Cooper just turned one and it’s gotten me thinking about (drum roll, please): Potty Training. Many parents of twelve-month olds are not thinking about potty training any more than they’re thinking about sending their baby off to college: He’s not ready! She’s too young. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Though no studies have been done that I’m aware of, many moms say that babies in cloth train faster and that disposable pull-ups do nothing but prolong the process. Cloth diapers, unlike their disposable-Sodium-Polacrylate-filled counterparts, feel wet to the touch when they are wet or soiled. This means two things: babies and toddlers learn to dislike the wet feeling and have more of a motivation to stay dry AND they learn the cause and effect of their bodily functions: I pee, I feel wet. Toddlers who pee in a disposable diaper lose that cause and effect lessen: I pee, I still feel pretty dry. Why stop playing to use the potty when you can pee right in your disposable and feel just as good?
I think pull-up disposables were invented for two reasons:
- so they would “seem” more like underwear because they pull up and down like underwear and
- they are easier to put on a standing baby. As a former nanny (over ten years, thank you very much) I stayed with each family I worked with for an average of three years—birth right through potty training, until the kids were off to preschool. So between helping to potty-train three children I nannied for and so far two of my own, it’s fair to say I have some experience.
I remember one toddler in particular, little Sarah who is now nine years old and a competitive ice-skater in Alaska. When she turned two, or maybe a little after, her parents bought some disposable pull-ups. They were a novelty at first and Sarah liked pulling them up and down to sit on the potty like a big girl. That soon wore off and Sarah would no longer ask to use the potty if she was distracted, tired or feeling less-than compliant (which as most parents can agree, happens a lot with two-year-olds). She learned quickly that pull-ups were just diapers and “keeping the princesses on them dry” was not enough motivation to use the potty when she didn’t feel like it. We tried stickers and treats as rewards but nothing really worked and the process dragged on and on for months.
In the next few months I’ll write more on potty training with cloth diapers, potty training in general and the history of potty training and how it has changed since the invention of disposables. I also plan to pick my sister’s brain because as a cloth-diapering mom who had both of her son’s trained by 18 months, I’m sure she has some tips we’d all like to hear. And finally, I plan to chronicle my experiences as I potty train Cooper, my own cloth-diaper-wearing-baby .
Please feel free to share your potty training anecdotes with me and each other–both success and failures and let’s start a Potty-Training-in-Cloth-Diapers-Revolution!
My son was quick to potty train at 22 months. No complaint, no issues, just decided one week that it was time and he was done with diapers. He still has accidents on occasion if he’s distracted, but he also gets very upset with himself when it happens and gets very frantic if he has an issue making it to the bathroom in time.
Before 18 months he showed no interest in potty training. We introduced him and started putting him on the potty around 19 1/2 months.
My daughter just turned one… We catch her in time to use the potty for #2 most of the time but #1 is a challenge. Can’t wait to hear more.
I am so excited! My daughter will be 9 months on Thursday and I am in full potty training planning mode. We are teaching her the sign (ASL ) for potty and have a itty bitty traning potty in the toy room that her teddy bear sits on. We occasionally sit her on it but for now it is primarily to get comfy with. I always though potty training began around 1 year, but when I say that we are gearring up for it people either respond that we are crazy and she is too young (normally with an eye roll) or they point out she is a bit old to start the elimination method. So I am really excited to hear your exsperiances an to hopefully learn from them. Our goal 18 months, but we will see.
As the first time mother of a 15mo old i look forward to more articles on potty training. My daughter now sometimes asks for a diaper when she is wet! We use cloth and are thinking we will go ahead and get her a potty and try teaching her now! any tips you have will be helpful I am sure!
I can’t wait to read more of the potty training posts! Our son just turned 13 months 🙂
I have a 2 year old boy and an almost 1 year old girl. I’m looking forward to this series of posts!
I’ve heard that cloth diapered babies potty train sooner too!
I’m just getting into cloth diapering and am so excited to do something good for my baby and the environment.
I’m excited to be reading you blog and others to learn from more experienced moms!
Great article!
I am really interested in this post series. I’ve been wanting to try with our son too, just about 17 months.
I am really interested in this post series. Hoping to try potty training soon with our 17-month-old. Brother on the way in 10 weeks, though, so I’m not sure if it’s a good idea or not. 🙂
Oh yes! Thanks for the blog, we are just starting the potty train project and I have never done it in cloth
I can’t wait to read more about how your sister potty trained both her littles by 18 months!
My son is almost 10 months and I’m dreading the potty training process. My daughter was pretty easy, but that was 8 years ago!!
I can’t wait to see this for myself. My first was in disposables until she decided one day that she was ready to wear undies (right after she turned two). There was little effort on our part! The second one is in cloth and we’ll be getting the potty out this summer.
I’ve heard that cloth helps with potty training too. I’m hoping so anyway!
We have cloth diapered both of our children from day one. We skipped the pull-ups with my daughter and she was successfully trained at 2 years, except over night. I have just invested in some cloth pull-ups for her to wear overnight so when she gets up at night it is a lot easier for her to go to the bathroom by herself.
I can not wait for more in this series. DD is 20 months and in CDs. I have recently been wondering about the difference! I REALLY do not think I would run out and buy disposable pull ups but I am curious. Thank you for the series!
My 2nd daughter was only in cloth from 5 months on where as my 1st daughter was only in disposables. My youngest PT’d about 5 months before my oldest. Not sure if it is completely from the cloth or b/c she had someone to watch but I’ll give the credit to cloth!! Oh…she was just 25 months when she PT’d as well! 🙂
This is a great post. I used disposables on my oldest (now 12) and Pull Ups. I don’t feel that the Pull Ups helped at all except made it easier on me to put them on a mobile toddler. Eventually I ditched the pull ups and let him either run naked or used “training underwear”. He potty trained much sooner after the switch
Excited to see your future posts. I have potty training on my mind as well!
Love this!
I’ve heard too that it’s easier to potty train from cloth diapers. Looking forward to your future posts about this!
Prolonged use of pull ups is what led me to the whole cloth diapering world. If I can potty train my next child quicker and easier by using cloth and save money doing it and help the earth too then it’s all totally worth it.
I needed this! My two year old is so close, but not quite there yet.
My daughter who wore cloth diapers potty trained faster, but later than her sister who wore disposables. I’m not sure what the connection is 🙂
@Cammie – we had a similar situation. Our first wore ‘sposies and had lots of interest in potty learning. We had introduced her to a little potty around 18 months but she preferred an insert on the regular toilet. By her 2nd birthday, she was day-trained. Nights took longer and she was a heavy wetter so we ended up getting into cloth pull-ups to help offset all of the night time accidents.
DD 2 is going to be 1 at the end of this month, wears cloth diapers and we’ve already started a little bit of EC with her. I usually sit her on the regular toilet or the little one every night before bed and we’ve had lots of successes recently. I can’t EC with her full-time though since I work and she’s in daycare. I almost don’t want her to train early since then I won’t be able to use my cute cloth diapers anymore. *grin*
My son at 8 months doesn’t seem to care when his (cotton unlined) diaper is wet. I wonder if this means when he gets to potty training age he’ll still not care, which would go against the theory that cloth diapered babies potty train faster because being able to feel the wet motivates them.
i have a barely 2-year-old that is almost ready to potty-train. i hope to keep her in cloth the whole way
My son is just over two and has been using the potty for well over six months so far… not potty trained yet though! We reward him with M&Ms (which is a big deal for him and he tells us which colors he wants) and encourage him to go. He was doing number two in the toilet every time until his sister arrived a month ago — his grandma borrows him for a few days at a time to help me, and his potty-training has slowed down considerably because of that. But he’s starting to get back into the routine!
I am at the same place with my 18-month old son right now.
Can’t wait to read more on this – great post!
Great post. Yes please post more on this! I want all the tips I can get. I can see how pull-ups are just a continuation of disposables, kids are smart, it’s not hard for them to figure these things out. What I do wonder is how good cloth trainers are in the same type of comparison. I have a few pairs of cloth trainers and it just seems like underwear with a little more padding. Just like a fitted? I’d love to hear your thoughts! I have no experience.
I am cuious to see if our third and only one in cloth will be any different when it comes to potty training.
Can’t wait to hear more. This is my next step in the CD journey 🙂
Can’t wait to read the rest of this series… we CD, and my son jut turned 2. He totally knows how to pee on the potty, but hasn’t correlated that it’s more than just something fun to do, he needs to do it every time…
My son is 17 months old. I’ve had him in prefolds and Thirsties Duo covers since he was newborn, but we also occasionally use Earth’s Best or Seventh Generation disposables. Whether cloth or disposable, he doesn’t seem to give a crap (haha) that it’s all over his butt. I’m sure there have been a few times that he’s had a poopy diaper on for maybe 30 minutes before I realize it. But I didn’t know because he just romps around as usual. And his little potty is waiting in his closet for it’s time to shine.
Anyway, I am very curious about your method of training. From what I’ve read, people who manage to potty train their kids by 18 months have either worked for a year or so to teach their kid potty habits, or the kid’s a girl who is showing signs of readiness.
My little guy is only 8 months but I’m already looking forward to the info.
I’m wondering if cloth training pants are any different, motivation wise? I’d really like to try some out once my almost 2 yo is ready to start potty learning. Maybe we’ll see some from thirsties??!?
Despite that my son is only 6.5 months old I have already thought about potty training and how to do so. Naturally, I plan to do cloth but I have no idea where to start on HOW to introduce it. Mind you, I won’t start until he is ready but to have the stash and information is quite nice to have.
If there’s anything school forgot to tell you it’s you need research skills to be a parent & make the best educated decisions you can!
My daughter is 13 months and we’re just starting to cloth diaper her. She is very active and I’ve already started to have her just sit on her little potty while I’m in the bathroom too. She likes it and although, I’m not forcing her to do anything, I like that she already likes sitting on the potty and being in the bathroom. I think it’s a step in the right direction. I’m excited to read more about potty training and I think using cloth will help.
My son wore sposies and cloth diapers and potty trained at 20 mos..my daughter is 20,months and has been only cloth diapered and doesnt seem to care if she is in a dirty diaper! Either way pull ups are just expensive sposies IMO.
This is a timely post for me and my almost 2 year old. She has expressed some interest and uses the potty occasionally. I’d work harder at it with her if I wasn’t 9 mos pregnant, but with a newborn arriving any day now, I feel like I can’t be as consistent and focused as I’d like to be. I’ll be interested to read future posts on this, and hope to work on it more later this spring.
Can’t wait to read more! I know with both of my kiddos (14 yrs apart mind you!), I tried pull-up and when it didn’t work, I just switched to regular training undies. I found that these worked MUCH better than the pull-ups! My youngest was being CD’ed part time so not sure if she would have trained faster if she would have been full time.
