Infant Potty Training - Diapering or Underwear Solutions?

 

Now that Damien is becoming more of a steady walker, we are going to attempt to get a little more consistent with this elimination communication / infant potty training ordeal.

I am not crazy (I keep telling myself). Worldwide, 50% of babies are potty trained before their first birthdays. My goal is at least by 18 months, but this is new territory for me, so I will see how it goes. 

As he continues to become more of a walker and less of a crawler (currently, he still chooses crawling as his main mode of transportation, but he CAN walk and is walking more every day), he will be able to take himself to the potty when he needs to go.

And I am really trying to figure out how I am going to dress him in the meantime.

We will probably opt for diaper-free most of the time. Good old bare-bottom freedom. We will probably still use diapers for a while when he sleeps, or while traveling.

But what about those other times? What about when he's mostly potty trained, but still might have occasional accidents? When it's not appropriate for him to go bare-bottom, but he needs just a little something in case of a leak?

Did you know that it is near impossible to find underwear that fits my 10-month-old? Especially because he is small for his age (he just grew out of his 3-6 month clothes). And also, it would be great to find underwear that is somewhat absorbent.

I have been looking online. Several times. For several months. And I am still not coming up with anything fantastic. The smallest sizes are usually 18 months.

The solution I have currently come up with - swim diapers. The reusable type. They're not perfectly leak-proof, but it seems to do the trick for what I am looking for.

• They are cheaper than cloth diapers (usually around $10 or less each)
• They are easier to pull on and off than cloth diapers
• They're not as absorbent, so the "sensation" that one just went in ones pants is still strong
• They're not bulky - kind of like underwear, just more absorbent

My main hold-up is the leaking, but I guess the only way to get around that is to just straight up put a diaper on the kid, and that kind of defeats the purpose.

Anybody else been through this? What did you use for your little one while accidents were still prone to happen?  

"And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty..." Deuteronomy 15:13

Damien is currently 10 months, 3 weeks old