Training Pants/Urinal

I am thinking ahead to potty training--my boys are 20 months old now. Does anyone have any good/bad experiences with

a) a training urinal (rather than two potties, or two stools up to a real toilet)

b) cloth training pants (instead of PULL-UPS) Please give me the good/bad/ugly--I gave up trying traditional Gerber rubber pants plus traditional Gerber cloth training pants or panties. They LEAKED just as bad as not having the rubber pants on, and were one more thing I had to take off and clean

I would LOVE this round of potty-training to go better/faster/cheaper than training my daughter!

 

I don't know about a training urinal--didn't know they had those. But I think it depends on what your kid prefers. My potty trained twin would not pee sitting down, and finally when we had him stand up and pee on the regular potty he was fine. I've had some trouble getting to sit to poop, but we've almost conquered that problem. He won't use the kiddie potty at all, and he poops and pees on the regular toilet without a potty seat. He uses a stool and stands on it. I tried other things, but this is what he likes, so I'm down with it.

I don't know what to say about the cloth training pants. I've used them, and I like them. Obviously they don't absorb everything, but they absorb enough to keep pee off the carpet, so I don't mind that. I've also used pull-ups when he is out and about. A mom on here gave me some good advice, she said pull ups are won't necessarily impede their potty training, as long as the kid doesn't seem them as a diaper. I call them training pants when I talk with my son, so he thinks the pull ups and the cloth are both training pants. Of course, there are other reasons to avoid pull ups (e.g. environmental concerns), but if you are worried they may slow the potty training process; it may or may not be the case.

 

a) I started my boys out sitting and had two training toilets as well as rings for the big potties. I wanted them to sit because they don't always know when they need to poop at first and sitting helps them realize they need to go rather than peeing and rushing off only to poop in their pants a few minutes later. They eventually discovered they could pee standing and once they figured it out, well, they wouldn't sit anymore. It was fine because they were long past learning the body's signals.

b) My boys went from diapers to naked trained with diapers when dressed to underwear. I decided they were ready for underwear when they removed their dry diaper to pee. There was a little extra laundry for a few days.

ETA: we cloth diapered so they were able to feel it... and I do think that makes a difference

 

I think the toilet works just fine to "potty train". I however did use a small potty the first few days because they often wanted to go at the same time. I also left it in their room for naptime/bedtime trips, because they had a gate at their door. The twins are still too small to stand up and go by themselves, but I'm sure as soon as they are big enough they will switch.

I gave up pull ups (which in my opinion prolong the process) for cloth All-In-One diapers. I bought Swaddlebees. I still use them at night with Jesse, who can still have an accident on occasion. I think an AIO made it so much easier to keep the bedding clean. I found swaddlebees to be trim enough for under their pj's. We didn't use anything at first (naked trained), but when we went out I used the cloth. Then we made the switch, fairly quickly, to underware during the day. Joshua was ready at night quickly too.

For what it's worth, Jesse has an allergic reaction to commercial diapers/pull ups. We didn't figure this out until after switching. Now when we travel and use them he ends up with a nasty bleeding rash after about 3 days. They must be putting new chemicals in the diapers. My older children never had those problems. It's a bit disturbing to think of the chemicals that they took out of tampons due to toxic shock being used in diapers still (so I have heard).

 

I didn't know they had training urinals! I potty trained both of my boys sitting down on the big toilet. I didn't have them start standing to pee until they were tall enough to do it without having to use a stool or anything. Much less mess that way!

 

I think using the potty works out fine. It just depends on which potty you use. We have 3 different options. (1) Safety 1st Comfy potty ~ It worked out fine with DD, but with DS I hate it! It is disgustingly messy. It has too many parts and he ends up getting pee between the cushy seat and the bowl. Plus the "guard" is not tall enough so if you don't literally hold his penis down the whole time he is peeing, it sprays everywhere. (2) We also have a soft potty seat. It works out fine for poop, but once again the "guard" is not tall enough for peeing. Some suggested turning him around backwards, but his legs aren't long enough to straddle the toilet. :unknw: (3)We have the Fisher Price Froggy Potty. This one works out the best (IMO) for boys. The front is tall...no spraying and with only 2 parts to the potty...no yucky messes to clean in between.