Underwear?

You're not going to confuse her. She obviously 'gets it' and will understand perfectly that the pullup is just for sleeping in case her body doesn't wake her up to go potty. My almost 4 year old has gone thru 2 stages where he started wetting at night (growth spurts we think) and each time we put him in a pullup for a few weeks and not once has he ever questioned it or had regression from it. I say if she wants panties, go for it. If she understands it all with pullups, she'll understand it with panties even better, especailly if she gets to pick out her favorites! I think we worry a little to much about going back and forth during transition stages, but I think we are just teaching our kids that life is not black or white, one way or another....sometimes there are maybes, what-ifs, and in-betweens...and the gray areas don't have to be confusing. Good luck and congrats to your little one!
~L.

I know you younger moms like the pull ups but when I was babysitting kids and it was time to potty train one, I would have the parents purchase pretty girly underware or some boy character underware. We didn't use training pants that were thick and ugly and i don't think we had pull up then. Also, i had 4 potty chairs so I took others that were a bit on the young side and got them going potty too. We did it for a week and if they didn't train, we forgot about it for another month or two. I had one little 2 yr old boy who trained in one day. He went home early that day and Daddy wasn't going to work the rest of the week, so i told him he had gone potty for me all day. When he came back, Dad said he had gone potty ever since and he was in big boy underware!!

So, take them both to the store and get them the panties and underware they want. Then go back to the diapers at nite and nap time - they are cheaper anyway. (Unless for some reason the girl balks about it then she can still use the pullups) The boy goes back in diapers if he is using the pullups because he isn't going potty at all. When he says he wants the underware and will go potty, let him. If he pees and poops in them change them but let him know how that isn't going to be acceptable. If he isn't going to go potty, then he has to use the diapers.

With his little sister going potty and using panties and the pullups (if she cares ) he is going to get interested.

One other thing. Don't put them in diapers or pull ups any time except nap and bed. Shopping, visiting etc is just panties or underware.

Good luck. I hope your son decides he can't let his sister beat him at this game!! mb

I forgot to tell you, someone told me once that if you put them on the toilet in the middle of the night, they'll get in the habit of waking up when they need to potty. If I'm actually able to wake my son up at 3 a.m. to sit him on the toilet, I'd be shocked. But it can't hurt!

the part about going back and forth that gets misunderstood is not to go back and forth between at home and going on errands type of going back and forth. don't put a diaper/pullup on to do errands but put them in underwear at home. for naps and sleep you almost have to since most kids in general it takes longer to get trained while sleeping. sometimes the night time training doesn't come till 5 or so.
so that can take longer.
if you think she is ready and getting it i say go for it! why not. alot of kids get gung ho at different points then regress.and it's ok. like the other poster said. it teaches them it's ok and life isn't black and white. i also think it teaches them it's ok to take a few steps back,,then a few forward. don't we all do that in life anyway even as adults so why should it be any different with kids..

i hope she does spark your son to want to jump on board. i was hoping the same thing when my son(who is 4today) basically told us he wanted to wear his underpants at 3 years and 5 months and was trained over a weekend.. that my daughter who is 9 1/2 months younger than him, to give her a spark too..lol lol but no.... she turned 3 in november and just december she would willingly sit on the potty.. before that she would scream and cry.. so we waited..lol
we just keep talking positive about it with her and suggesting going or asking if she wants to wear her tinkerbell underpants etc..

good luck..

I would switch to panites, let her pick some out. Be aware of the ones with sparklies(sp) in them, they are "scratchy" as my DD says, she refuses to were them.

I kept my daughter in pull-ups for about 2 weeks (and very few accidents) and she still had a few accidents in her underwear, but I expected that. I don't think she'll get confused by using pull-ups at night/naps and underwear the rest of the time. And if you let her pick out the underwear or get her favorite character, she might even do better!

As for your son, it will come. My son wasn't potty-trained until he was 3-years, 3-months old. My daughter potty trained just after her second birthday. Girls are definitely easier than boys!

Wow! That sounds alot like my daughter she just decided she wanted to use the potty. We did continue the pull ups at night and if possiable at nap for a few months. We bought her brand new underwear and then told her when she kept her pull up dry for a whole week she could pick out another pack of new underwear. She loved it! We tried the same thing with my son. Yeah right! He didn't care one bit about potty training. It took us a long time. I think he was over 3 before he was completly trained. Kids will have accidents so make sure she knows that when she does. Some kids get discuraged when they have an accident in big kid underwear and don't want to wear it any more because of it. But it sounds like she has it down pretty good! Good luck!

Congratulations! That is soooo nice for you. I think she is doing VERY well.

Sleeping vs. day potty training are 2 totally different things. some kids may be able to go all day at age 2 and not at all at night until ag 8. It's hard when that happens. But i personally don't think you (or the child) have much control of nighttime wetting. You can control things like not giving them a sippy cup in bed, no drinks close to bed time, going potty before bed etc, but if you do those things and they still can't make it through the night, then in my opinion, they just can't make it through the night.

I do not think it's a problem to have underwear during the day and diapers at night. If you have trouble with the child wanting a diaper during the day then say, "diapers are for bed time" if child whines then say, "Oh ok, lets get ready for bed then." and pick her up and start to get out pjs etc. They get the idea pretty quick with actions more than words.

oh one other thing, I don't even do pull-ups. I just stick to real diapers for sleeping. What does the pull-up do that a diaper can't? except be more expensive.

Fell free to write me a message if you would like more ideas. As a behavioral therapist and mother of 2, I'm usually pretty full on ideas for behvaior modification.

and, my own daughter, once she went on the potty she did not have an accident again, it's been 3 months. But i still have extra clothes in the car every where I go - just in case.