Toilet training: disposables vs cloth

[prama]

Hi ladies

Would love your advise on using disposable vs cloth toilet training nappies.

I read that sposies aren't as effective as they dont give them the same wet feeling as cloth toilet training nappies. is this true?

cloth tt nappies - what would your recommend, are they only avail online?

i get confused - some sposies are referred to as pull ups and others training pants - are they the same thing?

Thanks heaps, appreciate your wisdom!

[shellbell3]

For us we had trial pack of the pull-ups and even tho you feel wetter she still saw it as a nappy.
We had the cloth training pants given to us from family and used those a bit. mainly I just had her in either nothing, easier that way (have floorboards so accidents easy to clean) or I also bought packet pretty but cheap undies so she could be a big girl, that way worked best for us.

[*Beema*]

I would say cloth is definitely the go, reason being, of most of our IRL friends and the little one's all about the same age as DD, she is the only one that is showing signs of being toilet trained, and I believe that is because she wears cloth nappies and she feels the difference. So I think the same would go for the pants, you want them to feel it and understand what is happening, I have a feeling that some of newer pull ups or similar do take longer the draw away the weness but I am not 100% certain on this. I just know from experience with DD being in clotha dn her friends in dippies, DD has been on the potty for the last couple of months, and will tell us if she needs to do a wee or poo, or if she has done one

[Kitt3n]

Yeah I would say cloth - Laa is only 16 months and already showing signs of TT.

Check out Genessa Forge and Blueberry (not sure who else does trainng pants but they are a start!)

[Curly]

I'm a sposie user but I say cloth pants or even just straight into undies.

Re pull ups - some are special TT pull ups that are supposed to allow them to feel the wetness before absorbing it - and they don't have the same absorbency capacity as a regular disposable nappy. The others are called nappy pants and they have the same absorbency as a normal nappy, made for kids who refuse to lie down for nappy changes, so you can then change their nappy while they are standing up.

I personally thought the TT pullups were a massive waste of time. They are far more expensive, less absorbent and my DS still thought of them as a nappy. I only ever bought 2 small packets and I used them for times when we were going out and dealing with an accident would have been a complete PITA. Then if DS asked to go to the toilet, I could pull them down and back up again, and if he wet himself I could change him with less mess. I think I still have a few hanging around actually, that was how seldom I used them.

I spent a few days at home doing the hard yards with getting him to learn to go on the potty, and then bit the bullet and took him out with undies on - mind you he was already 2 years old then.

[prama]

thanks girls. DS is two and has been having TT at day care and home. but i was told today that at day care he wants to go to toilet etc. but doesnt wee. at home he asks for his potty and does his wee. he still is in normal nappies.
will look at cloth for sure.

thanks for the names kitt3n, will check them out!

i came across bright bots.. are htey any good?
I'm sure there are heaps of cloths there but others may not be so good.

[Arimeh]

I wouldn't necessarily say that because they wear cloth they train earlier/quicker/faster.

DS trained about 6 weeks ago - he had been in full time cloth since he was 14 months old.

DD1 has been in full time cloth since about 3 weeks old, and is going and sitting on the potty and saying weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.... although she really isn't doing a wee at that time.. She's 20 months.

I'm a firm believer of its the child that sets it - not what they wear.

[~Kim~]

:yeahthat:
I didn't actually buy any specific training pants. DD just went straight into undies. Yes she had been in cloth like forever, and her TTing only took 2 days and I think that was just her rather than the nappies she had been wearing.

[Sequoia]

Prama, I've heard that if you put regular undies on underneath a nappy, then the child will feel wet but you won't have the mess, to get them started, KWIM?

[Peg]

I also didnt use anything at all... a bare bottom seemed to do the trick.

i think it helps if they feel the wetness running down their leg

[Visitor7]

Just undies here. I've recently started tt DD2 (well actually I started today) and by the end of the day she was beginning to realise when she was actually doing a wee. We use cloth full time and it takes a few wees for it to actually soak the nappy and for her to realise it's soaked.

[StrawberryMumma]

I feel that cloth has contributed to my kids 'wanting' to use the potty...Now whether it is actually due to using cloth who knows! but both my kids were trying to pull off their cloth nappies when they felt wet and doing occassional wees on the potty at around 14 months (Plus I notice a big dfference with my DS on days when he has a sposie on, he never asks for the potty).
We haven't bothered with training pants either..Just bare bums and floor boards in our house when I want to push toilet training.

GL!

[jackrose]

I think I was in a similar situation to you prama, wanting to use cloth to help the understanding of body functions and assist in TT. Like you, I had another on the way when I made this decision as it did help to know that I would use the nappies I bought for a 2yo again!

