My wife and I started this 5 years ago with our first child. Before our baby was born, my wife hand sewed a dozen or so cloth diapers, and we bought some pre-fold cloth diapers from Walmart as well as some diaper pins.
My wife had read about infant potty training, and the reason why we used the cloth diapers, along with being environmentally friendly is that we read that it is the best way to potty train an infant.
The theory is that if the infant feels the urine or waste against their skin, instead of having it immediately absorbed by a disposable diaper, that the infant will be more concious of his/her body and the fluids in the diaper.
So after three weeks we put this practice to the test. We took turns taking our little girl to the potty every time she would go in her diaper.
We wanted her to know that she had the option of not having the fluids in her diaper. She after about the first week she started holding her bladder and her bowl movements, and successfully went to the potty several times.
For reference here are some pictures:
A handmade (by my wife) cloth diaper:
However, when you think about 3rd world countries, where they travel by foot with their infants strapped to their chest or their back, pretty much anywhere they go. Do you think they have disposable diapers? Do you think that they let the babies go on their chest? How do they do it?
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{ 55 comments… read them below or add one }
I am simply speechless, which shared sentiment might account for the paucity of comments.
The concept may not be that far fetched. My grandson is 1 1/2, and he is already letting his parents know when he needs to go potty. He doesn’t do it all the time, and they still need diapers, but that’s a lot different than I was told 20 years ago. I was told not to even try potting training with a boy till he was 3.
I would think patience and a sense of humor could accomplish a lot of things.
My Great-aunt bragged about having her daughter potty-trained by 6 months (back in the ’30s). She even had a photo of my cousin using a little round pot to do her business in, since she was way too small to use a regular toilet. We all grew up with that picture, even though it was kinda embarrassing for my cousin.
Today she’s a bit anal retentive, shall we say, and she blames it on her potty training….
I wish I could edit my posts that I make at 2am.
Our kids have always used an adult sized potty. We had a lid-insert that has padding for our first child. I haven’t been able to find another one.
I know that my kids will be traumatized a little by the pictures. But I think they’ll also be pretty proud that they didn’t walk around with a load in their pants until they were 4 years old too!
When I see children who are old enough to talk, still pooping their pants I always shake my head and think “poor kids”..
Sounds like the parents are trained real well here!
I used cloth diapers on both of my kids from day one and they never gave me any clue that they wanted to do their business else where.
I don’t suppose it matters to me who is trained if it’s one less icky diaper to change… lol.
What it comes down to here is a parents bragging rights. People are always competing with thier kids, how soon they used the potty, walked, talked, read, etc. Even the slowest of kids eventually figure this stuff out, so whats the rush? My concern is that parents never outgrow this temptation to use thier kids as tools to build thier egos. Id be interested to see what Freud has to say about this. Other than boasting whats the motivation?If the baby used the potty before walking, you obviously still had to pick him/her up and hold them there so conveinence isnt the motivation. Saving a buck? Saving the environmet? This is only valid if all other aspects of your lifestyle follow this motive. Otherwise you just cancel yourself out with other undiciplined behaviors.
I do agree with Stone, these things should never be pushed. I really think that does more harm than good.
My grandson would never have been pushed into trying potty training at 1 1/2, it was all his idea after seeing his parents use the potty.
All Im saying to that, is craping your pants until your 4 years old is not an ancient tradition, it’s a new Americanize phenomenon. Im sure rich english people diapered their kids until their were 4 or so in the medieval era.. But in the rest of human history, parents were just more attentive to the needs of their children.
Our kids ABSOLUTELY hated going in their pants. After they learned that there was a difference between a dry diaper and a soiled diaper, they would get ANGRY if we let them go in their pants.
Can you blame them?!!
“Sounds like the parents are trained real well here! ”
It’s true. Babies have different signals for pottying, for needing milk, for needing lovie time, etc…. It’s not obvious to the untrained eye.
I type to fast and don’t spell/grammar check when Im done. But after I re-read my post, I realize people think Im a moron.
