Potty Training Pt. 2 – Training Aids
If you read my blog post last month you know that my husband and I are in the process of potty training our two year old son. We are using the basic ideas presented in the book Oh Crap modified to fit our lifestyle and one month in I feel like I can confidently say that we have made some progress. I wish I could say that my son is 100% potty trained after one month but it’s still a work in progress. That said though I can proudly say that my son pretty much has peeing in the potty down and is able to tell my husband and I when he needs to go! The purpose of this month’s blog post is to share with you a few of the potty training aides that we purchased and to tell you how each is working out for us. I hope that reading this helps you on your potty training journey. There are so many products out there that it can be really overwhelming to pick out what might work best for your child.
- Contours Bravo Potty
Photo Courtesy of Amazon.com
Obviously, the most important thing when potty training is a potty! Before we embarked on the potty training journey I researched pottys like a crazy person. After reading tons of reviews I eventually settled on the Contours Bravo potty. I saw this potty in person at the New York Baby show last year and it was also reviewed by The Baby Guy. This potty has been working really well for us – so much so that my son doesn’t want to use any other one! What makes this potty great? Well, one of the features that I love the most is that it can be a stand alone potty OR it can sit on your adult toilet. We love the versatility that this offers and it allows us to use it on our regular toilet at home but also to travel with it or use it outside sitting on its base. Also notable is that fact that the base turns into a step stool when you are not using it as a base. The other feature that I LOVE is the pee guard. Some pottys do not have a guard at all and some are shallow or hard plastic. This potty has a silicone pee guard that is flexible and covers a decent amount. If you have a boy, you were probably sprayed a number of times when your son was a newborn and you were still perfecting your diaper change technique. Unfortunately, potty training is similar and boys have a tendency to spray EVERYWHERE! Even with the pee guard we have had a few incidents but it definitely helps. The pee guard is removable if you don’t need it or for later in potty training. I also like the aesthetic design and look of this potty. It’s not super ugly and looks somewhat classy with my décor (at least as far as pottys go – haha). The only thing that I don’t love about this potty is that there is a hole in the base under the pee bucket that can be problematic if you are using it as a stand alone potty. If pee spills over (not because the bucket is too small – it holds a lot- but because my son has terrible aim) and gets into this hole, the pee goes into the base of the potty which is difficult to clean out. That said though, we solved the problem by placing a thin baby washcloth under the pee bucket to soak up any accidental spills. I would still highly recommend this product.
- Best Bottoms Cloth Training Pant
Photo Courtesy of Amazon.com
I want to state up front that I have never cloth diapered. My mother cloth diapered my sister and I but mostly because back then disposables were less of a thing. I mean after all, my mom even had a diaper service that came and collected the dirty diapers and dropped off clean ones in their place. Where I live, that isn’t even an offered service anymore. I’d like to think I am somewhat crunchy but I drew the line at trying to wash cloth diapers every day. That said though, I considered cloth training pants because I thought that it would help my son differentiate between his “underwear” and his diapers. I bought a Best Bottom cloth training pant after a friend recommended them. They look similar to a disposable pull up but they feature a removable insert that snaps into the bottom for extra absorbency. I thought these would be awesome but to be honest I haven’t used the one I bought and I am thinking of sending it back. It isn’t very tight fitting which to me means higher chance of accidental leaks and it seems like it will be nearly impossible to know when the inserts have been wet until it has leaked and it’s too late to swap it out. For what it’s worth, I also borrowed some regular cloth diapers from a friend to use to see if they made a difference and I was actually pleasantly surprised with how easy they are to care for, but they are definitely more difficult to put on and off quickly when trying to get my toddler on and off of the potty. I wish the best bottoms training underwear was more like the fitted cloth diapers but with the ability to be pulled up and down easier.
- Fruit of the Loom Padded Training Underwear
Photo Courtesy of Amazon.com
This underwear is great! It’s practical, fits well, and comes with a very affordable price tag. At only $14.99 for 6 pairs (on Amazon), I have more than enough pairs to get me from one laundry load to the next and I didn’t need to spend a small fortune. My son likes the colors and they fit his skinny frame well. Having a smaller waist I was worried about finding underwear that would fit well. These underpants are just like regular underwear but are made of a thicker fabric and have an extra thick padded crotch section to soak up more pee than regular underpants in the event of an inevitable accident.
