Cloth diapers/Potty training

Cindy&Connor

New member
My ds will be 3 next month and is refusing to even try to potty train. I've never done this before so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Every once in awhile I ask him if he wants to wear underwear and he immediately dissolves into tears telling me he just wants to wear a diaper. He does sometimes use the potty without me asking so I know he can and he also tells me when he's going sometimes. I have tried not to pressure him but I think he may still feel pressured or maybe he really just doesn't want to. So onto my question. Would cloth diapers help? Would it even be worth it at this point? Honestly buying and changing diapers doesn't really bother me. I think what bothers me is I know he can do it so why won't he? Thanks for reading.
 
ADS

MagnificentMama

Senior Community Member
My DD was cloth diapered and PTed literally within a day. I NEVER EVER pushed it nor was it ever an issue with us. We went out to buy cute panties one day (the trip wasn't for it, but I was just showing her "big girl panties" because they were on sale. Aaannnd I like bargains) Ummm... they sat in a drawer for 6 months because she thought they were cute, but didn't really give a poo :eek:

Honestly, she just woke up one day and decided today was the day she was going to pee on the potty. Sposies or Cloth... didn't matter whatsoever. Of course i'd mention she could pee on the potty or try whenever she wants, but she said "okay mama" and went back to doing whatever she was doing. Like you're saying- i KNOW she could pee on the potty, she did off and on for a few months, but nothing ever consistant. I just knew deep down that when she was ready, she'll let me know. And she did!

It seems like all the parents who "train" their children have some type of bedwetting/regression/horrible time training their child because they're refusing to train out of defiance. I know it's not ALL potty trainers, but it's just my unofficial observation. Just be patient and wait until he's ready. He'll be PTed before you know it!!!! :D
 

ajweeks

New member
What about cotton training pants? My son was very hard to potty train and we finally read the "Toilet Training in a Day" book and tried out the technique. My son was resistant at first and he wasn't trained in a day, but it got him started. We also just never put another disposable diaper on him again and just dealt with the Gerber cotton training pants and a lot of laundry. He was much more motivated to train when he would get very uncomfortable having an accident in the cotton pants. For nights, when we were going out and nap, we would just put the rubber pants over the cotton to keep the leaks out. The Gerber training pants are also not that expensive and kids can keep wearing them for awhile since they are similar to regular underwear, just with a little more padding.

There are really no easy answers to potty training and all kids are different, but I definitely think ditching the disposables helped us out a lot.
 

gwenvet

New member
Cindy, Hang in there. My 3yr 9mo old has only been in underpants for maybe 4-6 weeks now! Like your son, he kept refusing (even the really cool dinosaur underpants) even though I knew he could hold it, and I really had to bit my tongue not to pressure him, but all of a sudden one day it was like a switch was flipped and he wanted to pee in the potty and wear underpants. We had started giving m&m's for every time he peed in the potty and it sort of worked but him being interested was more important. Daycare really helped, because he could see others peeing and pooping in the potty and realized that he didn't need to be scared of it. Aside from reading potty books, videos, cool underpants and bribery...I'm a big fan of waiting for him to tell you he's ready. If you push too hard they say that you will make it worse.
 

skaterbabs

Well-known member
It sounds to me like there's a power struggle here. I would suggest you stop asking him if he wants pants, and just go back to diapers for a month or three (until he comes to you and asks you for pants.)

You can also let him just go bottomless at home. That worked for us.
 

Cindy&Connor

New member
Okay I'll back off. I know you're all right. The men in my family make comments about him not being potty trained and while I try not to let it get to me I guess subconsiously it did. I think we'll all be alot happier if we don't have to think about it for awhile. Thanks again
 

scatterbunny

New member
It seems like men are always the ones pushing for early PT'ing. :rolleyes:

Hayley is still not dry through the night. So we switched from Huggies GoodNites to Fuzzi Bunz and it's so much nicer. No leaking, no smell, no garbage.
 

