The best potty training pants for toddlers

Making that transition from nappies to potty training pants is a huge milestone that’s also a little scary (for you and them!) Soon you'll be waving goodbye to the nappies and looking for the best potties for potty training to start the journey to pants. Your little one will be using the big toilet before you know it, even if there are a few little accidents along the way.

Other parents who have conquered this stage will probably have told you a few horror stories about having to buy new carpets or about the time when their little one had an accident in the shops, on the bus, or at a friend's house, but it’s honestly not that bad. Every child is different, and if you go into potty training expecting a few accidents most days, it makes those surprises a little easier to handle. While you are potty training, as well as considering which potty training pants to buy, it's also worthwhile buying a travel potty like the My Carry Potty training system which will help prevent your little one getting caught short in public, or on a long journey, where there might not be easy access to public toilets.

There's more choice than ever now for potty training pants from disposable pull-ups to reusable, absorbent pants. It doesn't matter if you have been using disposable nappies since birth, or are a fan of cloth nappies, it will make finding the right fit for you and your little one as you embark on this next stage even easier.

Best potty training pants at a glance:

• Best for long journeys: HUGGIES Pull-Ups – Buy now from Amazon
• Best overall: Bambino Mio Potty Training Pants (5 pack) – Buy now from Amazon

• Best for fun designs: Paw Patrol Training Pants - Buy now from Amazon

We've found the best training pants to make potty training that little bit simpler for not only you but your little one too! We'd recommend getting your child involved with every stage, including choosing a potty and pants, and even getting a reward chart for encouragement. It will make the transition smoother and a lot more fun. There are even potty training books you can read with your little one, or why not have a look through the list of potty training pants together and let them pick their favourite?

What are potty training pants?

"Potty training pants are a key potty training product that enables toddlers to make the transition away from nappies towards big-kid pants and are a great first step in your potty-training journey," says Bambino Mio's Product Coordinator and Technician, Alex Nicholls. "Training pants mimic the feeling of wet underwear to allow toddlers to recognise the feeling of needing to use the potty and the underwear-like fit and pull-up style makes it super easy for changing in-between any accidents."

Why use potty training pants?

Rather than a replacement for nappies, potty training pants should be used as a step towards wearing normal underwear as your tot learns to potty train. Because they do not soak up wee as much as disposable nappies, your toddler will find it easier to tell when they are wet and will start to understand that they need to keep them dry, encouraging them to use the potty instead - and acting as an early warning for you too. If you are hoping to get rid of nappies from day 1, with plans to potty train quickly, then potty training pants, especially cloth ones, will just add a little bit of reassurance in case of accidents, especially when out and about, but will also let you ditch nappies sooner rather than later.

Benefits of potty training pants

"There are so many benefits to both parents and toddlers making the transition to reusable potty-training pants. They help promote independence for your toddler with their pull-up style design and help children to feel like they’re wearing real pants," says Alex. "Potty-training pants such as Bambino Mio's usually come in a range of super cute designs and contain a concealed water-resistant layer and absorbent inner pad that minimises the need for any clothing changes. Many are also super easy to wash so that when little accidents do happen, they can be machine washed and tumble dried. They’re great for the environment too, allowing you to move away from single-use plastic products like disposable training pants and towards more sustainable, reusable options."

Types of Potty training pants

Cloth potty training pants: The good thing about potty training is that you won’t have to spend a fortune on nappies every week, but you can reduce the cost even further by using reusable training pants. Not only are these better for the environment, but they help promote independence for your toddler as they look and feel like big-kid pants. Cloth training pants usually have a water-resistant layer and inner pad, which will contain little accidents. You can simply pop them in the washing machine as and when you need to. In fact, if you want to start with cloth nappies before potty training, there are lots of options for reusable nappies on the market, which are great for the environment and saves buying nappies every week.