While I do agree about the disposable pull-ups, I can’t say I agree that cloth diapers make potty training easier or faster. I’ve never seen any evidence except anecdote. I’m interested to hear how PT goes for you this early, though. Best of luck! I know it can be a stressful time!
Can’t wait to hear about your sister’s experience potty training by 18 mo! Sounds like my kind of girl.
Cloth diapers made no difference to my son who is still not potty trained and almost 3 years old.
This was a very informative and interesting post. I will keep this information in mind because we are going to start cloth diapering our soon-to-be born baby girl.
I am not even close to potty training (our son isn’t even due until May) but great post! It’s nice to know that there will be lots of help out there when our time comes to potty train.
Very interested in waiting to hear more about this! Potty training is definitely a challenge and I’m going to cloth diapers for the first time so I’m also learning all about that new world. Please do post more!!! 🙂
I look forward to reading more about this. My first two boys were in disposables but I have another boy on the way due in four weeks that we will be putting in cloth. 🙂
My son is 13 months and I have started thinking about potty training. I look forward to reading more post on this from you!
I’m curious myself as to whether cloth diapering is going to make a difference when it comes to potty training. I can see mamas holding off though just so they can still put their little ones in those cute prints… 🙂
can’t wait to start potty training!
I hope it helps my daughter potty train earlier, but that’s still a looong way off!
Check out “The Diaper Free Baby” by Christine Gross-Loh. In it, the author discusses elimination communication. From the cover: “Infants are born with the ability to communicate their need to “go”, just as they communicate hunger or sleepiness.” I started this with my baby at 2 months old. She is now 3 1/2 months and I catch at least one pee or poo in the toilet per day. Check it out!
All I have to say is awesome! Hope this kiddo is easier to potty train.
I started at 20 months with my son and he is extremely strong willed so I’m glad I am not looking at training an almost 3 year old now because it wouldn’t work. He “got it” pretty fast and within 2=3 days was telling us he needed to go, and going in the potty several times a day. Within a month he was pretty much trained but had accidents from time to time, usually because we were in the car and for whatever reason he never told us he needed to go if we were in the car. He has had issues here and there over the last year or so and does were disposable pull ups at night because he gets yeast rashes in cloth at night. But once a week or so he wakes up dry. But we never used training pants – went straight to underpants and didn’t look back. I really believe that is the best way, with cloth trainers maybe for nap or night.
My son is 3 1/2 been using cloth since birth still not potty trained.
He is autistic too so that has a lot to do with it:( he were’s fuzz bunz trickle trainers love them
Love this blog 🙂
My son potty trained just after he turned 2. He’d begun to hold his urine for longer periods (changing his diaper 1-2 hrs after putting it on, he’d be dry still). So we talked up the potty, underwear and one weekend we stopped using diapers and that was that! We used stickers, chocolate chips, matchbox cars (after being dry all day) and being super excited as rewards. After a weekend of reading A LOT of books on the potty he was trained! We still have setbacks on occasion when our schedule is disrupted, but he’s totally trained for #2 and day time trained for #1. Btw we used cloth diapers, and for what it’s worth all of his friends in cloth trained around 2 yrs old, those in disposables a bit later. Good luck to everyone…and remember you know your baby best, you’ll know when they are ready!
I’m not really concerned about “waiting till he’s ready”, DH and I are still going to be showing our son how the potty works as soon as he can walk, even if it’s just him watching us on the toilet. Kids learn by watching, so monkey see monkey do :). My God daughter wasn’t fully potty trained till last summer right before her 3rd birthday, the motivation was camping with dh and I. She was wearing goodnights to bed until 2 weeks ago, when her parents realized she was using them instead of getting up to go to the bathroom, even well before she was asleep. They haven’t been using the good nights and haven’t had any accidents, I truly believe that disposables prolong potty training, and I believe they’re designed to do so to maximize profits.
My little guy is only 6 mos. and I’m already thinking of potty training with one side of my brain, and wishing him to stay 6 mos forever with the other side!!
I am hopeful that potty training our son will not be too hard, given that he will only have been cloth diapered.
I cant wait to hear more! my daughter just turned one and I would like to introduce her to the potty also. My son was 22 months when he was potty trained. It was very easy with him tho. When he learns something new he constantly wants to do it(he is a little OCD.) I hoping it’s just as easy with my daughter!
My little man will be 1 on April 13. We bought him a potty for one of his presents. And I plan to dive in as soon as he can walk or his first birthday ( if he decides to walk in the next month).
We just switched to cloth and knowing that CD babies potty train faster gives me hope. I’d love to know how to have it done by 18 months.
So when will thirsties come out with a trainer?
Great article!! Thanks for sharing.
I suspect Pull Ups prolong the process, but I’m not sure about cloth making them train faster. Both my girls wore cloth basically from birth. My first trained very easily right about 2. The second, though she was capable and had been sitting on the potty occasionally since about 4 months, had no desire. Finally, just before she turned 3, we got some pretty underwear and told her she was too big for diapers. 3 days later, she was doing great with only occasional accidents. Cloth may have helped in the sense that she knew the connection between peeing and being wet, but I don’t think it helped her train any younger. We’ll see how #3 and the first boy does.
Fantastic information, thank you. Will be starting this with my 20 mo!
I think it depends on the child. We used cloth with our son all the way up to potty training and I have to say that he potty trained himself. He didn’t want to give up diapers until 3 but when he hit 3 (he said he wanted to be a big boy), we put him in underwear and he has had 2 accidents since we started “potty training” (almost a year ago and that includes nighttime). When he was training, he also asked that I not remind him and I didn’t have to. When he had to go he went by himself. So easy and simple to just wait and not force them to do it because you don’t want to change diapers.
Learn something new every day! I didn’t realize that kids with disposables tend to potty train later. Though, it would make sense. My nephew is 2.5 years, and he has no interest in potty training, but neither does his parents. I wish they would have gone cloth with me! I couldn’t imagine how much they spend on 2 kids in diapers! And I hate how much the whole house stinks when one of them poops!
My son is 11.5 mos and I’ve had him on the potty for #2 since 8mos, but only because he was regular about his #2s. As he goes from breastfeeding most of the time to food most of the time, his habits have changed, but are still close to the same. I’m looking forward to training #1s, but have no idea how to go about it without taking a week and restraining him to the kitchen/dining room! 🙂 It might be easier if he did the signs, but he has no interest in doing “all done” (which I’ve been doing for most of his life) so I don’t think he’d do any other signs, either.
Looking forward to the Cooper experiences to learn from! 🙂
Great Post, for me pull ups were a waste of time and money and once I switched to cloth training pants potty training was a snap.
This is so helpful, thank you!
My oldest is 5 years old and I still feel guilty about not using cloth diapers on her. At the time I just didn’t know where to get the information I needed to cloth diaper. She spent two years in pull ups before she decided to potty train. I still can’t believe all the money we wasted! Hopefully our 2nd LO will potty train much earlier.
My son was CD-ed until about 2 years of age, then we went with disposables for six months for various reasons. When I potty-trained him starting last month I decided to bite the bullet, have him go pant-less for a couple of days, and then put him straight into regular (not training) underwear. Aren’t boys supposed to be harder? He trained WAY faster than my girl who had a combination of training underwear/disposable pull-ups. I’ve even put my son into a diaper or pull-up when he went to someone else’s house and they’ve told me he’d still ask to go potty or do it by himself. I think the diapers or pullups are definitely detrimental to the whole process.
Our son is 21 months, newish to cloth diapers…and we’re trying to get him to at least sit on the potty some. He did at first but now doesn’t want to. :-/
My son is 11 months and he cries if you don’t change him immediately after a wee/poo… but only when he is in cloth. I am hoping this means he will PT easy! Interesting blog anyway, would love to hear more!
I’ve used disposable diapers for my 5 children, and am kicking myself for not looking into cloth diapers sooner. I still have two in diapers, hopefully my DS will want to potty train soon. I think if I switch to cloth diapers, it might encourage him to potty train.
I look forward to getting some good potty training tips w/ cloth diapers!
Thanks!
I think one of the main differences for me is the guilt. My daughter is voluntarily potty training. In the past, I would only change a wet disposable diaper when it was full, so I didn’t use as many as some moms. But with the potty training, it is really hard to put on an already soiled diaper, which means I was using double or triple the number of disposable diapers. Now, I just pop the flat into the diaper laundry and give her a new one. No angst.
I can’t wait to hear more on this subject! My first sounds a lot like Sarah…We tried nearly every method of rewards and potty training I could find. Just in the past few weeks, 16 months after we first started the process, she’s down to an accident or two a week. It’s been a long process for us and I’d love to hear what’s worked for others!
I’m hoping cloth diapers make potty training easier!
Yes, please! Share advice! My six month potty training session with my first child was not ideal an ]d I want to do better next rime.
My son is only 3 mos old and I am already thinking of potty training. He is my 6th child and quite honestly, even though I love the cloth diapering experience, I do not particularly look forward to too many more years of it.
This is such a great subject. I’m so excited to continue reading the articles on it. My daughter is 15 months and this has been on my mind as well.
Looking forward to additional information on potty training. Our little one is 7 months, however, time is flying by fast!
This is my first in CDs. We used disposables with the boys but we only ever used PU when were out with them. We used maybe one pack for each. All other times it was underwear. They learned quick not to pee in them.
I had a really hard time potty training my son because of pull-ups. Im now cloth diapering my 4 mos old daughter and am looking foward to not using pull-ups.
My 4 year old step-son was still pooping in his pants at his last visit. I’m really hoping I don’t have to deal with that with my son, and I hope cloth helps!
Getting ready to seriously attempt potty training with my eldest. We started earlier, but after the birth of my second child it kind of became too much effort to force with a new baby in the house. I think now I am getting to a point to where I feel ready to work with him again and maybe take the time to try and get him potty trained.
I’m excited to read the rest of your posts on this subject as I was trained by 18 months when I was little and would love to see my 15 month old trained about then too. We’ve started with the potty, but nothing consistent.
Potty learning has me so nervous! Thanks for this.
my first never used cloth and he is just at the tail end of potty training at the age of 4. this next one, due in May, will be cloth diapered from the beginning. I hope it’s quicker and a less painful process.
Getting ready to potty train soon, there was never a doubt about the fact that we were going to use cloth 🙂 Thanks for the tips!
My daughter is 18 months and doing very well potty training in cloth. I am new to cloth diapering we switched to it about two weeks ago and I can really tell a difference in the amount of accidents we have now that she can tell shes wet . I am due in June with daughter number 2 and cant wait to use cloth on her !!!!!!
Been on my mind a lot recently. Great post.
