Today on the potty training scene, there are numerous products and equipment aimed at helping to make this transitional time smooth. During this time, parents can expect the occasional accident as they navigate the toilet training process with their toddler. It is not an automatic accomplishment or skill that is learned overnight, but with a little time and patience, your toddler will have more and more successes. Until that time, products like training pants can be a great motivational tool to your child, as well as a helpful tool for the parent.
Training pants are like underwear, with an absorbent feature to catch and hold accidents that occur during potty training. They slip on like normal underwear but create a protective barrier between the child and the clothes they are wearing. In other words, they help lessen the loads of laundry you would normally have to do during the potty training phase, by preventing "potty accident seepage" from reaching the outer clothing. However, training pants are not a substitute for cloth diapers or disposable diapers, because they are not designed to hold and absorb all that much, and are specifically for the occasional accident. So, transitioning to training pants is something that should begin after the toddler has begun to have some success with potty training.
What to Look for
Depending on your preference, there are different types and styles of training pants on the market today. If you do not mind having to wash soiled training pants, then there are material training pants that can be used. This type of training pants is made of fabrics such as terry cloth and fleece, and offers a panel in between the material that acts to prevent urine from seeping through to the exterior clothing. Some of the material types of training pants are designed with a panel that allows you to insert an absorbent disposable padding, which gives an extra bit of protection. Material training pants are found in different sizes to accommodate the size of your child.
There is also regular children's underwear that can be used in conjunction with plastic training pants. You get to choose from many different colors, themes and design that children's underwear come in, and over that, the toddler wears the plastic training pants. This type will help protect the exterior clothing, but will do very little in protecting your toddler's skin from the mess.
There are also disposable training pants. These are designed and work like disposable diapers that slip on like underwear. Disposable training pants pull the urine away from the toddler's skin and prevent the urine from leaking out onto the toddler's clothing. Again, like with material training pants, these also come in different sizes to fit your child's specifications.
With all these types of training pants, you will find ones that have easy to remove features, such as snaps, which helps parents remove messes more easily. Also, make sure the training pants that you choose have elastic leg openings to allow for a snug fit and assist in keeping accidents contained and elastic waist band to allow for ease of pulling up and down by your toddler. What you will definitely find in the world of toddler training pants is an abundance of colors, patterns and character themes.
Common Pitfalls
It has been suggested that training pants may hinder the training process because it replaces traditional diapers yet does the same thing that a diaper does, which is to hold and contain urine and bowel movements. Material training pants may not help protect your toddler's skin as well as disposable training pants, which is why they should not be used like a normal disposable diaper and should be changed immediately after the accident.
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