Saving My Sanity With Homemade Training Pants

Is it silly to say I've been excited about making training pants lately?  As you can guess, potty training is in full swing at our house these days.  I'm thrilled my little lady has decided she's ready, but I've got to admit this phase tests my parental patience.   With 3 kids we've experienced every sort of potty issue imaginable over the years (and purchased a huge assortment of various pants that were less than stellar).  So this time around I decided to get serious and make some of my own.

I'm calling them my Sanity Saving Trainers.  This was my way to have all the features we've found useful and do it at a reasonable price.  There are a few things I've learned are must-haves for training pants:

• Waterproof outer fabric is critical.  PUL fabric (the stuff for cloth diapers) is ideal because it won't leak and it comes in loads of colors and cute prints.  Changing entire outfits with every accident gets old real fast.
• FOE (fold over elastic) makes for soft, yet snug leg holes and waistbands so there's a breathable seal around all the pant openings.  It also makes it easy to get a great fit on all sorts of little bodies.
• Use inserts to adjust the level of absorbency - it means not wasting money on a bunch of different pant styles, since every kid trains at his/her own pace.
• Side snaps for easy on/off in case of a potty disaster.  Ideal when said disaster occurs away from home.
• Motivating designs - kids will wear something they love, but it can be tough to find pre-made pants with specific designs or features.  Not being able to find waterproof Disney princess pants was what got me into making my own!
• Keep it cheap - I've found a few pants for sale that met most of my criteria, but they're pricey.   Unlike cloth diapers they won't be getting years of wear, so paying a lot doesn't really make sense.  Making them is a fraction of the price (and way less than disposable pull-ups).

I lined the pants with flannel so they'd be easy to clean and also retain the wet feeling to help her recognize accidents.  I also created an opening at the back to slip in inserts so I can vary absorbency as needed.  We can slip in a couple of super soaking microfiber diaper inserts during nap time, a single insert when we're on the go, and when she's really got the hang of things, they can be worn without anything.

The sides snap up for easy clean emergencies - because let's be honest, even a kid who's a potty genius is going to have a messy accident (or 20) and the results of some of those episodes are not pretty or easy to pull down without making an even bigger mess.

I coordinated my snaps with the FOE trim to make things more stylish & fun and there's always the option to add a second row to make more size adjustability:

And for some added flair I've even done some appliques to create special custom looks for her.  My sweetie loves all things princess, so I used a layering & folding technique to add a little Sleeping Beauty applique to these pink pants without worry of any leaking around the stitching.  She couldn't wait to get them on, so it was a great incentive for ditching the diapers. 

We've been using these for weeks and they've been great.  She loves wearing them and once I figured out the ideal overall design for us, they've become a quick sewing project.  I love that I've been using stuff I already had in my stash too.  I might make this into a pattern at some point if there are other training pant enthusiasts out there.  In the meantime I need to get a few Fall-style pants going - time to see what my little potty princess wants to wear next!

UPDATE:  I now have a PDF Pattern for my Sanity Saving Training Pants (which includes how to do a waterproof back appliqué) available in my shop.  It can be found HERE.

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