ROFL, I suppose when it comes to good english, I am a moron. Whatever “good English” means anyway…
ok. As far as potty training goes, I’d rather NOT potty train that young. How hard is it to get a good babysitter that will keep up your hard work. I personally don’t want to be with my children sonstantly and I know it ends up being good for them to learn to trust other people when I leave them. But to each their own.
As far as kids having accidents till after they are four years old. Try having a 5 or 6 year old that wets his pants often. he knows the difference, thing is… it’s medical. I fully expect him to have issues with this for a while and I expect nighttime accidents far beyond that. Some parents would traumatize the kid before figuring it out it’s not their fault. Please don’t make it a competition, it’s hard enough for these kids without that. So try not to be judgmental please.
Tramatize a kid for allowing him/her to not crap themselves?
They don’t need a lot of encouragement. Just the option.
BTW- April, I can’t help but wonder, and Im only mildly entertaining this idea.
But were you completely serious in your last post, or were you just egging me on?
After the whole Tax Day Marijuana Protest thread, I can’t help but think that what you said might not be 100% sincere.
I’ve saw stranger things. But that last post tops at about the strangest for me in my entire time on this message board.
People say “it takes a village to raise a child”. Now I know why. People often expect for the village to raise their child (for them)..
Then we end up with wayward kids who are pissed that their parents didn’t get to spend time with them. They end up addicted to drugs, and instead of the experts looking at fixing the problem.. They end up like pharmaceutical companies that
instead of finding a cure, they find a way to treat the symptoms…
I don’t like to bandaid a problem. I like to fix it.
I personally believe in finding a cure for the problem. Not just a treatment.
Diapers are the easy way out. It is a new age ideal, disposable diapers, and diaper rash is a recent development in our culture.
But as for me sometimes the old ways work just fine.
In the case of:
Shall I all my kids bottom to be constantly sore vs. Letting them where disposable diapers, crap them selves, and watch as their skin gets as sensitive as a burn.
I’ve watched this with other parents (I have 8 syblings BTW). They use disposable diapers. The parents and the baby don’t realize that baby is wet, because the diaper absorbes most of the wetness.. But there is still humidity in the diaper, and it can’t breath… So the babies bottom’s temperature rises, and the wetness softens the skin, and the baby’s bottom starts hurting.
But with cloth diapers, the baby feels the wetness right away, and doesn’t like it. And then the baby fusses, before the urine or waste has any time to do damage to the skin.
Also the cloth diapers get hot about a minute before the wetness seeps through the diaper. So there is always plenty of warning before it soaks through.
It’s cool, because once your aware of it, you can start to tell a peepee cry before a “im hungry cry”. And that signal for the bathroom means to take the diaper off and hurry to the potty.
It’s came very natural to both of our kids.
What’s wrong with NOT giving them the option, is that when that get trained to go in their pants. Then it’s hard to UN-train them.
Training them from the get go, is much easier than training them much later on.
LOL.. I really wish I could edit after I post.
Oh, and here is another fact.
Our kids have NEVER, ever… Ever… Had a diaper rash..
I think they’re digging on it.
I know I don’t like to crap my pants!
Former poster Crystal comes to mind when I see somone posting one post after another after another. I say as long as you don’t crap your pants more power to ya.
ROFL.. Again with this. And from an anonymous poster of course. The more anonymous, the more insulting.
slu2 i’m someone they thought was crystal, so i changed my name to ’supposedly im crystal and im back’ but now im just using my original posting name.
It’s good that you are helping not only the earth with your good deeds, but indeed doing good for your children. Spreading the understanding of being able to potty train your children early is all positive.
just sending some good vibes your way
tigerlilly, thanks for the good vibes. In a community full of anonymous trolls, it’s always refreshing to get some good vibration!
Wow, I thought it was only me that they were using this play on. Looks like our anonymous community is not very creative.
I hope to see ya around! Take care!
In case you hadn’t noticed, tigerlily is just as anonymous as a majority of the posters here.
Fair enough. But the thing that separates her from a troll, is the constructive conversation as opposed to the troll disposition of making comments that are completely destructive. I commend tigerlilly for remaining positive.