Disposable potty training pants: For many parents, it's straightforward for their little ones to move onto disposable potty training pants because they feel and work the same as regular nappies, making it an easier transition. You can buy pull ups which although they are as absorbent as a regular nappy, they give your little one independence because they can pull them up and down like regular pants. You might want to transition to nappy pants once your little one is on the move, because they are ideal for older babies who can be quite wriggly to put a nappy on.

How to introduce potty training pants

Bambino Mio shares their expert tips for introducing your baby to toddler training pants.

Make sure they’re ready

One of the best tips we recommend is to make sure your child is ready. Potty training isn’t something you can or should force on your little one. While both girls and boys are often ready to potty train around the same time (between 18 months and 30 months), it’s different for every child. Potty training boys might have different challenges to girls. However, potty training girls will also raise questions and all children will have accidents as they learn this new skill. Pushing your child to potty train before they are ready might actually delay the process and can create unnecessary stress for both you and your child. If your toddler can stay dry for 2 hours or during a nap then they might be ready to say goodbye to the nappies.

A recent YouGov survey provides evidence that using reusable nappies are associated with early potty training by 18 months or younger because reusable nappies allow for an increased sense of independence for both children and parents.

Just because your little one is dry during the day, it doesn't necessarily mean they are ready to be dry at night. Nighttime potty traininghappens at different ages for all children, however, if when they wake up they consistently have dry nappies, then it might be worth seeing how they go without nappies at night. You can always use a pair of reusable potty training pants for reassurance for the first few nights. Once they are dry at night, they may need to get up occasionally to use the toilet, so a toilet nightlightis a lovely idea. Don't worry about bedwetting, lots of children have nighttime accidents, especially those under the age of five.

Make sure you’re ready

It’s important to invest in potty-training essentials to make the transition as smooth as possible. Pull-up style training pants are the perfect step away from nappies towards big-kid pants! It’s important to make potty training a fun and enjoyable experience for toddler, so we recommend stocking up on designs that are eye-catching and let your child choose which style they want to wear – this will encourage them to love wearing training pants.

Praise them

It’s important to be your child’s biggest cheerleader and use words of encouragement to keep them motivated and to get them excited about using potty training pants. Some kids might need more motivation, so rewards might be the way to go. A great idea would be to use a potty training reward chart and each time they use the potty they get a sticker, this is a simple but great way to encourage them to continue to use the potty and understand the journey. But you know your child so use whatever method works best for them, some parents opt for stickers, small toys or a little lolly as a reward.

Keep it consistent

Routine is key in this process, so once you start potty training to keep the momentum going, stay on a schedule. To prevent your child from having accidents and to help them understand the feeling of needing to go, you could try to sit your toddler on the potty at regular intervals during the day and especially after meal times to get them used to the idea. Even though it can be a bit of a repetitive process, it will help familiarise your little one with the routine. You can even introduce some potty training gamesto keep it fun. Yes, sometimes they’ll have accidents, meltdowns and they’ll probably refuse to go, but at the end of it, all your child will understand the process and will start to be more independent and take themselves to the potty. It will be hard at times but remember to give some extra patience as this is all new to them.

How we choose our recommendations

Our product recommendations are based on a combination of real-world testing from our burgeoning army of mum testers, and the extensive knowledge of our experienced editorial team and product specialists. Where we can, we also consult experts who specialise in that field to ensure you get the right advice along with the right product, and we listen to what you say as well. Our thriving mum community on our Facebook group Mumtribe also often hold great insights as to which products mums really like best and why helping us highlight the products that meet what you really want.

For the essential products, our annual Mother&Baby Awards shortlist the top products tested, and you can find full reviews from our mum testers provided on the product page. The winners and runners up for each category then will appear in our top picks article for that product, along with other products that were rated highly by our team.

Find out more about how we test and what considerations we take into account in our testing process.

Samantha Ball is a Product & Lifestyle Writer for Mother&Baby and freelanced for the website for two years before joining the team full time. She's a mum of two and loves browsing for the best products and cute outfits.