Best Training Underpants for Kids
JCPenney's Wee Essentials Padded Training Pants
Whether it is referred to as potty training, potty learning, or toilet training, the process of getting a toddler to use the potty can be challenging. Disposable pull ups may seem like a convenient answer, but using cloth training pants may better encourage the potty learning process.
The Problem with Pull Ups
The very problem with disposable pull up training pants reflects how they are marketed. Manufacturers tout their absorbency and "easy open sides - just in case." Wonderfully convenient, but that very convenience disconnects toddlers from understanding how their body functions and lowers parents' attentiveness to their child's needs. Pull ups may serve to perpetuate accidents and stunt the potty learning process rather than to teach children how to use the toilet.
The Benefits of Cloth Underpants
In order to expedite the learning process, parents and children may be better served to skip disposable pull ups and turn to cloth underpants. As children connect the immediacy of wetness and the prompt consequences of wetting, they learn how their body works. This helps them learn how to sense a full bladder and communicate their needs to adults.
At the same time, parents become better trained at staying in tune with their child. Parents pay the consequences of not prompting their child to use the toilet. The result can be a parent who watches her child more closely in order to avoid the work of accident clean up.
How JCPenney Padded Training Pants Support Potty Training
The Wee Essentials training pants are well padded. Front and back panels have 4 layers of fabric. The outer panels are made from 100% combed cotton and the inner soaker is 100% polyester. The side panels only have one layer of combed cotton, helping to cut down on excess bulk.
For added comfort, the waist and leg elastic is encased in the combed cotton. This prevents chaffing and provides a soft, comfortable fit. Every part that touches the child's skin is soft cotton.
The trim fit and soaker absorbency contain accidents better than other children's underwear. Wee Essential Trainers do not deprive children and parents of toilet training cues. Children have no doubt that they are wet or soiled, and parents must be immediately responsive when accidents do occur. The result is a faster learning process for both parent and child.
Colors and Sizes
Wee Essentials Padded Training Pants are sold in packs of two. Parents can purchase solid white packs or gender specific packs. Generally, gender specific packs come with one solid and one print pair of underpants.
Three sizes of the training pants are available.
- 2T: 34 - 35 1/2' tall and 26 1/2 - 28 lbs.
- 3T: 36 - 38 1/2" tall and 28 1/2 -32 lbs.
- 4T: 39 - 41 1/4" tall and 32 1/2 - 36 lbs.
Drawbacks
The strange part is that one of the drawbacks to these training pants is also its greatest strength. These training pants lack a waterproof barrier that would prevent leaking on to clothing. A second drawback is the limited sizing. It would be wonderful if these underwear were available in both smaller and larger sizes for early and late potty learners. Parents looking for either or both of those aspects might consider Imse Vimse Training Pants or Snap-EZ AIO Trainers available at on-line specialty stores.
For parents who have the patience to deal with potty training accidents and hope to see a quicker graduation into the world of "big kid underwear," cloth training pants could be a better option for them. JCPenney's Wee Essentials are just such a pair of trainers that better facilitate the potty training process.
Related Reading - Unique Potty Chairs: Recommendations for Motivating Toilet Training Seats
