Easy does it! (Pampers Easy-up Pants)

Member Name: i_am_joy

Product:	Pampers Easy-up Pants
Date:	14/07/09 (55 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Absorbant, comfortable to wear, easy to change

Disadvantages: Not so good for sleeping in, not being able to 'wrap' the pants for disposal

Back in May, at age 23 months, my daughter began the slow process of potty training my granddaughter. It's always easier in the summer as what better place for accidents than the garden, and with the glorious weather we had at the beginning of the summer it seemed ideal. Unfortunately apart from the heat wave last month the rain has now descended and potty training is on hold, although the potty is still kept in view and we are using potty training style 'pants' on her during the day in an attempt to get her used to not wearing nappies and therefore make the process easier when we next get a day or two of sunny weather.

Having tried several different brands I must say that Pampers Easy-Up Pants are by far the best in style, ease of use and absorbency. They may not be the cheapest on the market (in fact, during my shopping trip yesterday they were actually the most expensive on the shelf) but they are quite simply the best so I don't mind spending the extra few pence to keep my granddaughter comfortable and clean while wearing them.

They are described as being like underwear, although to be honest they are rather too bulky to really feel like underwear to a little one - I think they are basically a different shaped nappy although do have the appearance of a pair of pants as instead of the fastening tabs you will find on a nappy these slip on and off like pants. This is, I think, a good thing as it will definitely help my granddaughter and other toddlers to understand that while wearing these pants they will not necessarily need to lie down for a nappy change and they can at least start to understand the mechanics of pulling their pants down to sit on the potty or toilet.

The pants are attractive to look at and feature different designs. All of Pampers nappies are nicely decorated in my opinion, but you can see here that they have taken into account the fact that an older toddler will appreciate different designs to a younger baby. The pants I am currently using feature scenes from Bob The Builder which is a big step up from the Pooh Bear designs she has on her night-time nappies I'm sure you'll agree!

These Easy-Up Pants are fantastically absorbent, just like a nappy. My granddaughter has obviously both urinated and pooed in her pants and changing her is really no different to changing a regular nappy, the sides of the pants are easily pulled apart so you don't need to worry about pulling down a dirty pair of pants (and coating your little one's legs in whatever is in there!). I have never once had a problem changing my granddaughter when she has been using the Easy-Up Pants and find it a simple and straight forward process every time. The only thing I feel that is missing is some sort of fastener to enable me to wrap the dirty pants in the same way as I would fold a nappy in on itself before disposal. This isn't a major problem but who really wants to look down and see a dirty nappy lying on the floor as they are changing baby? I say this because once the sides of the pants have been ripped away the pants will usually flop open when placed on the floor during the change, I shall not tell you how many times I've inadvertently placed my hand or knee in baby poo as I'm sure it's too soon after breakfast for most of you!

I wouldn't recommend using them overnight as while they cope admirably with the regular daytime changes, I know from experience the pants struggle when left on for the longer sleeping period. I don't change my granddaughter during the night now as she is old enough to wake and tell me if a wet nappy is causing her discomfort, but recently I had run out of normal nappies and she had to sleep in a pair of Easy-Up Pants. Well, needless to say my granddaughter awoke at around 5am with a soaking wet bedsuit and sheets - even the mattress was wet! I will not criticise the pants for this as they are marketed as being suitable for daytime wear, although from Pampers I would have expected a little better than this.

My granddaughter always appears comfortable in these pants, she wears Size 5 so obviously I am basing my review on this particular size and cannot comment on others in the range. Having said this, Pampers are usually extremely consistent with their products so I really cannot see that any of the other sizes will have massive differences. This particular size covers weights 18lbs - 33lbs, my granddaughter is around 22lbs and they fit her a treat although the level of stretchiness in the waist and leg holes will certainly accommodate her for some time to come.

Summary: An excellent potty training aid - if we ever get to actually potty train the little one!