Friday, April 1, 2011

Potty Training Pants Tutorial

Okay, so I realize that this tutorial will only be interesting or useful for a few of my readers, but since I really love this idea and it has worked out great for us so far, I thought I would share with the few who care! If you like it, then spread the word about these things! They are money-saving and great! Here goes...

HOW TO MAKE POTTY TRAINING PANTS (from stuff you already have).
Materials:
old diaper covers/bloomers (preferably the soft cotton jersey kind) I used Olivia's size 3-6 month ones mostly--since they aren't covering a diaper they are the perfect size.
burp cloth/diaper cloths (gerber or whatever you have, I had the cheapy kind because she went through a zillion a day as an infant)

fold the diaper/burp cloths in thirds, long ways
pin the cloth into the diaper cover.
sew around the entire rectangle, and then down the center to make sure the cloth doesn't get all bunch and folded up on the inside after wash and wear.
How easy was that?? and you saved yourself some moolah! These are even better than the store bought ones. They absorb more:)

And if you ware wondering why not just use pull-ups?? well, they absorb so much that its like wearing a diaper, and so kids tend to potty train slower from what I hear. These have worked great with Olivia and we potty trained her at 18 months. (I will do a whole post on that soon, I've just been too lazy to write it!)

29 comments:

Jessica said...

I'm so interested to hear about how your potty training went. Hendrix turns 2 this week, but I'll probably put off training until sometime this summer. This is a great idea, although I don't have any old diaper covers to use for him... I might just find some underwear on sale and sew the cloths in.

Unknown said...

Great idea! My daughter is training right now. She's actually rockin' it. It was definitely on her timing! We can't use pull-ups because she gets lazy like you said. I like the cheap fix!

The Extra Ordinary Bree said...

Oh yeah pull ups are a trap! They're just fancy diapers!

Love how simple these are!

Danielle Kuhns said...

this is perfect timing. i was just about to buy some online. I Hate pull ups. thanks so much. I would love to hear how you potty trained.

Anonymous said...

I would love to hear how you potty trained Olivia. My daughter is nearly two and I don't really know where to start. I love this idea. So easy and cheap. Will have to make a few myself. Love your blog btw.

Taylor {Sew Much Love} said...

Fantastic idea! I can't wait for your potty training post! I've started but need to step it up a little! It would be so nice to not have 2 in diapers at the same time right!?!?

Anne said...

Brilliant!! I linked to your tutorial over at Craft Gossip Sewing:
http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-diy-potty-training-pants/2011/04/02/

--Anne

R Harper said...

Great idea! Too bad I don't have diaper covers for my boy. He's almost 4 and I'm getting NOWHERE with potty training. He has no interest and on top of that he is non verbal due to a motor speech disorder, so there are communication issues. So frustrating! Would love to hear your stories!

Danielle said...

I wonder how they hold up at night. That was the area where we struggled the most through potty training. I bet you could just make your own diaper cover too (for boys) and then add the diaper material in it. Thanks for the great idea!

Jaedyn said...

Thanks for the idea and the tutorial! My daughter is 3 and we're ready for potty training... she wants to wear panties but she wets them and I end up going back to diapers, feeling defeated. I would love to hear how you did it! I made three pairs of these this morning after seeing your post and hope it makes a difference. :)

Anonymous said...

this was great, I do not have that type of diaper covers. My 3 yr old is wearing under ware during day time hours, but the slightest wetness and well you know the rest. I think I will cut a old flannel blanket and sew them into the under ware just for extra. Thanks for the idea and tutorial.

April Voss said...

I did this same thing with my daughters "Big Girl " Panties. It worked great and I definitely recommend this to anyone in the potty training stage!!

Ruby said...

Cute! Yours are much easier than the ones I made. I blogged mine here: http://zaaberry.blogspot.com/2011/03/cloth-pull-ups.html

I used an underwear pattern I bought and some PUL to make them waterproof. Now if the boy would actually try to use the potty... Oh well ;)

Ashley said...

