Not sure if any of you caught the article on MSNBC.com – ‘Diaper-free babies’ fad swells, despite critics - yesterday but it essentially talks about how there is a movement (no pun intended) amongst mothers to begin potty training their children when they are still babies called ‘diaper-free’.
Having two young children, one still in diapers (age 2) I would think that this would be very difficult to do. I mean a newborn is constantly going to the bathroom. How would you even manage this process and what if you have multiple young children? On the other side of the coin, researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center say children younger than 12 months have no control over bladder or bowel movements and little control for 6 months after that. I don’t know what to think. Is this crazy or plausible. Have you or would any of you try this method? If you are curious you can find more on the Diaper Free Web site at http://www.diaperfreebaby.org/.
I can’t imagine a newborn not in a diaper! I swear mine went every time they ate and then some.
As if getting up at night to feed them wasn’t enough. No thanks.
I do think that when we were kids (and I am dating myself of course) my mom used cloth diapers, so b/c it was uncomfortable for us, we potty trained earlier. I think I was potty trained by 18 months at the latest. Diapers now make it very comfortable for kids to have a big load or wetness in them. They are that good.
SO Jude b/c of that.. and some laziness and willfullness on his part was not until 3.
So I think this one might be a tad too extreme! : )
While I would've like to have saved the hundreds of $$$ on diapers spent over the years, it's really a moot point for me now until the grandkids start rolling around … which better be at least a DECADE down the road!
I have a friend that had both her girls potty trained by 18 mos. It can be done – I suppose it depends (like a lot of parenting) on the child and the parent's level of determination.
If this is what floats your boat, great. But me personally, I think there is too much pressure on women already to do things a "certain" way. Breast/Bottle, Paci/Thumb/None, disposable/cloth/now no diapers, homeschool/public school/private school, SAHM/Working Mom… I mean why can't we just do what is best for our family and not be judged?
I say if you want to do it, great, but it will be difficult and it's one more thing to think about. Personally, I think it would be more difficult to do this then to potty train. Both my boys were fully potty trained (night and day) before they were 28 months. So 2 years of diaper changing was nothing and Potty Training isn't so bad — it took 3 days for both my boys. This just seems like it's two years of potty training as opposed to 3 days!
But hey, if it works for you, go for it!
You could try it, but I didn't have time to be reading her body language that young. I waited until she could talk.
I read a book that said that we train our kids to go in diapers and just when they are thriving on routine we change it. That made sense to me and we do elimination communication. I havent been as dedicated as I should be, but it has worked nicely. I have had days where I use 1-2 diapers all day because she keeps them dry. I do let her run around naked and she will let me know when she needs to go potty. But poop on the other hand yeesh! She did it once in her little potty chair and it scared the crap out of her (unintentional poop joke) She hasnt wanted to poop in there since.
Yes, running around naked is usually helpful to my daughter too. I tried panties a few weeks ago and she peeed on my bed. Ick. As for the diaper free plan…I think they are physically too immature to be potty trained as early as 6 months. That's the nurse coming out in me. They have so many natural milestones. We can change them for a year!
I’m just speechless.
Brian
TheLifeOfDad.com
I saw that article and thought the same thing. It has to be time consuming doing that with a baby. If you only have one kid and that’s how you want to spend your time I guess that’s your choice but I do not understand how you’d do it if you have more than one kid.