When did you start sending your kids in underwear?

I don't think my kids are ready We still have one accident a day with DD, and a few with DS... and they're both so shy I'm not sure they'll dare asking to go to the bathroom. For now the couple times we've been out in the last 12 days, we put them in diapers... switch back to underwear at home. My own laziness but I don't feel like cleaning the car seat if they have an accident. They seem to be happy to use the potty to get stickers, I'm just really not sure they 'get' the whole thing yet... Kinda disappointed because I was expecting more after 12 days in underwear. DD is doing much better than DS though, and will take her diaper off to pee in the morning. He'd still stay in diapers all day if we let him...

What would you do? They only have school 3 mornings a week, for 5 more weeks.

 

Go for it. I packed one of mine off to preschool having no idea how he would do since he wasn't completely there yet. His twin pretty much self trained and hasn't looked back. The one I was worried about had two accidents the first day, one the next day and has been fine since. A lot of kids do better at preschool then at home. Just send lots of extra clothes and let the teacher know where they are with PT and that they will need reminders for the first week or two.

As for the carseat make them go before you get in the car and remind them not to pee in the seat. Make the first drive short and have them pee before returning home.

 

It was about a week after Rylee got really good in her undies before we let her wear them out of the house. I started with the short trip to pick up Kaelyn at school. Then we tried going grocery shopping. Then baseball and out to eat. Now, I don't even think twice about it, she still wears a pullup at night (until I get the waterproof mattress cover on her bed), but undies all day every day. The only time she has an accident is if we are playing outside and she forgets to pee. I just make sure she goes before we go outside.

Liam, however, isn't ready, and is content in his pullup during the day. He'll go on the potty when I ask, or when Rylee goes, but he has no interest in stopping what he's doing to go potty. I'm waiting with him for awhile, I'm going to try him in undies again in a couple of weeks. I really hope he's trained by this summer!

 

I would put them in underwear personally. They may do better then you think

 

We were at the point you were at, and we ran out of diapers one day and said, "ok, this is it!" Undies here we go... and no turning back! Mine tended to have more accidents when I was inconsistent...a diaper to go here or there...it was like they thought going on the potty wasn't a permanent thing. But once we did the undies full time, they did great...maybe one accident each, if that, and they really seemed to grasp the idea..."oh, this is what I do now all the time."

The only time I put diapers on is right at bedtime and they usually wake up dry and take them off to go potty. We will probably drop that soon too. Good luck! Sometimes they just need that little nudge.

Shannon

 

How long is their school day? If it's only a couple hours, you can just make sure you don't give them much to drink in the morning and have them go on the potty right before you leave. What point during the day do they normally have accidents? If the mornings are ok, they aren't gone long and they go right before you leave, I'd probably put them in underwear.

But it also depends on how your school is about changing them. The preschool my kids go to aren't allowed to clean them up, change them, or really help them in the bathroom. If they had an accident, I'd be called to come get them. If this was the case for you, I'd probably put them in a pull up for a couple weeks and see how they do. If they keep them dry then I'd switch to underwear.

 

My twins were potty trained 2 weeks before preschool started and never had an accident. My son was trained over this past Spring break and I was not about to put him in diapers again. Their schedule is pretty full of bathroom breaks. He gets on the bus at 8:30. He is offered a chance to go to the bathroom at 9:15 after he's been there for 15 minutes. Then at 10:30 he is brought into the bathroom again until dismissal. Talk with the teachers and let them in on this. They can watch your children extra and give them extra chances to go if needed. I'd send them in undies. (p.s. I use gerber training pants (not pull ups) for training.)

 

Go for it. They will surprise you. Just make sure that you explain to them that they have to go to the potty and not in their underwear. They'll probably have accidents, but it's not the end of the world. Royce had accidents almost daily for a week at daycare. And even a year later, he still has occasional accidents.

 

p.s. Send a change of clothes along with them.

 

I'll see how tomorrow goes... then I'll think about it... lol. They only have school for 6 weeks so it's not a big deal either way... they'll have all Summer to get used to it (plus we're going on a trip in 2 months and I think diapers will save our sanity during the 8h plane trips).

 

I haven't piped in here much on this, but I think like the others have said, just send them, make them pee before you leave the house and send an extra change of clothing. We used pull-ups to start with when going out of the house, but didn't call them diapers and told the girls they were "special going out undies" and they still needed to let me know when they needed to pee. As far as the trip goes though, I have to say 2 months is a long time for a kiddo. And imho, if they're doing even remotely well with potty-training, I wouldn't put them back in diapers due to convenience for traveling. I think that will completely extend the process by confusing the issue... are they supposed to use the bathroom or not? Like I said, jmho.

