There’s no official finish line for potty training.
No matter what you’ve read, there certainly isn’t a fast track to underwear! Your child sets the pace. And with patience, encouragement and your helpful coaching, toilet training will all fall into place for you and your toddler.
Fewer accidents and better control or “holding it” during the day gets easier. It’s right about this time, that you’ll approach the closest thing there is to a finish line - the move to underwear!
Here are some ideas to get your child prepared and excited about making the move to undies.
Introducing underwear!
Talk about getting to underwear from the beginning of the toilet training process. It’s a great motivator for kids who want to be a “big kid”!
Explain that underwear is what older kids wear every day
As you near the final stretch of training, go on a shopping trip together and pick out that first package of underwear. Let your child choose their favourites. Tuck them away for someday and before you know it, that day will be there.
Note the similarities
Keep reminding your child of the similarities between training pants and the underwear bigger kids wear
Show how they go on and off
Point out the difference between “front” and “back”
Note how the designs look so similar. Take your child’s supply out of the bag and put them into a dresser drawer; just like you would with underwear.
No going back!
Once you’ve got your child psyched up about the idea of training pants and how they’re so much like underwear, going back to nappies during the day is like going back to baby stuff.
All by myself!
Parents can use the pants “up and down” milestone to re-motivate children for the home stretch of training.
Let them practice their on’s and off’s on their own so they’ll be ready for the real deal.
As your child gains more and more independence, resist the temptation to do it for them. Watching your child struggle to get it right may be frustrating when you’re running late for work, but try to keep your hands in your pockets and your eyes off the clock for the sake of your eager learner.
Feeling wet or dry
When your child moves to underwear, they’ll quickly get the message when they’re wet!
Training pants with wetness liner will help your toddler get used to that idea and help feel the difference between wet and dry.
Training pants have a thin liner that briefly holds the wetness against a child’s skin to help feel the difference, but they absorb when they need to so your child can still take accidents in their stride.
Taking the plunge
There may be a few false starts with moving from Training Pants to undies.
Once you and your child are confident that they can hold on for a reasonable period of time, from when they first feel the urge to need to go to the toilet, then they’re probably ready to take the plunge into wearing underwear full-time!
Remember if they happen to fall back to old habits, Huggies has information on toilet training problems such as regression, resistance and accidents. We hope you won’t run into any of these and your little one will remain toilet trained for good!
