Potty training pants
POTTY TRAINING PANTS - WHAT ARE THEY?
Your child already feels too big for a diaper, but you can't quite do without wetness protection yet? That's what potty training pants are for. They are a practical back-up for your child when he or she is just getting potty trained. They are also a popular accident protection for (part-time) diaper-free children.
Visually, the potty training pants are no different from a pair of pants. So your child can already feel really big during potty training. A thin absorbent layer on the inside provides the necessary safety in case they don't get to the potty or toilet fast enough. Our potty training pants are cut like pants with soft, elasticated cuffs. They don't pinch, don't slip into the crease and are easy for little hands to take off and put back on.
Not sure if your child needs potty training pants?
Here are a few examples where they can be super helpful:
- Your child can already stop for a longer period of time and also already lets you know that he/she needs to go to the loo.
- He/She doesn't want to wear a diaper at this stage. However, there are still accidents with normal pants.
- You have been using disposable diapers so far, but now you want your child to be more aware of the wetness in the process of getting potty trained.
- Your child is already perfectly capable of pulling down his or her pants on his or her own and can thus take a big step towards independence.
What is special about our potty training pants:
- Our potty training pants are perfectly adapted to such situations and therefore have these special features:
- slip-on pant shape without annoying buttons or seams
- exchangeable inserts that can be buttoned in, so that you don't always have to change the whole pants
- choice of inserts made of different materials
- made of cotton jersey or wool
- available in five sizes to fit the small diaper baby up to the toddler on the way to getting potty trained
You can find out more about getting potty trained on our knowledge pages. If you are also interested in elimination communication, we also have some great information for you.
In our shop you will find potty training pants made of two different materials and matching absorbent inserts in different variations with and without a wetness-protecting membrane:
PANTS AND INSERT SIZES
The potty training pants are available in five sizes, while the inserts can be used in several sizes. You can find out which pant size your child needs by looking at the size chart below. To be on the safe side, you can also measure the circumference of your child's stomach or hips with a tape measure.
Please note that the training will shrink a little when washed for the first time. It is best to choose a size larger when your child is almost at the next size up in terms of measurements.
There are two sizes so that the inserts fit well in the pants. This is how you find the right size for the training:
- In pants sizes XS and S, the inserts fit XS/S.
- In pants sizes M, L and XL, the inserts fit M/L/XL.
The inserts are fitted. This means that they do not pinch your child's crotch and the training fits well to the child's proportions. The waist is not exactly in the middle! The longer part of the insert goes on the back of the training, the shorter part on the front.
MATERIAL VARIATIONS FOR THE POTTY TRAINING PANTS
Our cotton potty training pants are made from a soft, stretchy cotton jersey. They are particularly easy to care for and are available in many beautiful designs, also in organic quality.
Our merino wool potty training pants are made from cuddly, scratch-free pure new wool from merino sheep (100% wool). The fine wool knit is particularly popular because of its great properties. If a drop should go astray, it absorbs it well and still feels dry. Wool is a wonderful material, and we at WindelManufaktur love natural materials! Wool is very popular with many parents because it also absorbs moisture, cares for the skin and ensures a skin-friendly climate in the elimination area at all times.
MATERIAL VARIATIONS FOR THE INSERTS
You have the choice between two materials: double-layered organic cotton terry or hemp fleece. For each material variant, you can decide whether the insert should have a waterproof membrane (PUL) on the underside as protection against moisture or not. The membrane is an additional protection, but it cannot prevent a completely saturated insert from wetting the cuffs of the potty training pants beyond its edge. It therefore does not provide a one hundred percent guarantee that clothing worn over the training will stay dry. The potty training pants must be changed after a major elimination, when the absorbent insert is not enough, and is not a substitute for a diaper!
Not sure which one is right for your child?
When “accidents” still predominate
If it still happens quite often that your child does not make it to the toilet in time, then an organic cotton terry training insert with PUL is suitable. This can absorb up to 115 ml of liquid, and the membrane gives even more protection.
When going to the toilet works well, but some drops still can’t be avoided
In this case, you may not need the membrane, and the two terrycloth layers are sufficient in themselves. It's best to combine them with a pair of wool potty training pants.
Or you can choose the hemp fleece training insert with membrane, which holds up to 85 ml.
When only the occasional spill occurs
Is your child almost potty trained, and only rarely spill into the pants? Then the hemp fleece training insert without membrane is sufficient.
If you want to go without PUL
You can also grease the wool training with lanolin to make it water-repellent. Then you can use an insert without a membrane, because the potty training pants will not get wet even if the insert is already soaked. For example, you need ourwool grease for greasing. You can find detailed information about wool care on our knowledge page.
