I have been meaning and meaning to figure out how to transition my babe from diapers and towards going diaper-free, and generally, doing what 75% of the world does with their babies (i.e. not using disposables and training them to have an awareness of their bodies, and not sitting in their excrement). But, lots of work, travel, ignorance, fatigue, and stress have slowed down my self-education, confidence, and abilities... But, now I have had some time to do some research and am so excited about all the good info out there about infant potty training. No, this is not some crazy, punitive system where you try to control your babies and give them horrible complexes that would make Freud giddy, but rather a gentle and natural approach to helping them learn how to potty naturally, out of diapers... the same way we support babies developing other skills like eating and walking and talking. It has meant a lot of rearranging, re-education, and mopping up the kitchen floor (but, really, that floor needs to be mopped all the time anyway). Most of all, I am excited to have another way to bond and communicate with my little one and to not have his infancy be more of a burden on the environment (disposables in landfills and cloth eating up water, etc). As an infant, I was potty trained back in Russia at around 4 months old and it worked really well until we started traveling (which threw everyone's cycles
off), so I know it is a real and positive thing that is possible even in cold, urban areas and in small apartments.
It is so fascinating that "elimination communication" (EC), "infant potty training" (IPT) or "diaper-free" is something so rarely mentioned in American baby/parenting books. But, Americans were, in fact, using early infant potty training until fairly recently. Perhaps the move away from EC can be traced back to the sweeping changes that the 1950's brought for women and families (e.g. mothers working outside the home more and much earlier; more use of baby formula instead of breastfeeding; more consumption and material wealth in homes - such as wall to wall carpeting and laundry machines; disposable diapers and plastics; new chemicals for diapers and laundry, etc, along with a whole host of other new technologies) - all of which lead to many shifts in parenting, including a move away from early potty training. At the same time, childhood expert T. Berry Brazelton convinced a nation of parents that early potty training was simply wrong and destructive. Interestingly, he was supported by the diaper company Pampers! While he might have been right to warn parents against forcing children to use the potty and using punitive tactics, he also dismissed the idea that babies can be aware of and control their bodies and its processes. While babies do not have perfect control of their bladder or sphincter (or any other muscle!), they are able to learn causal relationships and can be helped to make the connection and achieve control, though it does take a while. The result of all this has been a long delay in potty training in the US, with many toddlers still in diapers at the age of 3 or 4 - creating mountains of disposables and wipes, frequent diaper rash, contests of will at the potty, and nighttime ordeals.
All of this is strange when you consider that most everywhere else in the world, parents do not have (and cannot afford) diapers and have come up with other tactics to use all these hundreds of years. Millions of mothers across China, India, Africa, Russia can't be all wrong. Of course, as a working mom in an American urban setting, there are modifications and difficulties, but the concept just seems so right to me, so we're going to try. Fingers crossed.
So if you are interested and already diapering - don't worry because, yes, you can start late (though I have read - and it makes sense - that it is easier for all if you start right away). And yes, you can do it part-time (i.e. use diapers for travel or overnight, etc).
Here's some info to start off with... there is plenty more out there...
Diaper Free by Ingrid Bauer
Infant Potty Training by Laurie Boucke (and here is one of her articles at kellymom.com)
Diaper Free Baby
New York Times article
Inhabitots
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we've been using re-usable diapers and wipes as much as we can. They are somewhat expensive, and end up having to be washed a lot, but its worth it. In the summer we'll dry them outside. And its worth noting there has been a lot of improvement in cloth diapers.
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ReplyDeleteYou have reproduced! Amazing. Congratulations. (Send details a la email!).
We are using cloth diapers too and while its winter, we are drying them on one of the accordion-style racks inside. I got used cloth diapers (clean and washed!) from a friend, but before that, I spent many hours having my brain melted by all the crazy possibilities, prices, and details. It really did make me insane for a brief period there. So, yes, while there are tons of fancy, newfangled, and quite effective reusable diapers now, the tried and true method of going diaperless still seems like a better option... cheaper, more cuddles and less bulk in between the baby's legs, less waste (water!), more bonding and communication, less washing, and more hygienic. But, it does seem to require some pretty attentive parenting which is not always possible or desirable for modern moms and dads.
Well, we'll just try our best, pick our battles, and try to make the compromises that least degrade our integrity.
According to Ingrid Bauer's book, Diaper Free, "In the United States... nonorganic cotton is responsible for twice the amount of chemicals than are used on all other crops COMBINED". Truly scary.
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