I know plenty of 3 and some 4 year olds that arent completely potty trained. The good news is, they all get it eventually 🙂
my mom had me potty trained by the time i was 18 months, and my sister by the time she was 14 months. i’m sure cloth (and my mom’s determination) had a lot to do with it.
My son just turned 2. We’re hoping to start potty training soon! It’ll be interesting to see the difference, since he’s in cloth and big sis was in disposables.
Great article
This is one of the reasons we chose cloth diapers! Early potty training… we hope 🙂
I am looking forward to more on potty training in cloth. My son is 20 months and suddenly decided he wanted to use the potty. He knows when he goes pee or pooh, but his interest only lasted a few days before he didn’t want to sit on the potty anymore. Back in cloth we go. Not sure what to do to regain his interest.
I was wondering if (cloth) training pants are necessary or if fitted diapers can be used. I guess he won’t be able to pull up the fitted diaper on his own?
After having two little boys succesfully potty trained out of sposies I am looking forward to starting #3 in cloth and seeing how that helps with potty training when the time comes. With my first I tried the pull up route and he was just over 3 before we finally considered him trained. Wtih my second I skipped pull ups all together (except for night time) and he was completely trained in to big boy underpants at 2 years 4 months. I’m hoping with number three we can make it happen before the 2 year mark!
I had one that was PT’d by 2 and another that was almost 3 and a half… it just depends on the kid….. knowing what i know now i wish i would not have stressed so much… they are going to do it when they are ready….
One of the reasons I used to convince my family that cloth diapers would be awesome for our family was exactly this!
I just made my niece a pull on diaper cover so she can pull it up and down like undies but can be stuffed with a pre-fold. I hope it helps!
My daughter took close to a year to fully potty train wearing disposables. I’m hoping cloth helps my son a little faster this time around.
I think cloth diapering helped a bit with potty training early. Now I just need to find a good potty trainer that is cloth
I am interested to see how potty training goes. We’ve been cloth diapering since birth using a combo of pockets and prefolds with covers. Thinking of switching to just prefolds for potty learning.
Interesting post! I am thinking cloth during potty training may be a great option!
Our daughter is 2.5, been in sposies since day 1 and is halfway there. Going #2 on the potty all the time, but not consistent with #1 yet. We just had a son in March snd he is in cloth diapers. It will be
interesting to see if he potty trainss ooner.
My eldest is ready to PL. Thanks for the article!
I’ve got a potty chair on the way! G is 14 months and I have a goal of 18 months too. Both my husband and I think that 3 year olds running around in diapers is a bit ridiculous!!!
My son is only 4 months and even though potty training is FAR into the future, I’m so not looking forward to it!!! Hopefully being cloth diapered will help.
One of the reasons I switched to cloth diapers was to provide an easier transition to potty training. My daughter is 17 months now and I think we’ll begin training around 20 months. We’re already familiarizing her with the concepts – we read potty books and she sits on her potty seat, etc.
Great read!
I thought my dr was crazy when she told us at 9months that we could start training him. she is from russia where most babies are trained by 12months. the vast majority of families don’t have disposables & they don;t have washing machines so they train early. here i am at 17months & i feel he’s starting to be ready. i want him to use the potty but i don’t know if i’m looking forward to the work involved in training! lol
My youngest child is 2 months old and the only one out of 4 that I even remotely considered cloth diapering. Potty training 3 out of disposables was successful due to my consistency in getting them to the potty and the cloth training pants. So I’m curious to see if there will be any difference in the age our youngest is potty trained and the duration of training since he’s cloth diapered.
My first was super easy to potty train, I agree that the cloth dipers makes it easier for babes because they feel when they are wet. Poop training was much harder. He is now 2 1/2 and completely potty trained!!
Potty training has been heavily on my mind of late, so i was quite excited to see this post! Wondering if it would better to go with cloth training pants (we use Flip diapers exclusively and I’m super excited to see they now make a training pant too – yay!) or bite the bullet and go straight to “big boy undies”. While there would be more initial messes, I feel like it would be the quickest. After all, what active, busy toddler wants to interrupt playtime by needing his entire outfit changed and/or take a bath?
Really looking forward to more posts on this subject!
Love this! Our little guy is 16 months old and we’re getting ready for potty training.
This is one of my biggest motivations for cloth diapering, aside from the cost savings… I’d love if we can potty train quicker!
We have been doing EC with my 13 month old for a while. We are good with catching poo because he hates having a dirty diaper so he always lets me know when he needs to go; pee on the other hand, is going to be a challenge for training because he could care less when he’s in a soaked diaper.
We are currently potty training our 5th child. shes doing pretty good with it but I’m trying to just take it easy. Shes shown a lot of interest in it and has pooped twice. shes only 2 though so I’m not gonna hold my breath that she will be by the time #6 arrives in Sept LOL
definitely plan on potty training in cloth!
My cloth diapered child was trained much earlier than my disposable diapered children. I’m hoping the same is true for my new little one.
I’ve potty trained 2 out of cloth before 2 and nannied one in disposables who tried to train before 2 (all boys). The cloth was easier and quicker. I think especially at night- they were ready to go diaperless at 2 1/2. the disposable baby had a much harder time with it, realizing that pee made him wet was a little stressful at that age. coming out of cloth I found it easiest to let them go without pants and stay home for a few day until they were reliably peeing in the potty, and then I taught them to wear pants and pull them down.
I wish I could potty train my boy soon! He is 15 months.
Would love to hear more!
I look forward to reading more of the potty raining series.
I would be interested to hear more as my son has been cloth diapered but still won’t go poop on the potty…and he is almost three. So maybe I will hear more clues and help!
I’m looking forward to a shorter potty training time with baby #2 thanks to cloth!
My 2 1/2 year old refuses to go #2 on the potty. I’m anxious to follow your story.
Can’t wait to read this series. I have a 14 month old boy in cloth and we are slowly starting to potty train him.
We are almost ready to start potty training here so I look forward to hearing more from you about this.
Can’t wait to read more!
We cloth to potty trained! It was WAY easier than my other kids who used disposables!
I’d heard about early potty training with cloth, but my son was still 2.5 when he decided to use the potty. When he went for it, though, he was all in. No more diapers!
I’ve heard this as well. I mentioned it to my mom and she told me that my older sister and me (who were cloth diapered) potty-trained SLOWER than our disposable-diapered sister. This is just one circumstance, though. There are always outlyers! 😛
Also, I tried to make diapers for my baby that WON’T feel wet now, but when he gets closer to potty training I won’t try so hard. 😉
Great blog! Thank you 🙂
I hear you – my son is 10 mo and I’m already looking forward to potty training! Can’t wait to hear more.
Thanks. Just getting started with my little one.
we wont be using pull ups when potty training. There was a reason we switched to cloth and I don’t want to take a step backwards for convenience. My daughter will have to learn that there are no shortcuts in life if she wants to be successful and that our disposable world is in enough trouble as it is without more reasons to create trash.
Great post! Thanks for sharing! This is helpful information for first time parents.
Thanks for posting this, we are in somewhat of a potty training regression now that DD knows that her baby sibling will come soon. 🙁 Still working on it…but not trying to pressure.
Can’t wait to cloth diaper my future kids! I want to keep them away from chemicals as much as possible.
my daughter just turned two i just swichted to cloth diapers im hoping she will get potty trained soon tho my son was ptty trained ay age 3 and did very well but for some reason i dont think my daughters gonna be that easy she shows no intrested to it at all =( i think she really like the cloth diaper she get to excited to change lol
I am in the process of beginning to potty train our two year old daughter and I am waiting for some cloth “pull-ups” to arrive because I can already tell she doesn’t care if she’s wet in her regular disposables. I never knew cloth could help with potty training!
My son was cloth diaper and shortly before we started training, he asked me to yles instead of cloth (I’d purposely ben using flats with covers so he felt wet). We used Blueberry trainers and “big boy underwear.”The BB trainers were great in the beginning because he would still get wet and even trickle, but didn’t completely soak the floor like he would in just underwear. He trained in about a week at 28 months.
That should say *use disposables instead of cloth* -my phone spazzed!
We have 2 darling daughters. 2.5 and 3 months. I am currently researching cloth diapers for child #2. I bought 3 one size AIOs and my plan is to get my 2.5 year old OUT of diapers and potty trained with cloth diapers and switch over to cloth with my little one. Here’s hoping all goes well and my tot will be potty trained in no time using cloth diapers. 🙂
…to clarify…we have only purchased 3 as a trial. I’m not exactly sure which ones we prefer yet. 🙂
looking forward to reading more. My almost 2yr old has all of a sudden become interested in the potty. He peed in the little potty for the first time last night.
I am in the process of trying to potty train my daughter who is 26 months and she is very stubborn about it. She knows what poopy and potty means but refuses to go in the potty chair very frustrating. She will even tell me right after she goes in her diaper that she went potty or she pooped but thats as far as I have gotten thus far :/
I think we missed our ideal window with DD (now 2) at 17 months – she seemed to “get it” but it was cold and winter and I just wasn’t ready to commit to giving up the fluff! Now I’m somewhat kicking myself but I guess we all do these things in our own time. This article is very helpful!
look foward to reading more. My older son didn’t potty train until a few weeks before his 3rd birthday but once he did he’s never had an accident or an issue. I firmly believe in waiting until they are 100% ready. I cloth diapered him from around 18 months. I hope my now 1 year old who is also being CD’d is ready before age 3 🙂
Once I switch to cloth training pants instead of disposable training pants I was done with the process in a few weeks.
Interesting! My toddler became very interested in potty learning around 16 months, lost interest for a while, then picked back up again a few months later. The potty itself was the draw, as wet prefolds never bothered her at all.
We have been trying to get my three year old to poop on the potty, he won’t. We have tried everything. He doesn’t wear pull ups, it’s getting tiring. The other day I asked him to go pee on the potty and he told me no and he sud he wanted to pee in his bed… I don’t get our.
I still have a ways before my baby girl starts potty training, but I am hoping that cloth really speeds things up!
OMG who are you folks with potty trained kids! I am so jealous, my recently turned 3 yr old shows very little interest!
My son is 2.5 and is just now agreeing to potty. Previously you’d say, “Let’s go potty” and he’d cry and throw a fit. When we change his diaper he knows where everything is “supposed to go” but he hasn’t gotten to the point where he’ll tell us that he needs to go. I’m looking forward to reading more since we also have a 4 month old in cloth.
I am very curious to see how my son potty triains. My first 2 used disposibles and they potty trained very easy, but my third is the first in cloth and already he hates having a icky bum.
Ugh I have been cloth diapering my son since he was 6 months old. He’s now 29months and still does not seem to mind the “wet” feeling. Sigh, I hope that will learn soon enough that it’s not pleasant. At the same time I should feel encouraged because today he did tell me that we needed to change his diaper! baby steps right?
