When potty training, many parents transition from diapers straight to pull-ups (or easy-ups, no matter the brand of disposable training pants. I’m brand neutral.) believing that this is a natural way to start potty training. Well I hate the things. Here is why, in no particular order.
1. Pull-Ups are expensive
Have you ever done the unit cost of a pull-up? Depending on the brand, you may be spending 50 or more per each piece. Ones with characters, wet feelings or magic pictures may cost even more. By the time that you are done potty training, you can spend a few hundred dollars on the things. At that rate, why not just keep the kid in regular diapers. They are cheaper.
2. Pull-Ups extend potty training
From an informal study I’ve conducted with parents (I just asked and kept track of the responses), parents who used pull-ups or another form of training pants took up to a year to fully potty train their child compared to just a few days or weeks with the non pull-up users. In fact, I know of one child who was five and still wearing the things to bed every night. He would wait to have a bowel movement until the pull-up was on, and then asked to be immediately changed. This boy was a perfectly healthy boy with normal development. I prefer an all or nothing approach that takes days or possibly weeks in stubborn cases instead of months or years. Of course, I tried to take it into account that there were many more pull-up users than not to make it fair.
3. Pull-Ups can confuse the child
Call the pull-up anything you wish, including underwear, but kids are smarter than you think. They know that disposable training pants are glorified diapers. Since the “insult” doesn’t cause a mess, no one is likely to get too upset when it needs to be changed. So is the message that it is okay to go in your pants or not?
4. Pull-Ups make it easy to give up
They give you the option of not fully committing to potty training. With the ease of the pull up, your child really never has to potty train. You can always throw on a pull-up on the way out or if you are just tired of trying to train. It is an easy way out when you want a break from the rigors of potty training a child, or don’t want to deal with possibly having to change sheets in the middle of the night (there are techniques to make this easier).
What do you think? Do you love or hate pull-ups?
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, creating a home in the Home Blog, caring for little ones in the Baby Blog and now relationships in the Marriage Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here or subscribe to the blog using the subscription box on the right.
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