Does potty training suck? Yup, 2 at once suck even more... yup again. Do you go through a point where you're going to pull your hair out because they have this ridiculous fascination with every public restroom you remotely walk by (including port-a-potties ), yup... but then it's done and you'll reach a point (like I realized we're at today, whoo hoo!) and you can bring your kiddo into the public restroom and she calmly tells you to stay out because she wants privacy and you trust her to go to the bathroom, wipe and then come out and wash her hands, easy peasy!

 

We've been using underwear (other than naps and nighttime) ever since we did the 3 Day Potty Training method about 6 weeks ago. Just a couple of exceptions (we used pull-ups when we were doing family pics; didn't want to risk an accident then, and for an 80-mile trip, and again on Easter Sunday to avoid risking messing up their dressy outfits). It's gone pretty well. Their first day at preschool (just a couple days after we PTed) Will had two accidents, and he had one accident at a kids' bouncy place the day after that, and I think Alex has had maybe one accident since then. They're more likely to have accidents at home than out and about for some reason. I did take them to the potty when we first got to preschool and again when I pick them up, though at this point they've finally gotten more comfortable going there for the teachers so I don't feel like I have to do that anymore.
Good luck!

 

I would send them in the underwear. Have them go potty right before leaving for school and conference with the teachers. My kids go to school 2 days a week for 3 hours and there is a potty break mid day for kids who wish to go. My son still does not like to use restrooms outside of a home environment, so he always waits until he gets home. Both of my kids are shy and DD just worked up the nerve to ask her teachers to go (prior to that, she just waited to go home). At our school, we always have to have a change of clothing on hand. Good luck!

 

Ok I'll do that then. Just really worried they'll pee in the car...

 

Waterproof pad on their seat, just in case I agree you'll probably find they do better out and about, partly because you are more aware of when they last pottied, and you'll be more inclined to hit every.single.bathroom between here and timbuktu! Liam rarely has an accident when we go out, because we pee everywhere, but at home, he's peed twice in his undies today

I do think the back and forth is confusing to them, especially if they are starting to grasp it, then you put them back in diapers and expect them to pee in them again. I'm on attempt #2 with undies for Liam, it's only day 2 so we shall see how it goes. The only time I use pullups is at night still, he's peeing a ton overnight still and obviously not ready to night train, but during the day, it's all undies. If, in a week, he's still consistently peeing in them, I'll probably step back to pullups again and wait a few more weeks to try again.

 

Well after 12 days now of underwear 95% of the time during the day DS pretty much peed in his underwear all day... so I guess I'll 'confuse' them 8 hours a week by putting them in diapers at school (or maybe pull ups, but really, it's the same thing anyway). They're 4 so I think they can make the distinction between outside and inside... and once they stop having accidents I'll dare putting them in underwear... we're just not there yet clearly (DD is doing much better but she pooped in her underwear twice today). I guess I'm just disappointed, everyone was telling me that they would get it after 3 days, let alone a week, especially at this age... nope, still accidents all the time after 12 days in underwear.

 

Get some of the Kiddopotamus Piddle Pads or similar. We have those, though so far neither boy has had any accidents in the car. But I'm glad we have them just in case!

 

:grouphug: PT'ing has been the most challenging part of parenting so far for me. It's such a balancing act between pushing them, but not overpushing them. I know how you feel, and after 2 wks of Liam peeing in his undies I took the step back to pullups for him. But I do still take him to the potty often even with his pullups on, so all it's catching is the "dribbles" that he seems to do off and on all day long. You gotta do what you gotta do.

I thought I understood you to say that they were doing pretty good, only having a couple accidents a day. And in that case, then yes I would still send them in their undies to school. Accidents all the time, however, is a different story, and it does sound like they aren't getting it yet.

 

Bummer. That really stinks. (no pun intended.) Sometime you gotta do what will be easier for you. It's ok.
They will get there soon, I bet. You'll have the whole summer to work it out if needed. Try not to stress too much although I know it's hard. Hang in there!
Shannon

 

Yeah they seemed to be doing good, but it's like DS stopped trying. DD, I don't know, she was doing well, then today had 3 accidents. We'll see what she wants to wear for school tomorrow...

 

Don't be too hard on yourself. I was going to comment before that after 12 days (even though it feels like a long time) it sounds like they have come so far. It's normal to have some set backs and bad days. Going back to school after a long break may have just been a little too stressful and confusing for them.

When my daughter had some bad set backs and I felt like I couldn't trust to take her out with her underwear, and it just stressed me out and made me angry when she had an accident, I put a pull up on over her underwear. It seems like the same thing, but maybe to them they'll realize it is still their underwear and they're not supposed to get them wet. If they do, at least the clean up is easier and less stress on you. And at least with a pull up vs a diaper, they can pull them up and down themselves, so they can choose to still go to the bathroom on their own at school. Just a thought. Potty training sucks. My daughter still has accidents sometimes - a couple this week, actually, and she's been trained for a year.