Potty training is how I first got started on cloth!! I didn’t want to buy pull ups. Then we switched to cloth for our son, too. Now #3 is on the way and I’m adding to the stash!
I’m sure that the child I used cloth on trained MUCH faster than the disposable babies!!!
I plan on potty training as soon as they can walk around and run
I’m hoping cloth makes potty training easier!
I potty trained my first at 2 and completely skipped “pull ups” for regular underwear, except at bed time. I honestly think the pull-ups deter the process.
I didn’t buy pull-ups, and while we had many times of “clean up on aisle 4” it was worth my child knowing exactly what it’s like to use the bathroom!
I hope my son will be potty trained by age 2!
We also started talking with our little girl about toilet training when she was 14m. Our friends were very surprised that we were starting so early. We explained that we just pursue our wee one’s interests as she has them, rather than decide when the timing is right for her. Recently been looking into some cloth pull-up trainers as a compromise b/t cloth & (eco-friendly) disposables.
Cloth is especially best for potty training. Disposable pull ups seriously delay the whole process. Great article. Thanks!
Many of the cloth diapers are made with stay-dry linings or inserts so that babies don’t feel wet, just like disposables. I have a long way to go until we start training, but I guess we would have to make sure we are using natural fiber liners or something so she feels wet. I know many companies also make trainers.
This was a good read, I just decided in the last couple of days to completely take away the disposable pullups from my daughter and we are doing plastic covers over her panties. Thankfully her daycare is on board!
Potty-trained at 18 months sounds LOVELY! I look forward to reading more!
I am pumped that cloth diapered babies seem to potty train earlier. Sounds good to me! 🙂
Training with cloth just seems like a logical progression
I’m going to be potty training my second child soon. We are getting ready to switch to cloth diapers for my 6 month old. I’m wondering if it’s too late to put the 2 year old in cloth until we potty train?
Does anyone favor a particular brand or type of cloth pull ups or training pants. My daughter is one and while we are not training yet I was thinking of purchasing ahead in preparation.
I have always heard PTing can be a huge mess so its nice to hear that CDing can help make the process easier!
My best advice is not to push it – your child will potty train when he/she is ready. We didn’t do much other than show my son the potty and he had an Elmo doll that had a potty. At 25 months he just decided he would start doing it. Never had a #2 accident. Thank you Lord because his messy diapers were the worst!
This was interesting and helpful.
I plan on introducing my son to the toilet as soon as he can sit up better. He gives great cues when he has to go.
When am I supposed to start thinking about this? My son is 15 months.
Definitely hoping cloth helps us PL faster
Great article!
A good 6 months ago we thought our son was maybe ready to potty train but he wouldn’t even sit on his potty. Now he will sit on the toilet and will say he pooped after the fact so we are making headways 🙂
we are just now starting potty training… kind of.. this post helps alot!
I honestly think the cheap gerber training pants are the best – I don’t plan to use disposable or cloth (though obviously those are made of cloth). But I haven’t started yet, only did it when I worked in a daycare so we’ll see how I handle it 24/7 haha
We are going to start potty training our 18 month old soon so I am glad I found this post! Can’t wait to read more and get some advice!
I am cloth diapering my 2 nd baby and hoping that it helps the potty training. 🙂
I’m hoping to potty train my son when he’s about two but I don’t know how well thats gonna go! I love reading potty training posts for ideas and encouragement!
I’ve potty trained two cloth kids with no trouble at all. They both just started taking me into the bathroom and taking off their diaper when they needed to go. Both were well before they were two. I’m scared that this last one will not be so easy!
My almost three year old was not interested in potty training in disposable diapers. Once I switched to cloth diapers he lets me know when he has soiled his diaper, he says he is eager to get out of diapers. I believe cloth does help with potty training.
I’m potty learning my 2 1/2 almost 3 year old and it is SO HARD! Pull ups are just diapers to them, the only thing that seems to be working is putting underwear on him and letting them get wet, he doesnt like that so much!
I am eager to hear about your journey in potty training a one year old boy! We have a 19 month old and I am ready to give this a go, too. Best wishes!
Early potty training is one of the reasons I’m happy we’re using cloth. I’m not going to push it, but I certainly hope we don’t have a three-year-old still in diapers!
As a cloth diapering parent of an 18-month-old, I consider it a bonus every time my son goes on the potty. It saves me laundry, and often times prevents me from having to do my most hated chore: spraying off a dirty diaper. Even though my son doesn’t show the typical “signs” of readiness, he is happy to sit on the potty and read books. I can’t help but think that parents who wait 2.5 or 3 years to let their toddlers experience the feeling of going on the potty may be reinforcing the children’s attachment to diapers and therefore makin potty training harder for everyone in the long run.
I can’t wait to read the rest of this series! Thanks for addressing this topic!
The faster potty training benefit is one of the main reasons I’m choosing to cloth diaper! So far I have a stash of some AIO’s but mostly prefolds, flats and Thirsties covers! Can’t wait woot!
My sister (who used sposies) thinks I’m absolutely nuts to want to start toilet learning with my 18 month old. The only thing that has held me back up until now is his feeding tube (it goes straight into his stomach) which has him in a lot of onsies still, lets face it, those are not toilet learning friendly. He’s scheduled for tube removal next month so let toilet learning commence! He’s peed in the potty a handful of times already and even has asked twice. We’ll see what happens but no pull-up sposies for us! Probably just going to go straight to underwear.
As I am about to embark on this adventure, I need to read the other articles on potty training. Thanks for writing!
I am cd-ing my fourth child; I used disposables with the first 3. I will be interested to see how early he potty trains or if he does earlier than his brothers. They waited til they were 3 then trained very quickly.
Well my daughter proved the exception. I researched different cloth trainers, found some I thought would suit her desire to be most like panties and not diapers (ie they didn’t have snaps but did just pull on with a removable liner) and she didn’t seem to care if she was a little wet or just plain soaked with it. I think to her it was still convenient to have something to keep the rest of her dry. But with time and patience and switching between the cloth trainers and real panties she is finally getting the hang of it. Still they saved me a ton of money and less rashes!
Excited to hear more about cloth and potty training!
I am clueless when it comes to potty training! Lol! Thanks for this :]
We are expecting #3 in a few months, and are definitely planning on using cloth (with our other 2 we were in an apartment and had no washer and no diaper service around!)
But I am thinking about switching my 18 month old to cloth for this very reason–I would LOVE to be able to get him used to the idea of “pee makes me wet!” before we start undies. With #1, we potty trained without pull ups because I’ve worked as a nanny, too, and noticed the same issues with pullups–they’re glorified diapers! The only cloth training pants that you can buy in a big box store are SO thin-he might as well have been just wearing undies and it made him really upset to not make it to the toilet on time and have a puddle.
When my daughter was a baby [shes now 13] i used disposables on her untill she was potty trained and they did their job,but it was a hassle having to buy them and then putting them in the trash.I felt guilty knowing they were going to the lanfill and not going to decompose for a long time.Las year she started wetting the bed due to several issues and i decided to use cloth diapers and plastic pants[aka-rubber pants] on her at night.at first she wasnt crazy about them and felt like a baby wearing them,but she got used to them and now i just wash them and reuse them.i got the cloth diapers,diaper pins and the rubber pants from one website.I got her rubber pants in pastel and babyprints so she would feel girly instead of wearing just plain white rubber pants every night.
I’m excited to start potty training my daughter. We have a while yet, but I am hoping that being cloth diapered since birth will help. Everything I’ve read seems to indicate that will be true.
Although I’m still pregnant, this will be super helpful in preparing to potty train down the road. Thanks for the information!
My mom swears us 3 kids potty trained early because we wore cloth! My daughter wore disposables and she potty trained at 18 months because she was ready, we will see with baby boy since he will be wearing cloth!
Our daughter was a breeze to train and was diaper free before her 2nd birthday. Our son is nearing the potty training phase. It’s fantastic to read what has worked for everyone and what hasn’t I think we’ll have a plan a-d prepared! Thanks!
This will be a while for us, but sooner is always better 🙂
can’t wait to start using cloth.
My lo is 15m and I’m ready to start conditioning her! I had the hardest time potty training my boys who wore sposies so I’m hoping cd makes a difference
5 of my kids wore disposables and potty training was a complete nightmare. My youngest is 7 weeks old and in cloth full time so I am very curious to see whether CDing makes a difference with potty training.
That is really interesting. I’m not surprised they’ll figure out pull ups are just diapers. I’ve never potty trained a kid in cloth so this was a great post!
I have switched so many potty training friends to cloth and they agree it was much easier. Great article!
Great article. I’m considering cloth diapering and this was very useful information.
Interesting thoughts about potty training.
Good article, I forward to reading more about potty training.
I’m thinking about potty training my son who is in cloth. I’m a little scared since I have never done it before.
I am hoping that it is true for us that cloth helps Little one potty train faster!
Me one of the selling points for cloth diaper was the earlier potty training. My lo is only 10 months lo but she’s walking already. She’s been walking for a bit already. What is the best indicator your little one is ready for potty training?
It sounds like there are no studies of the effect of cloth on potty training readiness. That’s surprising! It’s mentioned (or denied) anecdotally so often.
i for one know that I’d try extra hard to potty train to potty train the babe in order to be able to enjoy less laundry! =)
I’m hoping cloth will make things easier – I’ll have to wait and see! It’s such an individual thing though, so would be hard to say what might or might not help with potty training.
I was hoping that using cloth would help my son train sooner, but he outgrew all of his Thirsties and I ended up switching to disposable. I tried switching to undies, but he was not interested/ready at all. Everyone tells me test boys take longer than girls and his sister was much younger than he. Now he is almost 3 and we are due to have our fourth baby soon, so I don’t feel like I should pressure him.
I hope it works!
Interesting!
My oldest was spotty trained well before 18 months but my second was more difficult. We used disposables with my oldest and cloth the 2nd time around. Cloth was easier for me but temperament determined more for them.
Thirsties diapers are so cute! I can’t wait to try them! !!
I am doing a slower training where I started putting LO on her potty before and after bath, She uses it one or the other most nights, and now if she wakes up dry after naps I put her on the potty and if I catch her as she just wakes up she’ll use it in the morning. Occasi9onally she’ll follow me into the potty and say tee tee and I take off her diaper and sit her on the potty. I’m letting her lead me.
This article is so helpful to young parents. Grew up in a family that never heard of the disposable diapers and all of the kids were potty trained very early with no problems. Go clothes diapers!
We’ve been doing EC, so my 17 month old is already familiar with the potty and telling me about #2. We’re soon going to take the plunge and go from cloth diapers to underwear!
