Oh Crap! Potty Training

getting the pants down. Plus, you want to make it easy for your child
to do it herself if she wants to. If your child is hindered by her clothes
and can’t make it to the potty in time to pee, chances are she will feel
really embarrassed and have a meltdown. Set yourself and your child
up for nothing but success.
One more note about underpants, commando, and the whole
shebang: pull-ups are diapers, plain and simple. I have no use for them.
They prolong potty training indefinitely. No child uses pull-ups as
underpants. And if underpants feel too much like a diaper, what do
pull-ups feel like? A diaper. Don’t waste your time or money.
So Block Two brings clothes. It also combines with Block Three
and brings small outings. These should be planned and will give you a
sense of how leaving the house potty trained differs from leaving the
house with diapers. Early on, though, these should be small—I repeat,
small—outings! Do not attempt a week’s grocery shopping. Do not
attempt an hour drive to Grandma’s. Don’t go to story time at the
library thinking you’ll show off your child’s new skill. Do not try to
complete a necessary chore. Instead, consider a walk around the
block or a run to a store for just one item. These small outings are
practice runs.
It is normal for you child to wet a few pairs of pants. The first
couple of pees, your child may wet all the way through the pants.
Don’t be devastated. Have them help you get new clothes and clean
up. This is common, but I regularly have moms contacting me who
are practically in tears that their child is not getting it. We have no
idea how he’s processing the information you’ve given him. Kids do
not and cannot just up and do something new because we ask them