I went ahead with it, we have a store in Melb (where I am) where you can go in and have a chat to ask all those questions and work through all the confusion about cloth and it was very helpful. Once I was armed with the info, I felt better about trawling through the online shops. I decided to but two different MCN and start with those to see how they went, then went back to get a few different brands again later to build up the numbers.

I have found it has really helped with the TT so far, but we are still not there. DD now knows when she wets and asks to have her nappy changed right away. If I put her in sposies, she is back to wearing the nappy for most of the day At least with the cloth we can talk about it and she gets it a bit more. I am with Arimeh in that I really believe the child sets when they are ready and DD is still not so I am not pushing it, just talking about it.

She loves the cloth ones and certainly has her favourites! I am a fan of the AIO/AI2's and ittibitti are my fav, they are pretty trim and low cut so go under clothes well.

Apart from the benefit of DD realising what it feels like to be wet, the other benefit is that I have been able to try cloth out so that I am ready and confident to use them now with my next baby. It has been a great practice run.

So, maybe check out whether there is a shop front where you are, or someone who can do a demo for you. Otherwise, some sites offer a nappy rent system where you can hire a mix stash to try before you buy. That might be a good start??

[Hansie]

I was/am currently in the same situation. My DS is 2yrs and we found out that day-care liked them to be TT'd to go into the next room. Some of his friends had already moved but DS didn't seem ready always been in sposies, but at the same time miserable because his mates had gone. I found I wasn't ready (not saying that you aren't), I wasn't ready for the accidents (house fully carpeted) and being pregnant with number #2 and working part time. I planned to do it later in the year when we had moved into our new house (tiled floor) and I was home with #2.
Then I realised how miserable he was and had been buying a few cloth nappies for #2 and tried them with DS. I realised it wasn't so hard the poo's and wee's and I could deal with it. So I took the huge leap and sent him to day-care with normal undies. Yes more washing but a firm believer that he had to have the accidents to realise that he needed to go, to feel the wetness and put two and two together. My woohoo moment was when we went to friends and DS wasn't very vocal about needing to go we had to watch for his signs. Both occasions he needed to go he sai "Mommy potty" and sat on the toilet and went. It has taken him 4 weeks and about 2 weeks ago he woke up and was so much happier and we have 90% dry weeks. He does have some accidents and he gets so so upset with himself little poppet. At night he wears Aldi's pull ups and we call them "special pants" no wee's and poo's. We tried the cloth training pants but he didn't like them as much.

Sorry way longer than I meant, but I would say straight into normal undies ..make a big deal of it "you're in your big boy undies let Mommy/Daddy know when you need potty/toilet" We also do the big high fives after and hugs and "big wee's talk" lol

GL

[Nai]

Another straight into undies here. I had used cloth full time but she let me know that she was ready so she just went straight from nappies to undies.

[~clover~]

I'm not sure if there is much difference between cloth & sposies either, but I do know that DS will rarely wee in cloth anymore. He'd rather take them off & wee on the floor Even over night he doesn't wee in a nappy very often. Where as in sposies, while he doesn't wee over night much, he does more & will leave in on in the morning til he does a wee.

But I'm just using terry flats with no liner. So as soon as he wee's he feels it. But I think he needs to get it off before the wee coz he gets a.... 'big doodle'... & the cloth nappy presses on it where the snappy is & makes it uncomfortable... iykwim

So I really don't know which is better, but I have to say, with little boys, when there is nothing on you can see when they need a wee & you can let them know. If I tell him, while he won't attempt to wee in the potty, he will run outside & pretend to try to wee on the dog & then at least its outside, lol!

[Cassius2]

I'm not sure if there is much difference between cloth & sposies either, but I do know that DS will rarely wee in cloth anymore. He'd rather take them off & wee on the floor

this what our DD does glad to see we are not the only ones

i find that kids will TT only when they are ready to have a crack at it, and only then can the subtlety of difference between cloth or sposies be seen ITMS. for example i found that DD only started wanting the cloth off for a wee after she had done a few wees on the toilet and really started to 'get' the concept. before that she was happy to wee or poo regardless of cloth or sposie.

generally we do the knickers or the nudie rudie in our house DD likes the idea of 'big girl' undies and the ease of no knickers is advantageous for her as she likes to get on the toilet on her own and she finds having knickers to be time consuming lol.

[prama]

thanks so much for your replies, ladies.

i had a chat w day care and they said we could use the terry cloth training pants. it looks like soakies but made of terry cloth w a thin foam lining. it makes them feel wet but doesnt seep through. i got them at kmart for 2.50 each. the other kids use them and they said it works well. on the weekends we are going to put him undo undies straight.

what did you do went you went out and about. did you put nappies on or use undies?

thanks so much