What a great idea! I just potty trained my little (3 yr old) boy and it was the HARDEST thing I have done as a mommy so far. I would rather give birth again (keep in mind I did have an epideral, ha). Pull-ups didn't help us much. He treated them just like a diaper. I have a 10 month old girl and I will put this in my back pocket for her. I definitely wont use pull-ups again. Thanks for the great tutorial!

Meghan said...

What a great idea! My 20 month old niece is just starting to potty train and I think these would be great for her (and her parents.)

Jennie Skaggs said...

Thank you so much. We were just talking about this today....as training pants are hard to find and can be expensive.

Leesy said...

This is the MOST ingenious idea, so simple, why didn't I think of this it is so doable. I am going to be making this out of my daughters favorite undies. She was basically potty trained @ 2 yr 2months, but our whole world got turned upside down with the birth of my son. I was injured during the delivery and spent a month in the hospital on life support fighting for my life and once I was released I had in home nursing to help me take care of myself and my recovering injuries, so the last thing on anyone's mind was potty training. Needless to say nearly a year and half l8r she is 3 yrs old still wearing a diaper. Will be making her training pants this weekend. TY for sharing this!!!

Pam said...

great idea especially for those with the diaper cover, however I would sew a layer of PUL (found at fabric stores like Joann's or Hancock) it will give a waterproof layer in the middle...I am making my granddaughter some with Gerber training pants and adding 2 layers flannel inside and 2 layers of flannel on outside with the Pul on the outside..making them waterproof and more absorbent.

Unknown said...

I just found this diy via a google search for "diy traning pants" I had not even thought about using my little one's bloomers! Brilliant. My LO is 16 months and also on the verge of potty training. :)

lollipoplamia said...

Thanks for this idea!

MommyBuffalo said...

Thanks for the idea. I just made two of these with old burp cloths and underwear that were too big for my daughter. It only took about 10 minutes to sew them both. Potty training starts in two days and now I'm almost ready for it!

Amber said...

I just made some today.. I'm so happy I'm not cleaning pee off the ground anymore. Greatest idea EVER in the world of potty training! Thank you, thank you :D

chey said...

For those that don't have the diaper cover, go to the dollar store they usually have a few there and not too cheaply made

Anonymous said...

Try teaching him sign language :) my daughter does great with it even though she barely says a word verbally! The sign for potty (toilet) is to make a fiat but Have you're thumb poking up/out between your pointer and middle fingers. (the letter T) then twist it back and forth :) we loved "signing time" by Two Little Hands Productions!

Unknown said...

Hang in there.my grandson was over four whwn he was potty trained and je has motor speecj disorder also. But he is now 9 and doing great. Great in school and I call him my gentle giant.

Anonymous said...

How many layers in total did you have?

DawnL said...

I have a 3 year-old grandson and am thinking of using some boy underwear that I picked up at a consignment sale that are a bit bigger and trying it with those. He wants to wear big boy undies and this might help with the process.

Cindy Maki said...

I don't have potty training age kids, but I just need to put my 2 cents in here. I love these potty trainers. This is what we did after failure and more failures. My grandsons love animals, so we took regular underwear and drew a picture of one of his favs on each pair. We then discussed how important it was not to pee or poo on his friends. Just a note here: we were desperate to potty train the 5 year old who is autistic, and this worked on him so well that we did the same for his younger brother (not autistic) and it worked with him too. 2 weeks and it was over for both. From a granny to 8 boys. Don't give up. Try everything. LOL.

Faustess said...

Genius! My LO is older and has gone back and forth with "I'm ready!" "No, I no haffa go potty." SO, trying to find cloth training pants for him is tough. This is a great idea! It's worth a little extra time not to have to pay $20-$30 per pair of training pants (since he's a larger size, the cheap-o ones are too small). AND he can have the characters he likes. :)