Potty Training 101

So toddler E is showing more signs of being ready to use the toilet. He's seen us using it and we've always kept the toilet door open and explained what we were doing whenever he asked. While he's been happy to pee in the grown-up toilet (albeit with a child seat insert so he doesn't fall into the toilet bowl) he's not quite ready to give up pooping in his diapers yet.

A couple of days ago, toddler E wanted to use regular underwear for his afternoon nap. I told him he might wet the bed while sleeping and he said, 'I will hold my pee-pee (that's our word for urine) when I sleep. Then I wake up and will be dry!' Since he was so enthusiastic I just went with it and slipped a waterproof sheet under him after he fell asleep.

And lo and behold, toddler E was dry! I was amazed, he held his bladder for a 2.5 hour nap. Immediately after he woke up, I asked if he wanted to use the potty and he said no. Took about 20 minutes before he said he needed to pee-pee but the hubby was using the toilet so toddler E had to go in his BABYBJORN Smart Potty. He's always refused it before but after he went in it this one time, he's become comfortable and has been going in it all the time now. This is great news for me because I don't have to worry about helping him up onto the adult toilet and keeping track of the child seat insert, sometimes I leave it on the toilet seat and the hubby gets a surprise the next time he goes to the bathroom.

I think we have been really laid back on potty training, not pushing him to use the toilet if he didn't want to and answering any questions he had as honestly as we could in terms a 2 year old could understand. I read somewhere that the bladder doesn't mature until 5 or 6 years of age and control before then can be difficult for a child.

Thank goodness using cloth diapers has kept the cost down as we did not have to buy as many disposables, thus there was no extra cost involved in letting toddler E take a longer time to get used to being diaper free.

Cloth Diapers

I LOVE cloth diapers.

But when I was doing research while pregnant with baby E, there were so many different terms (AIO, AI2, pocket diapers, prefolds etc) that my head was spinning.

Plus I could not get over my hangup about touching poop, even if it was newborn breastfed baby poop which was supposed to be easily washed away and not very stinky. So we used disposables until baby E was about 8 or 9 months old before I took the plunge and bought some Bumwear diapers.

I'm busy, mom (periwinkle bee print)

Maroon turtle print

Green dino print *rawr*

White with black trim

Love the batik inspired patterns that Bumwear prints on their diaper covers. Baby E's bum has never looked cuter.

I then set about building my diaper stash because I knew I would need the extra diapers (and maaaaybe part of the reason is that there are so many cute diaper prints out there!). He now goes through 4 - 5 diapers a day, I change him often because he's gotten a rash before from being in a pee-soaked diaper for too long (was an overnight diaper, have not been able to resolve the issue so he sleeps in disposables to keep his bum dry and happy).

So now his diaper stash includes Bumwear, SgBum (also local Singaporean brand), Charlie Banana (bought from Takashimaya during their introductory promotion), SunBaby (China brand, bought direct off their website) and Bumkins (US brand, bought through a local seller on FB). 

We still use disposables when out and about for most of the day for ease of use and disposal. If it's a short trip to the supermarket then I leave him in a cloth diaper because I know we'll be home in time to change him. 

Baby E also had some diaper rash issues and I racked my brain to figure out what was happening, stripped his diapers several times, changed the amount of detergent used, tried baking soda etc. I finally realised that all I had to do was add an additional insert when stuffing his pocket diapers because he was peeing so much as he grew bigger!

The best part is cost savings. I'm not under pressure to potty train baby E as the cloth diapers will last him another year or so (maybe even longer) and he can start whenever he's ready. A friend of mine was bemoaning the cost of the XXL sized diapers for her son (1 year older than baby E) and she was trying to get her son potty trained ASAP so that she can stop spending on his diapers.