Cindy&Connor

New member
It seems like men are always the ones pushing for early PT'ing. :rolleyes:

Hayley is still not dry through the night. So we switched from Huggies GoodNites to Fuzzi Bunz and it's so much nicer. No leaking, no smell, no garbage.
It's so funny because the men in my family don't change the diapers anyway.

Oh and I didn't notice the smell until recently but it's horrible.
 

scatterbunny

New member
I laughed when I heard CD'ers commenting on the smell of disposables before, because I kind of liked the "baby powder" smell, but now that we aren't dealing with Pull-Ups anymore, I am more sensitive to the smell of disposables!

I forgot to mention before, Hayley was daytime PT'd just before her 3rd birthday, but over 2.5 years later she still isn't dry through the night. I am not pushing her on it. She'll figure it out eventually. We tried for awhile to set alarms and wake her up and night to go, but she is such a deep sleeper that she would not wake up, and instead would act like she was having a nightmare with her eyes open. She'd get hysterical and it would take an hour or more to calm her down and get her back to sleep.

She had night terrors pretty badly as a toddler and waking her up from a sound sleep to go potty triggers a similar behavior. It's not pretty or fun at all, so I'm content to just wait until her body tells her that she's ready to wake up and go potty.
 

MommyofBoogieBear

New member
my DS is just over three too...and i have the m&M's ready...and cute tomas the train (which he just loves!) underwear...but he's not ready. I have a friend that is a mother of 12 (yes! a true cheaper by the dozen!) and she always told me that the boys trained later than girls. and her average (and trust me...she knows boys!) was around 3 1/2 or so. so we are waiting until that little "click" goes off and our DS is ready. I do know of another mother...different parenting style completely...that had her kids at the age of two run around naked for days...until they were trained! it worked! but you have to be commited to staying home...and seeing it through. i know there is also a lot of pressure...but you know YOUR child....(especially if you have friends who have girls who were PT at two!). we are guaranteed one thing! they will eventually be trained! never seen a 10 year old in diapers! hee hee! :)
 

AdventureMom

Senior Community Member
We have a neighbor whose son is 3 1/2 and they're just now trying out potty-training. I wouldn't push it. When Nolan potty-trained, it took about 2 weeks. During the day, I just took off his diaper at home and put a little potty right in the den near his toys. We have hardwood floors so I'd just clean up the "accidents". Good luck trying when he's ready, but it doesn't seem like he's ready yet... ;)
 

tchrgrrl

New member
My DS refused offers for the potty and had a couple of false starts - wearing underpants for a few weeks and the going back to diapers. He wasn't fully in underpants during the day until last month - at 4 and a couple of weeks and that was after being in cloth diapers for almost 2 years - obviously cloth didn't help him train earlier LOL. We waited until he was ready both physically and mentally. It was his choice to make - I certainly wasn't about to fight with a 3 year old about sitting on the potty.
 

arly1983

New member
I wouldn't worry about it. It will come and my Pediatrician said the best time to potty train is in the summer. He said to take him out side bottomless, something about alot of kids don't even realized what you are talking about untill they see themselves go. Jackson is two and I am not even going to think about potty training untill this summer.
 

Morganthe

New member
DD will be 3 1/2 next month, but only has been diaper free in the daytime for 3 weeks. She's doing very well, but it was her decision to "wear pretty panties" over "Baby didies". But I feel like the wierdest mom around here. 2 of her friends are much younger than her and potty training. Some of the stories their mothers tell me, just have me biting my tongue. It's such a power struggle going on between both parents & child. And I'm not having much of that since dd is older with more self reliance skills. I'm glad I never pushed it before she was truly mentally and physically ready :)

If you're interested, a really helpful book & a quick read I found about 2 weeks ago from the local library is the No-Cry Potty Training Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. There's a couple of quizzes in the book that helps answer some questions about your child's readiness level for potty training. Very low key and relaxed with a lot of good sensible perspectives.
 
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