When the inserts are not enough but a diaper is refused
It's not uncommon for your child not to want to wear a diaper, but still urinate so much that they really need one.
For this case, we have designed a special insert.
IT'S EASY TO PUT ON POTTY TRAINING PANTS AND CHANGE INSERTS
The difference to normal children's underwear is that you first have to button in the chosen absorbent insert.
Put on or take off your child's potty training pants as you would a pair of briefs. Children who are already dressing themselves can of course do this themselves.
If the insert gets wet, pull the training down to the knees only, unbutton the insert, button in a dry insert and pull the training back up.
If a major elimination exceeds the absorbent capacity of the liner and also soaks the potty training pants, don't fret about it. This can happen and is normal in the potty training process. We have lots of tips on our potty training page.
CARE INSTRUCTIONS FOR POTTY TRAINING PANTS AND INSERTS
Storing pants and inserts
- Wet inserts are best stored in a wetbag. A smaller version of our wetbags is also available for travelling.
- Merino wool potty training pants can be aired thoroughly as long as they are damp. Because wool is self-cleaning, it can be reused. However, you should wash it at least every fortnight.
- If the cotton jersey potty training pants gets wet, you should put it straight into the colour laundry or dry it and store it until the next colour wash.
Washing your potty training pants
There are slight differences between cotton and merino wool potty training pants when it comes to washing. However, for all types, do not use bleach or fabric softener and do not put them in the dryer.
Cotton jersey potty training pants can easily be washed with your coloured laundry at 30-40 °C.
Merino wool potty training pants should only be washed in lukewarm water - this applies to both hand washing and washing in the washing machine's wool programme. We recommend 30 °C. We also strongly advise the use of suitable detergents, such as Lenya wool wash lotion or wool wash soap. In any case, please follow our sewn-in care instructions.
Grease wool potty training pants for better wetness protection
You can grease the wool potty training pants in the same way as the wool diapers so that they can repel liquids even better. This is not an absolute must for the potty training pants, but it is advisable if they are often spilled on. Otherwise, frequent contact with urine will make the fibres brittle. You can find instructions on how to grease them on our knowledge pages.
Washing the inserts
Wash inserts with or without a wetness protection membrane at 60 °C, preferably with a good powder detergent that already contains oxygen bleach.
The inserts dry quickly on the line, but can also be tumble dried on the gentle programme.
THIS IS HOW MANY ITEMS YOU NEED
Potty training pants are suitable for many different circumstances. It is difficult to make a general statement.
Basically, you always get a pair of potty training pants together with two matching inserts. This is sufficient for testing.
In addition, you can choose a set of five inserts of the same type, so that you have enough to change into if you have more frequent minor accidents.
If you want to rely completely on potty training pants, we recommend buying at least three potty training pants and two to three sets of inserts. This makes a total package of three potty training pants and 16 to 21 inserts that will last you several days without having to wash.
The training inserts fit both potty training pants equally - so it is also possible to use the inserts with PUL backing in the woollen pants (for even better wetness protection - i.e. in addition to the wetness protection provided by the greased wool) and the inserts without PUL backing in the jersey potty training pants (if the child is already very confident).
TIPS AND TRICKS FOR POTTY TRAINING PANTS
Wool potty training pants for the nights
Many parents love wool as a material for cloth diapers at night. Wool diapers allow the skin to breathe well during the night. And if the inserts should be exhausted, the outer diaper still feels dry. Wool can absorb a third of its own weight in liquid without feeling damp. At the same time, it slowly releases excess moisture into the environment.
It's no different with potty training pants. If your child still has a little "accident" now and then during the night, the wool potty training pants will not make him or her feel soaking wet right away. The insert won't hold a whole elimination, but you will notice that the benefits of wool are still useful.
Potty training pants insert in outer diaper
Did you know that the insert can also be snapped into the outer diaper? It may not fit completely because of the different cuts, but if you are looking for a thin wool diaper for your diaper-free child, for example, you can simply snap the insert into the back snaps of the wool outer diaper. That way, it won't fall out when you change or pick up your baby.
The following inserts fit the following outer diapers:
- Inserts in XS/S fit the newborn size.
- M/L/XL fit size 1 and 2 (may need to be folded over once or twice at the front).
QUESTIONS ABOUT POTTY TRAINING PANTS
What makes the potty training pants from WindelManufaktur so unique?
First of all: It took us more than 1.5 years to develop our training pants. Of course something like that can be done faster. But not for us - we also wanted to make it BETTER.
Here are all the advantages of the WindelManufaktur's training pants at a glance:
- They don't add much bulk - we've done everything we can to save material and make the potty training pants really look like kids' underwear. Your child can wear their normal clothes!
