"How Absorbent Are Your Cotton Training Pants?" With Video Update

I was recently asked this question in an email inquiry and decided to do a little test and see. The average 2-3 year old has a bladder capacity of anywhere from 3-7.5 ounces (90-225 ml). I tested 4 pair of cotton training pants (2T). I purchased Gerber, Hanna Andersson Training Unders, and Okie Dokie (JC Penney brand) to compare to my BubbyBums training pants. The priciest and heaviest pants were the Hanna Andersson pants. They weighed 2.2 ounces and have 4 layers of organic cotton that go up the entire center panel. All of the other pants have the absorbent layer in the crotch area only. The Okie Dokie and Gerber pants weighed 1.2 ounces per pair and the BubbyBums pants weighed 1.6 ounces.

Gerber Cotton Training Pants-Made in India.

BubbyBums Cotton Training Pants-Made in the USA.

Hanna Andersson Training Unders-Made in India

Okie Dokie Cotton Training Pants-Made in Thailand

My hypothesis was that the Hanna Andersson training pants would absorb the greatest amount of liquid since they had extra layers extending completely up the center panel. Here's what happened:
Okie Dokie pants absorbed 38 ml of water; Gerber pants absorbed 46 ml of water, BubbyBums pants absorbed 110 ml of water; and the Hanna Andersson pants absorbed 105 ml of water. Since 5 ml is not statistically significant, the absorbencies of the latter two pair are very similar.

I attempted to videotape the testing process but needed a helping hand to do so, therefore it is somewhat incomplete. After washing and drying the pants I compared them to a new pair of each brand to assess how much they would shrink. That might be helpful to view. Take a look.

Remember that the point of training pants is that the child will "feel wet" so they are more absorbent than regular underwear. If your child is a heavy wetter, say at the 7,5 ounces end of normal, you might opt for waterproof or partially waterproof training pants no matter what brand you choose.

Next week's blog entry will be on laundering cloth training pants and diapers.
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