I am glad you’re doing a series on this! It will definitely come in handy in the future!
My daughter wasn’t potty trained until she was 3 and it was hard! I agree disposable pull ups are just like a diaper and my daughter knew it. She wasn’t cloth diaper, though. My 8 month old has been cloth diapered since birth so it’ll be interesting to see if she potty trains any easier! (She is much less strong willed, so far, however, than my three year old is!)
My 21 month old has no interest yet.. lol
Super interesting, can’t wait to hear more about potty training and cloth diapers!
So helpful! My mom always put us straight into underwear cold-turkey (except for my sister who stole my underwear one day,thus pottytraining herself).Several accidents for a few days, then the struggle was over!
I never thought it was a big deal until I nannied and my boss drove me CRAZY! She was constantly changing her mind about pottytraining. She started her daughter in disposable pull-ups at 10months(kinda early, but I’ve heard success stories)then underwear for a couple weeks, back to pullups, then underwear(it was going GREAT during this time), then told me NO potty-training for month, then back to pottytraining with bribing, then HOW DARE YOU POTTY TRAIN MY CHILD, then back to potty training, then off. At 2 1/2, poor child was still not potty trained and had NO idea what to do. I don’t think age really matters, but the poor girl was so confused…
My advice: I don’t care when or how you teach your child to go to the bathroom (though I prefer cold turkey underwear and love this post)but please make an actual decision
I haven’t even had my baby yet (due in June) but my sister had so much trouble with potty training her kiddos that I am scared of it already. I am really excited to see how it goes and am happy we are on the cloth diapering path! Thanks for sharing!
This is one of the top 2 reasons my wife convinced my to cloth diaper.
I’m trying to potty train my 2.5 year old who has no interest in the potty, I feel like I’m fighting a losing battle.
I’ve heard potty training in cloth is much easier as well. I sure hope so! We won’t find out for another year or so. Good luck to you!
Very helpful
Currently potty training and it is rough! Surprisingly my little guy has never minded being damp. So that aspect never seemed to help us even though we use cloth diapers. We have been doing underwear all day for about 3 weeks. He deffinitely notices when he pees or poops but still doesn’t tell me till after the fact. Hopefully soon it will click. Until then I keep him on a potty schedule.
Thank you for this! We switch between sposies and cloth and my son is 18 months. When he is wet in cloth he wants to be changed immediately. Looks like we will be sticking to cloth here on out.
I can’t wait to read more. My little girl is turning one soon and I’ve actually wanted to start potty training but It’s gonna be a lot of work I think…
Thanks for this! I just switched my 2 year old to cloth in anticipation of a new baby, and hopefully this will help with potty training.
Potty training is such a challenge, but cloth is just as easy as any disposable. There a great number of cloth trainers that seem to work well for the ‘panty’ effect and are easy for toddlers to get up and down without difficulty. I have learned to buy ones that have adjustable side snaps (such as the Best Bottom trainers) in the event that there is a poo-mergency! Have you tried pulling down the panty-like cloth diapers without creating a mess? What a disaster!
I am looking forward to seeing if this baby potty trains sooner since he is in cloth and our first son used disposables.
I am curious to see what you find! We have never had one in cloth until our current baby so I’ve only got experience with the icky pull-ups.
Love this! what great tips, and so encouraging for a mom about to start this process!
Just starting on the cloth diaper journey, but I’m looking forward to pistive potty training in the future.
Thanks for some great info. This is the first of mine in cloth, and the first boy that I will have to help potty train.
Thank you, such great info. Especially for a new to cloth momma of a day trained 2yr old and a newborn. Thank you.
So excited about the prospect of early potty training…except…I’ve loved buying diapers so much…I would miss all the cute baby bums!! 🙂
My son was so hard to train. I really think using Pull-Ups hindered the process – he couldn’t feel wet in them!
I am currently 11 weeks pregnant with my first. I am so very excited and spend most of my freetime researching what to expect. I have been looking into what diapers I will want to use, and it’s really got me thinking about my childhood. The ways in which I was potty trained, etc. It’s crazy to think back on those times and realize I soon will have a little one of my own to teach all these things to 🙂 So excited
We use cloth almost exclusively so I can’t imagine switching to disposable pull ups! Glad there are lots of good cloth options that pull up.
I have cloth diapered three of my littles but they didn’t potty train earlier than their peers. Maybe I didn’t push it enough!
helpful info, am thinking of using cloth to potty train my 2yo. Tired of buying disposables!
We’re gonna give it a shot next week during Spring Break!
im not looking forward to potty training my son lol only cuz thats means no more fluff
Interesting, I had never considered the correlation between cloth vs disposable and potty training.
Great article. My first potty trained at 22 months but we didn’t cloth with him so we will how our second does since he’s fluffy.
My son has been asking to pee on the potty for months and is just starting to recognize #2!
I’m excited to use our cloth training pants!
My son that we used primarily cloth in, trained much earlier than my son who I used mostly disposables for, I am also anti pull up as much as possible.
I’m trying to potty train my 2 1/2 year old. Was thinking of getting the pull-ups since they have characters on them but I don’t think I will after all. I’ll try the cloth ones first.
Good read!
Okay, maybe the reason cloth babies tend to be potty trained sooner is because of the hosing poop factor.lol. I’m done with diapers. I started buying disposables but my hubby’s not liking it. I am definitely planning on potty training baby girl (18 months today) this summer. I don’t care what it takes- potty party, sealable lidded portable baby potty, whatever! I’m doing it. I’m done. 🙂
Thank you for the Info!
I too found Pull-ups to be utterly useless. I finally just let my two year-old run around naked or I put cloth underwear on her and she quickly figured out the whole potty thing. 🙂
I am thinking about switching to cloth for both my 3 month old and 2.5 year old. He does not want to potty train and I’m at my whits end!
I’d like to see the comparison of stay-dry cloth vs non-stay-dry cloth vs disposable for potty training. I wonder if stay-dry cloth and disposables yield similar results
Our daughter is 20 months and starting to show interest in the potty. We are using cloth potty trainers to start her training soon.
Thank you for such and informative blog post on potty training thank you.
Love this!!! Venturing into this unknown land as we speak! Thank you for sharing!
Interesting thoughts. Our 2 year old is potty trained but still wears a diaper at night, and I wish we could get her over that hurdle so that we could be finished with diapers! We have a 6-month-old who is in cloth diapers full-time (except for church on Sunday) including nights and it’s working great. it would be interesting to see whether I could get him potty trained sooner than my other two kids.
Great read!
My grandson started potty training at 16 months after cloth diapering.
Thank you for sharing with us!! So great to hear from Moms who have been through it!
I hope it’s true that cloth diapered babies potty learn faster! My son is 16 months, so II’ve started thinking about potty learning but I’m pregnant and I’ve heard that older children regress when another baby comes. We’ll see. I haven’t decided yet if we’ll encourage him or not. I’m going to see if he initiates it.
I believe that cloth diapers give more of a feel of soiled pants and therefore is more incentive for pottying…however, seems to work better for girls than for boys. My boys could go a lot longer in dirty pants than my daughter. Just a thought.
hoping cloth will make potty training so much easier
I appreciate this post and the comments because of the various expereinces shared. We have just moved into the world of solid poop which I was very nervous about. It was a smooth move 🙂 (pun intended). My little one is 5 months so we have some time before we potty train, but I am mentally preparing now!
We just started really early elimination communication. We’ve been using trainers on him and it seems to be going really well. I’m glad we’re not wasting money on disposable trainers.
Here’s hoping my little man is potty trained by 18 months! That’s a fierce goal of mine 🙂
We recently switched my two year old to cloth, I’m hoping he feels the wet and decides to potty train before my newest comes in June!
Wish I’d known about cloth trainers with my son in the beginning, we would’ve SO used them!! he is almost done training now.
Pull up diapers are to similar to normal diapers for my liking. The child needs to not get complacent in wearing them otherwise all your and their hard work disappears.
Oh, I hope my guy decides to train soon. He’s 18 months and shows no interest in using the potty, though he does sit on it a couple of times a day. He’s big for his age (34 lbs) and has already outgrown his one-size diapers. I’m finding our options in cloth at his size are quite limited, especially since it still needs to hold a full pee or two and not just an occasional “accident”.
Looking forward to seeing the benefits of using cloth when it comes time to potty train!
I’m going to follow this series. My 21-month-old is getting ready, I think. He sits on his potty (in his cloth diaper) after he poops every morning. So we’ll get there soon..and I can’t wait. So tired of stinky poop and diaper spraying!
I also think pull-ups are horrible. I know some parents swear by them, but my opinion is that parents need to take the time to work with their kids. Not all kids are just going to sit on the potty one day and never wear a diaper again. You’re going to have to ask them every half hour and they’re probably still going to have accidents, but that’s better than still bing in diapers when they’re four. I agree that “keeping the princesses dry isn’t going to be good enough motivation for most kids.
First time potty training a boy- excited!
I look forward to reading more! My daughter is 17 months and has been showing some signs she might be ready to start.
Thankful for posts on potty training to get all of the tips we can as we embark on the journey for the first time! Thanks for posting.
I’m just getting ready to start with my two year old twins.
My little guy doesn’t seem to care about being wet in his sposie, I’ll have to try a cloth diaper to see if that makes a difference!
Potty training my daughter was horrible. I’m hoping that it goes a bit easier with my son, who we are cloth diapering. I guess time will tell, and all kids are different anyway.
I hope you’re right: that toilet training will be easier in cloth… it will be yet another reason to use them over disposables!!
i’m not there yet on potty training. but hoping it goes smoothly with cloth!
We just started potty training and I love how his trainers let him feel wet and look very different than his diapers.
Interesting . Looking forward to more info on potty training
This is such a nice thought. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been true for either of mine, and its not for lack of trying. We use cotton diapers, no stay dry, and start introducing the potty early. Still, in diapers until 3. Sigh.
I hear that cloth diapering will definitely help with potty training. I used disposables with my first but now I am switching to cloth diapering for my 6 month old. I am hoping that it’ll go smoothly. I’m tired of blowouts! My friends have been telling me they don’t eexperience blowouts with cloth diapering.
Great article. I love reading the comments also and hearing how early some children are potty trained by.
Potty training for my two cloth diapered boys was such a breeze. No drama. They basically did it themselves. I think kids need to physiologically ready. However I do think never feeling the wetness in disposable pull ups delays many children.
My 18 month old is showing signs of potty training. Since he is cloth diapered I know we will use cloth trainers.. Great article
At 20 months, my son really stated showing an interest in the potty. We had already been doing EC part time but now he was telling us when he had to go. So…we bought pull ups. Now, at 23 months, he rarely lets us know when it is potty time and we are back in CDs full time. We have some cloth trainers otw in the hopes that it will provide the fun pull up experience while still allowing him to feel wet.
