Next Project!

It's getting to be that time.  A time that strikes fear in the heart of every new parent causing them to lay awake at night wondering how they will get through it.  A time of joy and tears, a time of wonderful success followed by heartbreaking set-backs followed by cautious optimism.  A time of fantastic highs leading to cheering and dancing and rejoicing and terrifying lows leading to sobbing and moments of quiet desperation when you consider that maybe, just maybe, you are the one parent who will fail.

Yes, I'm talking about potty training.

There is an overwhelming amount of advice in the forms of books, articles, blog posts, and the sage advice of the people you meet on the street or in the store as you purchase training pants or well-meaning friends and family.  There are theories, techniques, studies, and opinions.  Helpfully, they all contradict each other.

And the potties, Good Lord, the potties!  They range from a simple piece of molded plastic to having lids, deodorizers, and a spot for putting a box of super special toilet paper/flushable wipes made just for the whole potty training experience.

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One thing that does seem clear is that Cate will need some sort of training pants.  Having used cloth diapers (and some disposable compostable diapers), we are reluctant to go out and buy a box of BigBrand Pull-ups.  Therefore, we are looking at cloth training pants.  I hate those plastic pants that have traditionally been put over training pants, so I'm looking at some alternatives.  One of those alternatives are these modified training pants.  Instead of using a plastic cover, this mom sewed a panel of PUL fabric onto the outside of the store-bought training pants.  PUL is a waterproof fabric often used to make cloth diaper covers.  In theory, I could just use one of the PUL cloth diaper covers I already have to cover the training pants, but the ones I have are designed like a diaper, that is to say it is flat and you bring the front up and the sides around and that's held in place by velcro (I have these in various shades).  However, I would like something that Cate can put on and take off herself.  Wool diaper covers (like the one that I have that is almost finished, and she probably will wear that one) would also work, but she's grown out of the ones I have made and borrowed and I'm not sure I want/have time to make a bunch more in her size.

Fortunately, Joann's sells PUL so I just need to make a trip over there and buy a half yard of it or so and get busy with the sewing machine.  I may make a couple of PUL pants that would entirely cover the training pants, too, to use until she starts to get the hang of things because I'm thinking that the PUL panel is not going to be sufficient in the event of a big accident.

I'm not sure when we're going to start on this little experiment.  We already have both a potty and seat that sits on the toilet that she can use and she likes to sit on both of these and has even peed while sitting on them a couple of times.  So, I suppose you could say we've already started, in a way, with a very gradual approach.  But, I think we need to start ramping up and we'll probably do that sometime soon.  Wish us luck!