- When the child no longer needs training pants, he or she can simply wear our potty training pants as knickers. They are specially designed so that nothing can pinch or rub.
- The cut is sporty. The leg cut and the waistband are optimally positioned for optimal freedom of movement.
- The inserts are fitted at the crotch so that the pants always fit perfectly and never get in the way.
- Our size system ensures an optimal fit: Based on our good experience with swim diaper sizes, we have developed the sizes and cuts completely ourselves and from the size specifications of our customers' babies!
- Our woollen potty training pants are made of high-quality merino wool - guaranteed scratch-free and cuddly soft for the delicate skin of children.
- The system with the exchangeable absorbent inserts is ingenious - you can plan the absorption capacity exactly according to the needs of your child.
- The modular system minimises the amount of laundry. This is good for the environment and saves you a lot of work.
The special feature is the inside of the potty training pants.
Regardless of the outer material, the inside works the same way. Inserts are buttoned into the buttons. Once they are wet, they can be unbuttoned and re-buttoned very quickly and require very little washing.
Later, when there are no or hardly any small accidents to worry about, you can also leave out the additional inserts. Then the training becomes a normal pair of pants. For this reason, when we designed the training, we were especially careful to make it look like a pair of pants, and we chose and placed the snaps so that they don't pinch or get in the way.
What is the difference to (cloth) diapers?
The difference between potty training pants and diapers is actually very simple and clear.
Diapers are there to catch small and large eliminations of the child and to keep them completely safe.
The classic disposable diaper also aims to keep the skin dry. The disadvantage of this is that babies lose the feeling for their elimination. In the long term, the child sees the diapers as the correct place for its elimination and later has to relearn that pee and poo are actually NOT usually eliminated on the body, but belong in the toilet.
With cloth diapers, at least the feeling of wetness is maintained. Depending on the combination of absorbent inserts, they can soak up liquid quantities of up to 500 ml. Cloth diapers are therefore designed to serve primarily as a place for the child's eliminations during the first months of life.
Potty training pants are clearly different!
They are not designed to catch all the small and big businesses. Training pants are intended for those children who have just learned or are learning to go to the potty or toilet, or who have been kept (partially) diaper-free from an early age.
Usually, during the phase of becoming potty trained, some accidents happen with diaper-free children as well as with children who are already potty trained. This is normal and can have many different causes (e.g. a developmental spurt, a new sibling or a move to a different home). Putting a diaper on a diaper-free or almost potty trained child (again) during this time would not be a logical step. Neither for the parents nor for the child. Even in the nursery/day care centre, diapers are rarely used again when the child has already learned to go to the potty/toilet. However, to prevent the entire pants from getting wet in the worst case scenario, potty training pants have been developed to catch the first drops or a minor accident. If more does happen, this is also perfectly normal, but it can mean that the absorbent capacity of the training panty liners is exceeded and surrounding textiles also become damp. Parents who use potty training pants must therefore be aware that their child will be wet after an accidental elimination in the pants and the pants should be changed as soon as possible.
As with cloth diapers, it is important here that wetness feedback is given and that the child can feel when it has eliminated.
Potty training pants are therefore also very interesting for parents who used to diaper their children with super-absorbent disposable diapers and now want to avoid them for the purpose of getting potty trained. In the beginning, it will often happen that the absorption capacity of the additional insert in the potty training pants is exceeded and a dark spot may appear on the pants. However, this should not be a reason to get angry or scold the child. Rather, it should simply be accepted and the child should be lovingly shown what happens when it pees in its pants. This "visual wetness feedback" is also a helpful aspect of getting potty trained.
Are potty training pants 100% leak-proof?
As with cloth diapers, it depends on the relationship between the amount of liquid and the absorbent capacity of the inserts.
If the absorbency capacity is exceeded because the child makes more than two eliminations into the cloth diaper or the entire full bladder is emptied in the training pants, then the answer to the above question is no. But there is a good reason for this! As already described above in the distinction from (cloth) diapers, emotional and also visual wetness feedback is important in the process of becoming potty trained. It is important that especially children diapered in disposable diapers are given the wetness feedback so that they can feel that something is coming out of their body there.
For 100% impermeability, the potty training pants would have to be lined all around with the wetness protection membrane PUL, which could quickly become uncomfortable with the reduced air circulation. That's why we have kept the PUL insert to a minimum and only sewn it under the absorbent inserts, so that if the worst comes to the worst, small amounts of liquid of up to 115 ml are stopped.
If you still want tight potty training pants all round, you should choose our version made of merino wool. If they are greased with lanolin, they keep tight and also absorb additional liquid without immediately passing it on to surrounding textiles. This also means less washing overall, because they dry in no time at all, only need to be aired and can sometimes be put on again directly after a small accident.