Monday, August 19, 2013

The First Potty Training Update

First, I should answer the most asked question related to our potty training adventure: Which potty training pants are we using?

There are a LOT of great brands and styles out there. In the end, I decided to go with the least expensive option. I would love to try out just about every kind on the market, but let's be realistic - I'm not exactly Kim Rosas here, although it would be fun. We used plain old Gerber training pants with G, and it worked out for us in the end, so I happily settled on doing the same for N. This time around, though, we went a little fancier. Tracy (from the Uncoordinated Mommy), directed me to her Potty Training Pinterest board. What she really wanted to show me was this tutorial on the blog It's a Long Story.
DIY waterproof training pants

Basically, you take Gerber training pants, add some flannel for additional absorbency, and a limited layer of PUL for a somewhat waterproof effect. Of course, I did things slightly differently. First, I had to order the training pants off Amazon because no stores in our area apparently carry size 18-24 months, and that's the size my petite little girl needs. I made one pair per the instructions then scrapped the idea. Well, not entirely.

I felt adding all that flannel made the underwear too much like a diaper - it was absorbing too much. If it's not uncomfortable when wet, how would it seem like we were doing anything differently? So I skipped the flannel on the rest of the batch. I did add the PUL to each pair, but I didn't use a pattern. The training pants were too irregular for me to come up with a pattern that would fit the PUL to each pair consistent enough for me. I just cut rectangles the width I wanted (measuring the widest point of the training pants that the PUL would be covering, and using my rotary cutter to get it nice and even). I pinned it in place to the training pants, then carefully snipped away the excess around the leg holes. After that, I used a zig-zag stitch all the way around. I'll be honest - sometimes I wish I had a few pair without the PUL. Am I weird?

We've had some success, and a lot of head butting. Have I mentioned how stubborn and willful my little sweetheart is? She's the type of kid that will tell me "No" when I very nicely tell her she needs to be nice to her grandma. She's two. I'm hoping she out grows this.

My only consolation in this particular battle is I'm pretty sure she won't be going to school still wetting her pants. She gets excited when she goes in the potty. The problem is, she doesn't seem all that broken up when she doesn't make it in time. Like, at all. We're just getting started, though. Even if things get worse, they'll eventually get better.

What are the biggest challenges you've faced while potty training? Any advice you'd care to share with us? Any stories of moments that made it all click for your little ones? 

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