Love this! So informative
Toilet training is getting closer in this house too. Ds is nearly there and knows he doesnt like being wet. Gotta love cloth bums
I hope potty training goes smoothly, however my son doesn’t even care if he’s wet or poopy! :/
I just bought my 2 year old some cloth trainers…excited to see how she likes them!
I just put my little one into underwear. I tried pull ups and it was such a waste of money. Would love to have some tips since my little one still struggles with being potty trained.
Looking forward to trying out cloth on #3. Wasn’t able to really try with the first two.
Good info.
What are the best cloth training pants?
Good info – partially looking forward, and partially terrified of when it comes time to potty train!
I really like potty training with cloth versus pull ups. I went a lot easier.
I agree I do not think pull-ups are the way to go. I think they are just glorified disposable diapers and serve no purpose but to be more expensive and be a crutch. If you are going to potty train, you just have to take the plunge and if the child (and their panties and the floor or their bed) get wet, so be it. They’ll learn and hopefully not do it again.
I’m excited to see how different potty training is with my second (my cloth baby) than it was with my first (my disposable diaper baby). My first just started being completely potty trained, with very few accidents, and it took him forever. I sincerely feel that disposable training pants just let him think that he was still in a diaper and it was safe for him to go. It was awful!
Oh potty training… Those days are in front of us but this is a great reference point!
I’m looking forward to hearing further installments of this blog. Although I may be slightly sad to say goodbye to cloth when our little one potty trains, training at 18 months sound too good to be true. I’m interested in trying though.
I didn’t know that cloth diapered babies potty train quicker! Seriously, between the money saved, adorable designs and THIS, I’m feeling more confident the closer I get that giving this cloth thing a try is a good decision. Will definitely be following these posts =)
I think training in cloth is more flexible. You can add more or less inserts or whatever you need to do.
Getting tired of buying overnight pull-ups is what got me started cloth diapering! Now my son is in cloth and #3 due august is going to be in cloth as well 🙂
My 29 month old refuses to actually use the potty. He will get it ready, take his pants off and sit on it. Then immediately jump off and flush the toilet. A wet prefold just doesn’t bother him enough I guess!
Loved using Christie covers with profiles for potty training. We did half and half reusable, when we committed to potty training I just stopped buying regular diapers, it Helped us both stay on track!
i have heard potty training can be easier w. cloth because there is more of a wet feeling- let’s hope so 🙂
I have actually thought about switching back to cloth full time with my three year old because he is not potty trained yet.
I think this is a great topic to cover! I have twins, a boy and a girl, so we will need lots of tips for potty training!
Interesting! Both of my older boys wore disposables and they weren’t potty trained until just before their 3rd birthdays. My 5 month old is cloth diapers, and it will be interesting to see if there is a difference. Although, I confess that I am having so much fun with cloth diapers, I don’t think I’ll mind much if he doesn’t train quicker!
My older kids were pretty easy to train, and I’m hoping the little will be just as easy. This will be our first time in cloth though.
We are in the thick of it right now with our first! Trying to get a handle on it before #2 arrives!
These posts will be so helpful!
Makes sense for cloth to help kids potty train quicker! Good to know!
I am curious to see how my non cloth baby trains compared to my clothy baby!
My almost 4 year old has taken forever to potty train because when she has on a disposable she doesn’t use the potty. I added PUL to some trainers to help accidents but I can’t get her to wear a CD at night! Ahhh
I’m eager to see how potty training will go as a cloth-diaper mama.
It is really easier to potty train using cloth diapers when you stop using stay dry liners on that stage
I don’t think it makes as much difference what you use as how consistent you are. My girls were potty trained early and both used disposables. The price was plenty of motivation to get them out of diapers!
When I potted trained my now 6 year old, we got a sample of pull ups in the mail (thankfully we didn’t buy a whole pack). He did the same thing as the girl you nannied. We looked in all the stores to find trainer pants that our parents suggested we use and couldn’t find anything! I wish that I would’ve known about the cloth diaper/trainer pants world then! We ended up just using undies, which was a mess a lot of the time, but it worked!
We also used a sticker chart, a jar of m&m’s, plus another bigger reward.
Can’t wait to see what your sister says though!
Helpful advice! Thanks!
Would love to get a few option with training. Love my cloth
Love this!
We aren’t anywhere near ready for potty training but I look forward to your posts on training in cloth. I think it will be helpful when we are at that stage.
I didn’t actually find much difference. My son was in cloth & PT later than my daughter, who was in sposies. I think it had more to do with their personalities!
We’re close to starting potty training. I was hoping that we would have already started earlier, but I just didn’t really think about it with everything else going on in life these days. She just turned 2, so hopefully the end is in sight!
My second son, who was exclusively cloth diapered, was potty trained by 2. I think it was the combination of seeing his brother and the cloth diapers. He hated being wet and would take them off when he was wet or dirty. It really motivated him to use the potty!
Definitely adding to the baby registry 🙂
Great article. We just started training our oldest and it has felt so overwhelming. This really helps.
Interested to read more! My son wore cloth up until potty training. I thought underwear would work well as it would feel “icky”, but it didn’t. I had a lit mire success with keeping his bottom bare for a few days. I’m very curious about cloth trainers as I think about my daughter for the future. (She is also one.)
My little girl has been trying to use the potty for a couple months now (she’s almost 16 months) but this last month was not great… She seems to be regressing. Perhaps switching to cloth training pants rather than cloth diapers would help?
Aside from a few random times of showing interest in using the toilet, we haven’t tried potty training my 26 month old daughter. I do hope when we get there (hopefully soon) cloth will prove to make it a smoother transition 🙂
This post was very usefull. I find easier to potty train using cloth diapers as babies feel wet. But I would like to try elimination comunication too.
We’re not that close to potty training, but this does make me really glad I’ve invested in cloth training pants!
My daughter trained herself just after her 2nd birthday. I’m sure I have cloth to thank for that.
We went straight from cloth to regular panties with our daughter when she turned two, and she potty trained in one weekend. We are still working on night time, I think since we spare using pull-ups at night it is taking longer. We put her in a cloth diaper for the first time tonight and I m hoping she will wake up when she pees.
This is a great post. I’ve been wondering how a lot of my CDing friends have potty trained their LO’s so early on. Now I know.
I used disposables with my first child and cloth with my second. My second was potty trained at 20 months, and she was motivated to do it. The first, I tried pull-ups, and they didn’t work. He wasn’t done with diapers until after he was 30 months. 10 months of diapering that I could have possibly avoided if I had cloth diapered him!
I’d love to read any tricks, hints, suggestions you have. we do a lot of naked time & trips to the potty but she’s perfectly happy to potty on the floor or the potty… :/
I hope potty training in cloth is easier. Baby will be one soon and that’s when we begin to introduce the potty chair. This is my first child using cloth. The first didn’t potty train til 3 & second at 18 months.
This is one of the many reasons why I’m cloth diapering and completely agree with the opinion that cloth diapered babies potty train faster 🙂
I worked in daycare for 6 years before having my own children. I completely agree with pull-ups just being a novelty item; a fancy diaper. My own children have never used disposable anything, we prefer cloth diapers, then naked during training, then commando for some time before introducing undies. My first potty trained in literally one day at just 25 months old. My second is 26 months old and not even close to being ready, though slowly moving in that direction. I’m hoping to start him around 30 months. Can’t wait to read more about your take on potty training and cloth diapers.
We had such an easy time with potty training and I do wonder if using cloth had something to do with it. I had heard so many horror stories so it was a pleasant surprise that it went so well at 26 months for our son – made me wish we had started soonerď
My daughter potty trained at 21 months. We’ve used cloth from day 1.
Oh man, I’m so excited to potty train my son!
This is one of the reasons I decided to use cloth diapers with my son!
I definitely believe that cloth babies potty train/learn more quickly than their disposable-using counterparts. My son is 19 months and at the same level of potty using as his almost 3 year old cousin.
good to know!
I think I’m going to potty train with cloth because I think it will definitely save me money.
I believe this too. My 16 month old is probably ready but with a baby coming in a month I am not. 🙁
Great article!!
I’m new to the cloth diapering world and I have not even thought about how or if it would be different to potty train when using cloth diapers. I am having a boy in November, and potty training a boy seems like its own task! Thanks!
Reading all the comments…interesting.. baby will be 1 in a couple weeks. Hard to believe!
My first used pull ups a few times but they were just a waste of money in the end 🙁
Great post, thanks for this!
great article!
Thanks for this!! So Great!
We just started cloth with my 2 month old. My 2.6 month old we are attempting to potty train. She is completely capable and was potty trained but then decided she liked her disposables better. Before that however she would pee her pants on my couch all day. It was horrible!!!
Started potty training and really don’t want to use glorified diapers such as pull ups.
Love this! My LO has been sitting on the potty since she was 4 months (we did part time elimination communication) and regularly poops in the potty, usually everyday. Peeing is hit or miss, however, and I am thinking the cloth pull ups might help since they feel wet like you said. When I went to buy them at our local boutique, they were WAY too big and that was the small size. Hoping to find some that fit better so we can really get this potty thing going!
Used cloth and my 2 year old was potty trained fast and doing a great job.
I have some cloth for my first, on its way. But I have considered putting them on my neices to see if they respond better to their bodys’ signal to potty if they know that they will be uncomfortable after.
cant wait to potty train, although admittedly I will be sad to be done with my cloth diaper stash!
We’re still on the long road to completely potty training my older son, now 3-1/2, despite us using cloth diapers almost exclusively with him (as well as cloth trainers). He’s kind of a stubborn, kid, lol — he sometimes would rather keep playing than take a potty break! Makes no difference that he’s in regular underwear!
When will thirsties make a trainer?
We recently bought our 13 month old a potty and he has been catching on how to use it. It’s good to know that cloth should help this process along later down the road. 🙂
Win!!
Hoping to potty train soon. This was helpful!
We’re going through this now and I’ve been training with disposables. Needed to read this one!
I totally agree that disposables prolong training!
Great article! I’m really trying to stick to my guns with cloth diapers. I whole heartedly believe they help train faster. I still have a ways to go though. My DS is only 2 mos but I like researching ahead and being prepared 🙂
I’ve been practicing Elimination Communication with my 3 month old and he definitely prefers using his potty to having a wet cloth diaper on his bottom!
I heard that cloth diapers make it easier to potty train… all the more reason to use cloth! 🙂
Great article! I hadn’t thought of it but it makes total sense! Now to try and get my sister i law to switch to cloth
I dunno… We’ve always used cloth, and our now 22 month old has had varying feelings about her potty. Right now she’d rather hug it than sit on it. I think the bigger impetus is that I’m starting to tire of diaper laundry…
I never thought of it that way! Will remember to keep up the cloth when we get to that stage.
