Once a baby grows into a toddler, a lot of moms start to feel a sense of relief. They know that the days of babies are slowly behind them, and this means diapers. It is now about time to potty train, and this means that the days of diapers, changes, and rashes are almost gone. However, a lot of toddlers don’t always go right from diapers to underwear right away and a lot of them go through a transition phase. This means that moms may rely on pull-ups to help get their children through.
Pull-ups can be great because they are absorbent like a diaper, but they have an elastic waistband, so they give the appearance of underwear. They can help a toddler get used to wearing underwear while giving them some protection against accidents and leaks while they are working on using the toilet. However, these do need to be changed, and mom may wonder if she needs to change them as much as diapers, or if her child can go a bit longer while wearing one, especially if they are dry.
When To Make The Switch
Let’s go over first when toddlers are usually ready to switch over to pull-ups. According to Today’s Parent, toddlers are ready for pull-ups when they are ready for potty training, so this answer may not be the same for everyone. Children will always develop at their own rate, and this means that they will be ready for pull-ups at different ages. Most moms will change their toddlers to pull-ups when they are 2 or 3 years old.
Advice From Other Parents
Sometimes the best advice will come from other moms and what they have noticed and experienced. On a community forum on Baby Center, some moms gave their input on how often a pull-up should be changed. Some moms stated that pull-ups are not as absorbent as diapers, so they need to be changed more frequently than mom would change a diaper. Diapers are made to keep an infant comfortable by pulling away from the moisture from the body, but pull-ups are just not designed that way. If a child is peeing frequently in his pull-up and mom notices that she needs to change it every hour, then the child may not be ready for potty training yet.
Why Change It?
We have made a lot of statements on how pull-ups are a lot like diapers, and this means that toddlers can still get a rash if they are in a dirty pull-up for too long. According to What To Expect, pull-ups are made with the same material as diapers, and this means that they are not the most breathable and this can cause a child to get a rash. If a child is sitting in a wet diaper for too long, they can get a sore, red rash and this is why it is so important that mom changes the pull-up as frequently as possible. If mom is really ready for no more changes and rashes, she may want to switch to complete underwear, because she is likely going to be changing pull-ups as much as she was diapers.
Sources: Today’s Parent, Baby Center, What To Expect