Potty Training with Wool -Longies and Bum Sweaters

Did you know that if you felt wool, it becomes waterproof? “Felting” it simply means “washing it in hot water”.  I will explain how this knowledge can make your potty training experience a happier one! I only discovered this “secret” when potty training my third child, and it is one I wish I had known about sooner.  If you can get an old wool sweater and you have some *very* basic sewing skills, you can take advantage of this strategy when you potty train your child.

I have gotten all of the wool sweaters that I have used at thrift shops, and I refuse to pay more than $1 a piece for them. From one sweater, you can easily get a pair of longies and two “bum sweaters”. Now, that is cheap!  If you look online, you will see that buying them already made for you will cost you $50-$60 each, so we are talking about some serious savings!

When selecting your sweater at the thrift shop, first make sure that it is 100% wool. Then make sure that it is not too scratchy, and that the knit is not too loose so that it will be nice and tight after felting,  and that it doesn’t have holes in it where moths might have gotten at it.

Next, take it home and wash it in your machine in HOT water. Then dry it in your dryer. This is the only time you will want to do this to a wool product!

Now you are ready to make what you are going to make. If you are potty training in the winter, I highly recommend making a pair of longies for your toddler.  They are easy to make, super soft and comfy for your child, and great for potty training. Why? Because they dont get wet! You can go places without taking a bunch of extra changes of clothes! If your toddler has an accident, it is only necessary to change his/her underwear, and put the same pants back on him.

My little boy loved these pants so much that he rarely wore anything else all winter. He got to the point that he didn’t want to wear jeans, because these were so much more comfortable and he could get them on and off all by himself. They were super cute too:

Longies are often made out of the sleeves of the sweater, but because my little guy was too tall to make that an option, I used the body of the sweater to make his longies, and then I used the sleeves to make longies for my baby to match:

However, if you have a shorter toddler, or a larger sweater, you can still make the sleeves work for your toddler’s longies. Here is my niece in a pair of longies I made for her potty training experience. They looked SO cute under her dresses for the winter!

Okay, rather than give you step-by-step instructions here on how to do this, I will just include the links I found the most helpful.  I did a LOT of searching, so hopefully this will save you some time.

For making longies out of the body of the sweater, I liked this tutorial: Make Your Own Favorite Longies

For making longies out of the sleeves of the sweater, I liked this tutorial, even though she is using fleece in the pictures. Same idea for wool, though: Making Recycled Wool Longies

Now if you are potty training your child in warmer weather, you may not like to dress them up in wool pants, right? Not to worry, you can still take advantage of this great system! Just use a super-easy-to-make bum sweater!  I found one wool sweater that was super thin, even when felted, and it was perfect for this.  I then either let my little guy run around only in this, or I would put pants over it. As long as the pants weren’t *too* tight, they fit over this extra little layer of wool, and then stayed dry in the case of an accident. I also sent him to bed wearing this bum sweater over his training pants to keep his sheets dry in the case of a nighttime accident. They were super cute, too!

Here is another example of a bum sweater, that I made for my little cousin out of a little thicker wool, as a diaper cover.  The possibilities are endless!

And, for the instructions, I found this tutorial to be the most helpful: Make Your Own Baby Bum Sweaters