By Katie

Potty training: a phrase that inspires hope in parents of babies in diapers, and shudders of horror in seasoned veterans who have lived through it.

I am absolutely not an expert on potty training techniques, but I proudly count myself among one of the survivors. My daughter was not easy to train. She is extremely stubborn (wonder where she gets that from?) and had to make up her own mind about when she was ready. No matter how many articles/books/blogs we read on the topic, or how many gummy worms we offered with guilt, she only started using the toilet when she was darn good and ready.

I can, however, show you how cloth diapers and training pants can make the learning process a lot easier and cheaper whether you have cloth diapered or not.

Daytime training

Training pants, whether disposable or cloth, have a simple function. They are easy for potty learners to take on and off when nature calls while protecting the floor from a good soaking if accidents do occur. They also allow little bums to feel wet if an accident does happen, which helps them learn.

If potty training is on your horizon, take a cruise down the diaper aisle in the grocery store and take a look at prices on disposable training pants. Pretty costly, eh? Especially if your child ends up wearing them for an extended amount of time. While the investment in cloth may seem like a high up front cost, it will actually end up being more economical, even if your kid learns like a super star!

Cloth training pants fulfill the exact same functions, with several added bonuses.

1)   They can be used for more than one child
2)   You can sell them afterwards (and since they haven’t been used long, they keep their value well)
3)   Patterns and styles make kids actually want to wear them!
4)   More comfortable than disposables (imagine wearing crunchy underpants)
5)   All of the environmental benefits of cloth diapers (less garbage, less resources used)

Cloth trainers are really easy to use. To wash, just flip them inside out and wash them with your other laundry (as long as you don’t use fabric softeners ). In case of a poo accident, flip the majority of the solids into the toilet and give it a rinse before putting in the laundry.

And how many do you need? Recommendations vary widely from between 3-15 pairs, but I would recommend starting with 3-5 and seeing how it goes. You may have to buy more if your little one is having more frequent accidents, but you might be pleasantly surprised. Hopefully your kiddo will progressively have fewer and fewer accidents as potty training continues as well.

Night Time Potty Training

Learning to stay dry during the night can be a challenge for kids, even those who breeze through day time training. Many kids still have occasional bed wetting incidents well after they have been using the toilet on their own. Disposable diapers marketed for night time use for older kids are (again) quite expensive, and the thought of using them nightly to prevent accidents can be daunting to your wallet.

Again, cloth can save the day (or night)! If you are just using diapers at night, having a couple of cloth diapers with enough absorbency for a heavy wetter makes perfect sense. They will quickly pay for themselves, both financially and in preventing the lovely task of changing pj’s and sheets in the middle of the night. Some training pants allow you to add extra absorbency in case of larger accidents overnight, but if your kiddo is often waking up wet, I would return to diapers for nighttime, as most trainers (cloth and disposables) aren’t designed to hold a full toddler pee.

Some kids will need to wear diapers overnight even after they are successfully using the toilet during the day. This can get tricky when kids have grown out of the largest diaper sizes. Cloth to the rescue! There are cloth diapers that are specifically designed for older kids. Applecheeks Size 3 covers are sized to fit children from 30-65+ pounds. They are an awesome overnight solution, and can be worn until your wee one consistently wakes up dry, at which point you can all do a gigantic happy dance all together!

Potty training can definitely strain your patience, but it doesn’t need to strain your wallet. Even if you haven’t cloth diapered yet, using cloth for potty training still makes financial and environmental sense. Good luck – you will survive!

Bumbini Cloth Diaper Company has tons of cloth diaper options, including reusable training pants. We also specialize in helping parents with cloth, no matter what stage they are beginning at. fa6b418ab8e52acda7e33366bf8064bc06213622b8b0714125