PL T2.07Wearing Cloth Training Pants or Underwear
The toddler wears thick cloth training pants they can feel when wet; wet pants are changed in the bathroom with the child taking part, calmly and without blame.
Safety
- Do not rinse soiled clothing at school; put it straight into a sealed plastic bag to send home (Caring for Our Children); stool may be emptied into the toilet first.
- Check that licensing allows cloth training pants; some rules require diapers or pull-ups until a child is toilet trained, or a covering over cloth pants.
- Clean and disinfect floors after accidents as licensing requires.
- Wipe up puddles at once to prevent slipping.
Where US guidance differs
Mainstream US pediatric guidance moves a child to underwear once they show readiness signs, often after 24 months, and some state licensing rules require diapers or pull-ups until a child is toilet trained. Montessori sources use cloth pants early (15–18 months) so the child feels wet and dry; the difference is timing, not method, and both avoid rewards, punishment, and pressure. This work offers cloth pants from about 15 months where licensing allows them; families decide when to switch at home, and the school follows the family's choice and its licensing rules.
Presentation
- 1
Agree with the family on when training pants will be used at school and at home, so the child has the same routine in both places.
- 2
Dress the child in training pants. Tell them: 'You are wearing underwear. When you need to pee, the potty is in the bathroom.'
- 3
Keep offering potty sits at the regular times, and more often in the first days.
- 4
When the pants are wet, say in a calm voice: 'Your pants are wet. Let's go change them.' Do not scold or sigh.
- 5
In the bathroom, invite the child to push the wet pants down and step out while holding the rail. Wipe them, then invite them to step into dry pants and pull them up. The child noticing the pants are wet is the point of interest.
- 6
Invite the child to put the wet pants in the plastic bag. Seal it and put it in their cubby. Wash hands together.
- 7
Invite the child to help wipe any puddle with the cloth, then clean the floor as licensing requires.
Extensions, easiest to hardest
- The child tells the adult when pants are wet
- The child gets dry pants from their cubby
- The child tells the adult before they need to go
- The child wears training pants for naps
Control of error
The child feels wet cloth against their skin right away, which a disposable diaper does not show.
Ready to move on when the child…
- Notices and tells the adult when their pants are wet
- Takes part in changing wet pants without distress
- Uses the potty more often than they wet their pants
- Stays dry for most of the morning