Re the article below the diaper-free baby movement advocates letting a baby go commando for good health and that very young children can be trained to go potty. Is this a viable and healthier alternative to the modern preference of using a closely fitted diaper to seal them up in their own urine and feces?
You have to wonder how much time these parents can take off work in order to raise their baby or babies without diapers. Do you put them back on diapers when you go back to work?
That is one of the silliest movements I’ve ever heard about.
I’m not even sure that having parents that atttentive to the baby, to the point of looking for signs of bowel movements and urge to urinate. is exactly healthy.
This isn’t anything shocking or new. The Chinese have been doing this since the beginning of time. I’d venture that most societies did this before it was economical to wash diapers or throw them away on a daily basis.
Obviously this isn’t a technique for everyone’s lifestyle, but if you are already a stay-at-home parent practicing attachment parenting, it might be something to look in to.
I already practice attachment parenting and I still think it’s ridiculous. There is no harm in diapering your baby.
The time it takes to avoid accidents could be better spent, but this is just my opinion. I just can’t see rushing off to catch Bella’s urine in the toilet. This is nothing more than parent training and shouldn’t be considered in any shape or form early toilet training.
My ex mother-in-law must have practiced this, way back in the day. Well, no wonder she would display such shock at the thought of my kids still being in diapers at 18 months (tsk tsk!). She had all seven of her children potty-trained by one year, you know.
This was the system employed by Indonesian friends of mine. Unfortunately their kid frequently went potty on the floor in front of everyone. Fortunately, they had maids to clean it up. I have also seen this with Chinese children, age 3-4, who would just squat when the urge occurred. Depends on what your desired outcome is. I personnaly can’t imagine US kids squatting in the park, or for that matter in the mall. :eek:
My wife’s grandmother said the same thing. Is it even possible to toilet train your average one year old completely? Not that I care. I am not Freudian enough to give enough importance to the time or means of toilet training to really care.
This used to be standard operating procedure in China and is still extremely common. However, there is a massive trend toward using diapers in China. Even very low income families tend to have the babies go commando during the day and 1 diaper at night.
It is extremely labor intensive. Kids in China tend to potty train much much earlier (by 18 months)
I can not imagine doing it this way and I bet most proponents have never actually been hands on in the process
I saw on the site that some use diapers as a backup and some don’t.
For those that don’t, how would they ever have a babysitter or family member look after the baby? It’s one thing for parents to notice that a baby has to go potty–they’ve had lots of experience with the kid’s behavior. A grandparent or babysitter wouldn’t have the experience to catch the more subtle signs.
Come to think of it, how would they ever take the baby out of the house? Sometimes it’s difficult for me to find a toilet while running errands, etc.–what do they do if they notice immenent elimination signs in the middle of a shopping center parking lot?
I think this is more of parent training that potty training. I had some people come over once that did this, I will never forget them holding their little five month old on the toilet. Sure, the baby went, but I think that was more recognizing the event before it happened and acting on it, not the child holding it until over the potty.