My first son potty trained at 2 years but not sure how my second will go :). I am just letting him go on his own terms :).
Nothing has seemed to make much difference to my 2.5 yo. Cloth, pull ups, naked. It just doesn’t bother him to be wet or to pee on the floor. Candy works if I nag at him to go potty but it’s very temporary.
My used disposables with my son and when it was time to potty train (we started at 21 Months), we completely ditched the disposables and put regular underwear on him. It took about 4 days for him to understand that he was to keep his underwear dry and go potty in the toilet. Now we are expecting our daughter in December and planning to cloth diaper from the get go. My concern is that when we do start to potty train, she will still feel the wetness because of using cloth as opposed to my son who was used to feeling dry in his diapers.
Luckily my daughter wanted to potty train on her own so we didn’t struggle much with her
I couldn’t agree more than disposables prolong the process. I cant wait to PT this baby with cloth!!
This is our next journey… Nervous but excited. This article was great!
I have a feeling my daughter will potty train early.
I am expecting my second baby and I’m considering cloth diapering this time around. I used conventional disposables with my first child and wow, potty training was tough. I never used pull-ups but tried to go straight to underpants. I think it took a whole year before we were accident-free, partially because we would start over with diapers because my son would get so frustrated. I tried to be very gentle on him and go at his pace. Anyway, I would hope that cloth diapers would help to make the transition a little easier and it is one of the reasons I am considering them.
My daughter was almost fully potty trained by 12 months when I was at home her but as soon as she started in daycare where she moved to disposables and no access to a toilet at all she quickly stopped asking. We are now getting back into it as 18 months now that she has a toilet in her next room up and I would love to be able to get her back into cloth too.
I definitely agree that pull-ups are not the way to go! We use disposables at night, but he’s only 8months so we’re not potty training yet.
I never really thought about the fact that there may be a difference in potty training with cloth vs. disposables. Very interesting!
My son will be 2 in a month and baby #2 will be here 2 months after that. I’m hoping to start on his birthday and make at least some progress before the baby gets here. He’s not interested at all right now though.
My daughter isn’t even 4 months yet, but I’m hoping being in cloth will help speed the potty training process. Maybe using the potty like her big sister will be a little motivation too.
I started potty training my first at 6 months and he was trained by two. Im planning to do the same with my next!
Great read! Potty training has been very difficult here. Hopefully it gets better.
I will definitely be using cloth when potty training!
Great read! I have heard elsewhere that cloth diapered kids train faster as well! So many good rreasons 🙂
Having used disposables with my first son, using cloth with my 2nd and 3rd is a whole different experience. They feel wet better and will remove the diaper or sit on the potty, and there is also less of a rush from parents to save $$ from buying those pullups!
My children weren’t fully trained on the potty much earlier than their peers, but the did have fewer wet & poppy diapers. I put them on the tiny Baby Bjorn potty as soon as they can sit up–Usually in the morning, after naps & before bed . It make my children more aware of being wet & soiled at a much earlier age.
I love this! So informative and entertaining at the same time. Haven’t gotten to the training sstage yet, but can’t wait to see what happens!
Looking forward to reading this series as we are just starting our potty training adventure.
i am a new mother so it was a great article to know more about potty training and it will really nice to know more as the article was very informative.
Cant wait to read more about this! My son is 15 Months and we are wanting to start potty training soon.
Very informative. Thank you very much.
I loved cloth for potty training, it was the laundry hassle of less things to wash that was my issue. Not to start – but once she got a hang of it.
I always heard that cloth babies trained sooner and faster than disposable. I am interested in reading more to see if this is your experience with your son. We are approaching 9 months and he is not a fan of being wet or dirty, so hopefully he will potty train sooner rather than later.
My son is almost 2 and we rotate between cloth at home and disposable at daycare (our new son on the way is gonna go totally cloth but we wanted a trial run with the first one!!) and we struggle with potty training. He knows the potty and how to pull his pants up and down and he even tells us after he goes “poo” but I’m not sure if we are confusing him with using both types of diapers, etc. I am excited to hear more about your experiences with cloth potty training-if nothing else for our newborn on the way!!
Yeah, I’ve seen waay too many little kids kept in disposable training pants who take way longer to potty-train because they don’t care if their pullups get wet, because its not like it gets pee on their clothes, right? Of course, then there are the kids who are just kept in diapers way too long who cease to care that they are sitting in their own poop or pee, instead of going – Aah! I need a diaper change…
I’m SO far away from this process since I have a newborn, but I’ve heard that cloth to potty training is easier. I’ve also heard that it depends on the kid. I’ve also heard of 1 kid who liked his cloth patterns so much (dinos and shapes and superheros) that he didn’t want to transition to underwear!! hahaha. So maybe the underwear companies need to make a little more effort in their underwear designs?? Hahaha. In the meantime, I’ve seen tutorials in sewing a prefold into real underwear as transition underwear. I pinned it so I’ll be ready when the time comes.
I feel desposible made potty training my girls more difficult
My LO has been potty trained since before his 2nd Bday thanks to cloth!!! Best accidental win ive ever had!
I’ve been reading up a lot on potty training for my son. As we’re making a trans-continental move right after he’s 18 months, I’m not buying or getting anything to start it now, but it’s definitely on my mind. Possibly earlier potty training was definitely one of the reasons I wanted to try cloth.
Great info!
can’t wait to potty train
Switching to cloth made the difference for us!! Potty trained at 20 MO 🙂
Just had our baby 6 weeks ago but she will be potty trained in cloth diapers!
Following this for when my son is potty training!
We find that it’s much easier potty training a child that has been in cloth diapers because they have a feeling of “wetness” when they go. We also use a rather old book “potty training in less than a day” Three kids we’ve potty trained. One day of potty trainiing with mom or dad ((and all the other kids out of the house) and then typically less than three accidents after. Iit’s been very easy and low drama, and I attribute part of that to the fact that we’ve exclusively cloth diapered.
You know, I really wish I had tried cloth for potty training. I feel like a prefold would have made him feel wetter than a pull up. And, you’re right. keeping the “prize” from disappearing was a motivator for maybe 2 weeks.
I think my 12 month old whom I cloth diaper will potty train much earlier than my other 3 whom I did not use cloth diapers on. She stays dry for long periods of time. I’m not sure when I will start the potty training process though. I just love the cute cloth diapers.
I HATE potty training with a passion!!! I made the mistake of using the Pull Ups with my first one and will not be doing that again. I feel like it was just a more expensive disposable diaper that did exactly the same thing. I even think that it set up back a few steps once we put it on our child. So will definitely stay away from those things next time and just stick with cloth.
I never understood pull ups. You pay more for them mines well just keep them in the diaper
I was just having this discussion with my husband yesterday – about whether or not children who wear cloth potty train sooner. Yet another argument to go with cloth! 🙂
I credit my son quickly potty training at the age of 26 months (just over 2) to the fact that we did cloth diapers with him. I did no use pull-ups either, just did underwear and plastic pants when we would go out places.
I am a first time mom and I cloth diaper. My daughter Elsa will be one soon… I have mixed emotions. I know I would like to start potty training her… So I am following these posts!! Thank you!!
We are expecting our first baby in June, and plan to cloth diaper up until potty training! It is never too early to start reading up on things that will happen in our near future, so I will definitely be following these posts!! 🙂
We have a 15 month old boy in cloth diapers right now. We just recently started cloth diapering so it will be interesting to see how long it takes him to potty train. He already dislikes feeling wet and definitely does not like being “dirty”. So hopefully it will be easy to potty train him from cloth. We have a daughter due in June that we plan to cloth diaper from the start so maybe she will potty train faster. Interesting to see how this all plays out. 🙂
Great article. I’m due in August and have been debating whether to use disposable diapers or cloth diapers…this is another reason why cloth diapers is winning over disposables!
I have three children, but am cloth diapering for the first time with my youngest. I am excited to see if he potty trains sooner than the first two! Thanks for your insight!
Thank you for the insight! Great article.
Very interesting! Where do the benefits to cloth diapering end?
Very interesting. After 2 children who potty trained themselves, I’m curious how our 19 month-old will do.
I’m hoping with cloth diapers potty training my next child will be easy.
I’m interested to learn more! My daughter is only 6 months right now, but it would be interesting to be able to potty train her sooner rather than later!
Very helpful!
great article!
I would wana try potty training around 12 to 18 months. I just had my babygirl last month making me a new mom! I hear a lot about potty training being faster with cloth. Good luck to you and hopefully i can learn some tips in your future posts.
Well, my 2 year old sometimes wants to be naked, but she still pees on the floor. Not ready to potty train yet!
This is some great information. I’m not even ready to think about potty training yet but I’m bookmarking this 🙂
I am planning on cloth diapering my baby when she gets here. She’s due in late October. I hadn’t even thought of potty training yet! I hope to do cloth for that phase of her life too!
There are so many factors involved in potty training (or any childhood milestone!), I think it’s hard to ascribe success/failure to any one particular aspect. Both my older kids potty trained at age 2 of their own accord, and they were both in disposables. Cloth diapering has many features in its favor, and if it does have a chance to ease potty training, even better. But I wouldn’t expect it to be a magic bullet — some kids will just take longer to tune in to their body’s cues, or to care enough about them to stop playing and use the bathroom!
Good read! I’m curious on how this will go when the time comes since this is our first we ever did cloth with.
I do not know if cloth really helps a toddler potty train faster. Sometimes they are just stubborn and do not want to try to do it. My oldest was three when she finally decided to do it and she was in disposables with occasional cloth training pants for a while. My current youngest is almost 13 months and is primarily in cloth but does not really show much interest in potty training yet. Interested to see what happens over the next several months and reading more.
i found it easier with cloth diapers when it came to potty training. the transition was easier but the kid still needs to be ready and parents ready with patience
This is exactly what I have been looking for! My 1 1/2 year old wants to be potty trained like her big sister so badly, she can’t stand it!
My daughter doesn’t care much to dirty in a pull up, but if she does in the cloth panties, she gets super upset. Cloth has definitely helped us progress in her potty training ten fold!
We are just starting to potty train so we’ll see how it goes!
Our 3.5 yro is fighting potty training like Whoa! I was hoping that cloth diapers (and we even use prefolds, so no stay-dry materials) would speed up the process since she could feel when she was wet… No such luck. Oh well- we shall just keep at it! I know she’ll get there in her own time.