- Standard Toddler underwear
Image Courtesy of Sears.com
In addition to the padded underwear, we also purchased some regular standard toddler underwear from Target. We let my son pick out the design he wanted (of course he chose Mickey) and told him that his goal as a “big boy” would be to wear them all day every day without getting Mickey wet or dirty. These undies fit well, are easy to wash, and have held up surprisingly well after multiple washings. So far, I would be likely to buy them again.
- Huggies Pull Ups
Photo Courtesy of Amazon.com
I was very hesitant to use pull ups at all in the beginning of this journey. I had read that some kids can’t differentiate well between a pull up and a diaper because they are so similar and can become confused. However, I knew that I would need them at least for car rides or times when we needed to have a little extra protection. Luckily my son loves his pull ups (because they have Mickey on them) and wants to keep them dry. We have tried two different kinds now. I originally wanted to go with Pampers brand since that was the diaper brand that we had the best luck with but for some reason I couldn’t find my son’s size (2T) in any of our nearby stores in the boy pattern. To be fair my local grocery store didn’t carry the size in the Huggies brand either but I found them at Target. The grocery store and Target carried the size in Pampers for girls but not boys which, I have to say made me really mad and frustrated. It seemed like reverse sexism. When I asked customer service, I was told that boys potty train later so they only carrier the larger sizes. That seemed really unfair and you can bet I complained!! I am happy to report that our local grocery store now carries them! #momwin. In any case, I ended up trying Huggies pull ups because it was all that I could find at the time in a size that would fit my son. He ended up being thrilled because he LOVES Mickey and Cars which are featured on the Huggies brand pull ups and it really motivated him to keep the pull ups dry. I also ended up trying the Huggies Cool and Learn version to see if they made a difference for us. The “cool and learn” version supposedly turns cold when it gets wet which obviously would be undesirable for a toddler. I’m not sure if it’s just where we are at in potty training or the cooling feature but none the less, we have had almost no pee accidents since we started using them!
- Gilmars Travel Potty Seat
Photo Courtesy of Amazon.com
A few of my friends recommended the Gilmars folding potty seat for travel or potty use outside of the house. I love the idea of it. It’s basically a flat smaller toilet seat that sits on top of a regular one to make it smaller so that little bottoms don’t fall in. I wish it had a pee guard of some sort but it’s easy to bring with us wherever we go. It folds up into a small rectangle and comes in its own washable storage pouch. It’s small enough that I can actually throw it into my purse and I have it wherever we go. Unfortunately, my son has yet to use it. So far he is terrified of public toilets and the way that they flush but it’s still a work in progress. At least I always have a seat on me if he decides he wants to try. I also purchased a Cool Clip Thermal Pouch from 31 Bags and Gifts. It’s waterproof and the perfect size to fit a few pull ups and my travel wipes container. All I need to do to be ready to go out is to throw my 31 pouch and the potty seat into my purse and I’m ready to go. No more bulky cumbersome diaper bag for this mama! (At least not until we decide to have another baby – haha). It’s nice to be able to have a little bit of my own “style” back and to be able to carry a purse. I will admit though that I had to upgrade my purse size just slightly. For reference, I’m currently using the City Chic bag put out by 31 Bags and Gifts and it holds way more than just my son’s potty essentials without being overly large and I get compliments on it all the time. I’m calling it my reward for surviving potty training!
- Alvababy Wet Bags
Photo Courtesy of Amazon.com
This is the last product that I bought before starting potty training. I thought they would be good to have since I was planning to try the cloth pull ups but also because I wanted to have somewhere to put wet/soiled clothes if my son had a major accident while we were out. At $9.99 for two (on Amazon) I figured I couldn’t go wrong and it seemed like a much better idea than having to constantly make sure that I had a plastic bag on hand. Lord knows that I am not about to put soiled clothes directly into my purse! Gross! But, this bag folds up nicely and I can keep it in my car or purse in case of emergency. So far I haven’t needed to use it yet for soiled clothes but I did use it for a wet swimsuit and it worked well… only time will tell how the quality stands up but I am optimistic that we won’t need it for too much longer (or I could just be wishful thinking). Either way I can post an update at a later date.
Overall, I would say that I am happy with how most of these potty training aides have performed. If you have additional questions for me I would love to help so please ask in the comments! Have another product that you love or has worked well for you? I’d love to hear about it!