll find activities and advice perfect for wherever you may find yourself on the road to potty training. Parents can find expert advice there, too! And don’t miss out on the Pull Ups® Time to Potty App! Your toddler probably already wants to play with your phone, so you might as well bring in some helpful potty training resources during phone time!
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Pull-Ups®.
Another Resource
If you are in need of a resource to help you kick potty training into high gear, I have heard RAVE reviews for blogger Becky Mansfield’s ebook, Potty Train in a Weekend. Definitely check that out if you have a feeling that with the right approach, your little one can finish up potty training quickly!