I’m wondering how this will work! Do I switch strait to underwear when he can keep his diaper dry? So glad for this blog@
This article is really informative. I’m a FTM and early potty training reports from other mamas have really bolstered my resolve to use cloth diapers. Besides being economical, using them also give me a sense of somehow bonding with the mothers of by-gone eras and how they did cloth diapering. Not to mention the ecological factor and rashless babies!
Very informative post – we are still far away from potty training but it is good to be prepared.
I would love to have a potty triend baby by 18 months. We are already doing modified EC so fingers crossed.
I’m getting ready to potty train my 2 year old and this is great advice. Thanks!
So much great advice in this article.
This definitely motivates me to do cloth diapering!
I think disposable pull-ups were also invented because people don’t want to deal with washing (or much less, touching) a cloth diaper that has been peed/pooped on. It really is kind of amazing how society has become so far removed from using reusable products, favoring disposables which not only collect in landfills, but can be full of chemicals that aren’t really that good for us! Our society is obsessed with convenience. And I don’t really mean to harp on everyone in society because I am often still in that boat. But I believe we can all take small steps which make a huge impact for both the planet and our own health. Cloth diapering wasn’t exactly a small step for me, but I believe it made a huge impact, not just for the planet, but also my budget, my babies health, AND (who would have expected this???) it’s FUN! Sure I have to wash the diapers, but it’s really not as hard as I expected (or as gross), and I adore all the cute prints! It is kind of hard for me to put into words, but suffice it to say it really just makes me feel like I’m doing something good for my baby. It does take extra time and energy, but it was a trade-off I am now glad I decided to make. Now in response to this particular post… will it help us in potty-training? I have heard that it will and that was certainly an appealing reason to try cloth-diapering! …but even if it doesn’t, I think cloth is TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!
With my first we didn’t use cloth, and we tried pull ups and I for sure think it prolonged potty training. It’s just a diaper that they can pull down. My daughter didn’t want to potty train until she had undies. We had accidents but it was so worth it! Especially with the price of pull ups! Now I’m trying to potty train my middle child who is in cloth…we will see how this goes:) thanks for sharing!
We are doing this with oldest right now and so thankful for these posts
Interesting article. Looking forward to potty training time already. I’m hoping cloth diapers make it easier.
How timely to stumble across this post right now! We are in the midst of potty training, and I was feeling a little discouraged today. I plan to seek for and read the other posts for more tips and help! Thank you!
My son decided to potty train at 16 months (he hated feeling wet). We used cloth trainers and it worked great. Disposable pull ups were nice for car trips though because sometimes we couldn’t pull over fast enough and he would have an accident. In cloth trainers, his shorts would be wet by the time we pulled over but disposables kept him and the car seat dry.
My youngest is taking forever to train with cloth trainers, I find they’re so absorbent that she uses them like a diaper, she doesn’t yet mind feeling the wetness against her skin. Maybe she’s just not ready?
Just about ready to star potty training!
This is so interesting!
Awesome, thanks. I’m about to start potty training my first cloth diapered kid,
Just getting ready to potty train my 2 year old and am glad we have done cloth since he already knows when hes wet now just have to get him to go in the potty.
I will have potty training to look forward to as my dd is only 11 months old. I have seen some interesting “solutions” to the pull up that are cloth. I would love to hear more about Coopers potty training journey.
Cloth raises awareness for my one son, but for my son with autism he does care what he pees in haha, oh well…baby steps either way.
I have my son exclusively cloth diapering now and his sister started late. She’s 3 years old now and still not potty trained. She’s using pull ups cloth diapers.
I loved your point about if a baby feels wet, it will be most likely an incentive to transition to the potty instead of going in the cloth diaper. I wonder if you’ve been using cloth diapers throughout the diapering process, if some kids ever become adjusted to the feeling. I’m betting not. Thanks!
That makes sense about pull-ups…they do just seem like diapers.
My daughter is 18 months and showing signs. We will start soon. (Definitely using cloth trainers). My older daughter was not cloth diapered and was 3 before she was interested. I know all kids are different, but I do contribute this to cd’ing.
Just found out I’m pregnant and leaning towards cloth diapers and this really helps!
Looking forward to this series!
My son just turned 18 months and since we are having a new baby in 6 weeks, I am hoping he will potty train early, with the help of his cloth diapers!
I can’t wait to read more! My daughter is in potty training stages and don’t want to use disposable pull-ups but have no idea if cloth ones are worth the investment.
I’m ages away from potty training, but need to start thinking about it.
I think pullups hinder the potty training process! Once we got rid of ours my 2 year old did great!
My mom says I was potty trained at 12 months and I’m not trying to push my daughter into anything she is not ready for, but if I only had 6 more months of changes to go thru, I will miss the cute cloth, but she is just getting too darn squirmy for the process of changes!
I look forward to learning more about potty training with cloth, but truthfully I’m not ready to potty train! I love the cute diapers and can’t justify buying more if I won’t be using them for a while! Also, it would mean my baby is a big boy, and I’m also not ready for that.
My little girl is 10 months old and we are already starting to talk potty training. Not because she has shown any interest, but because she is quite regular with her BMs. I agree that the cause and effect when using cloth will make the process much simpler, but she’s our first, so time will tell
This makes really good sense, pullups really are just disposable diapers. They’re also just a way for a diaper company to extend their reach into making money off of offspring.
I also love that cloth trainers can use through multiple babies! Thats the most important factor for me. The hardest part right now is getting him to ASK and WANT to go on the potty and not in a diaper.
This is informative! It’ll be a while before I start potty training (my daughter’s only 11 months!), but it’s great to know this info is here!
My youngest has suddenly lost interest in using the toilet. She will sit on it regularly, but nothing comes out, as she pees in her diaper. We use cloth already, and this child is quite happy to run around with a fully loaded diaper without complaint, so being wet isn’t a deterrent for her. I am going to try no absorption at all, I.e. Panties only or naked, and am hoping maybe she will dislike the way the pee runs down her legs when she wets herself. I don’t know what else to do, as she is almost three and her older sister went through identical conditions to train, but was fully trained (I.e. Not even at night) since she was 3.
I know I shouldn’t put too much emphasis on numbers, but she was doing really well, waking up dry, and has completely lost interest. I am sure she is ready, she is just enjoying the convenience of going in her diaper.
Very curious how you do this with using cloth diapers. We are currently in the training stage, and he’s doing really well, with my 3.5 yr old. We went to the just wear undies to get him to train. He refused before that. I quote “I want to poop in my diaper momma” I will say he wasn’t cloth diapered all this time, we got out of the rhythm with him and his younger brother, now 2. I’m hoping to stick with it with my newest bundle, due Sept.
Let us know what your sister says!
Great info to keep in mind for when I potty train my little 🙂
This article popped up just in time as I am slowly introducing potty training to my 19 MO old, who could care less! I look forward to the next part of your story!
This is an awesome topic and I can’t wait to hear more! My son initially hated feeling wet, so I started using fleece liners so he wouldn’t scream bloody murder. I imagine when the time comes, I stop doing that so there’s a good cause and effect..?
This is great info for the future! Thank you!
I look forward to your other articles. As a first time mama, and thus first time cloth diapering, I’ve been wondering how to go about potty training.
I’ve heard that cloth makes for easier potty training and it’s definitely another factor that makes it a more attractive option!
We have been potty training my daughter for over a year. She was almost potty trained, and then my son was born and she regressed. Some days we have no accidents, some days we have several. We have tried everything. She’s almost four. Tell me this gets easier.
Loved training my daughter with cloth pull ups! She was an early learner just before her second birthday. My son is almost 2 and still no interest in the potty! I’m kind of excited for cloth diapers for a bit longer!
Being able to feel the wet seems like a sound reason for cloth diaper wearers having an easier time potty learning. We use a stay dry liner in my LOs cloth diapers, so once we begin potty learning we will need to remove those! Never too early to start learning what’s ahead down the road for parents.
We are going to potty train soon I think, so this is helpful!
Good to know
I am excited to start potty training almost two year old now from cloth diapers. Last time I potty trained my oldest it was from disposable diapers.
More about potty training please as this will be our first time & I am very nervous!!! I’ve been reading about it & there are too much that everything gets overwhelming & have no idea where to start!!!
Potty training in cloth diapers is something that has been on my mind since I started looking into cloth diapering, but I haven’t seen too many post about the topic. Thank you!
This is so helpful!
This article is very interesting! I want to read the next part!
I’m interested to see the difference first hand. First time cloth diapering but it’s with my second child. I feel like my daughter was a late potty trainer and took months to get it down perfectly.
My now 3 y.o. was potty trained at 2.5, but honestly we probably could have done it sooner. Baby #2 was due right around she turned 2 and #1 had been showing interest in the potty arou around then, felt better not trying not to tackle a newborn and potty trained as well as not so many changes for #1. I will say that the cloth trainers we tried were okay, but we were a no pants for 3 days family and that’s what worked.
can’t wait to hear more I’m on my third child and first time using cloth.
Great information!! I have a lot to look forward too!!☺️
Ah, potty training. I have heard that also–that babies who are in cloth potty train faster. I generally thought it was because cloth diaper mamas are tired of blasting poop off of diapers Although my son is almost 17 months, I’ve sat him on the potty about 3 times, he was distracted maybe once? Unfortunately with my schedule it’s been nearly impossible to follow him around and catch him to practice, but I am hoping in the coming months to be able to get into the gear of potty training.
Love this! We are planning to use cloth diapers for our first for other reasons, but this is one to add to the list!
I actually have had one in cloth and one in disposable at potty training time. With both, I did the 3 day potty training method that put them straight into panties (not trainers) and required I spend ALL of my time focused on them and asking them to check if they were dry….worked the same for both. But, because the diapers weren’t involved (or trainers) it didn’t matter cloth or sposies. I can imagine if I tried to potty train in diapers, that disposable might be more difficult…although stay dry cloth might be similar.
Following these! I need all the help I can get with potty training soon!
Great article! My kiddos p/l around 3 years old, in time for preschool and I think cloth helped them learn faster.
LO is 18 mos. old & he is starting to become aware of when he goes in his diaper. We’re collecting training pants, books, and a potty. We plan on having lots of naked time on the back porch this summer using the water table and wading pool too. We figure when he goes to day care next year and sees other kids use the potty it will begin in earnest. I look forward to reading more helpful articles.
Just shared this to my older sister who I convinced to cloth diaper my nephew who is now 14 months! We love thirsties for our new baby girl also!!
I’m so curious how potty training will be for my first time using cloth!
I am so excited to use cloth for the whole journey. These blog posts are so helpful and informative!
Pull Ups are just diapers. I potty trained all my kids in cloth training underwear. Easy.
My son just turned 1 and we are thinking about potty training too. We have so many friends with 3 year olds still in disposable diapers so I’m hoping the cloth helps us learn faster!
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