Why don’t you just ignore all comments from anonymous users and users that don’t make valid points. This way you won’t be feeding their fire and they won’t see that their getting your goat? It’s really a simple fix slu. The fact that you continue to talk about it shows that it obviously bothers you. Ignoring people that bother you will work wonders for everyone on this board.
Im just giving props where props are due.
And for you. Thank you captain obvious. Yes the trolls bother me a bit. Im not the only one.
Slu – I was COMPLETELY honest in my post.
You want to come work with my kid on not peeing his pants MORE POWER TO YOU, just don’t traumatize him. Seriously, I would be happy for the reprieve.
BTW look it up sometime. It is a medical condition.
Oh, and BTW so is bedwetting, it’s also hereditary.
I have no problem with you potty training your kids at 2 weeks old, but don’t hold me and my kids to your standard please.
BTW I don’t expect the village to raise my children thankyouverymuch. I take exception to the implication that I do simply because potty training isn’t a “breeze” at our house.
April, how you raise your kids, is up to you. I have no right to hold your kids to my standards.
Im just taking this from a common sense point of view.
I don’t like to pee my pants. I imagine my kids feel the same way.
Urine on the skin, itches, hurts and damages the skin. Poop is worse.
Logically, training kids to go to the potty from the get go is much easier than un-training them to go in their pants later on.
logically it makes sense. I’ve tried telling that to my 20 month old too and he fights me when I need to change his diaper. Doesn’t want it changed.
Kinda sucks sometimes that kids don’t understand logic sometimes.
You just wound very judgmental with the whole thing. I’m glad the early potty training works for you. More power to you. I was just trying to point out that not everyone can be held to the same standard. Sometimes there are extenuating cercumstances.
As far as ealy potty training goes, I do have an honest questions though….
how do you do babysitters? Especially if you need to go overnight?
20 months of going in their pants? They have a habit formed by then..
Breaking the habit will be difficult.
Sorry if you think I sound judgmental. Anyway, it works, so far for 2 kids.
After training three children with another on the verge of training age I find that they let you know when they are ready no matter what age it is.
In some ways I think that slu2 has a point but April is right. We are not in her house. We can give her advise and she may or may not take it.
My idea on the subject? Why pay for diapers when your child is mature enough to go in the toilet? That one is beyond me.
My kids were both potty trained before they were very old.
Unfortunately, I was one of those poor souls that had to take short maternity leaves and get my sorry butt back to work, not being independently wealthy and all.
Luckily, both of my kids were all for potty training and I had them in very good day cares, but I feel for people who don’t have supportive people watching their kids when they have to go back to work.
It all works out usually though if you just don’t make too big a deal about it.
Throw out the diapers as SOON as they get curious about the potty and take them out to buy big boy/girl pants. Take a long weekend off of work and that’s the end. No more diapers. There may be an accident here or there but it works every time.
April-What kind of medical condition causes a 6 year old to wet themselves? Is this a bladder problem? UTI? I don’t understand.
For me, it would have been 2-3 years old without my wife. I hadn’t heard of infant potty training, and I hadn’t thought about it.
But my wife is an observant one. We used to watch a lot of Discovery channel, and one day she was thinking to herself.
“If all of these people in third world countries don’t have disposable diapers, what do the do”. What she found out was amazing! Cloth diapers and infant potty training.
Infant potty training really can’t be done without cloth diapers. And you can’t wash (or shouldn’t) diapers in the washer. All of the cleaning has to be done by hand.
My wife deserves the credit here. She found a solution, and sacrificed to achieve her goals. I help with taking the baby to the potty during my shift. And it is a lot of effort. But nothing compared to the sacrifices my wife makes.
In any case, just about any child can be potty trained in this way. This is ever so evident in watching National Geographic, and Discovery channel. In places where diapers don’t exist, the alternative is training your kids young.
Childhood Incontenance. And don’t give me the “it’s in my head”. It’s not : I have 3 children and my 2nd child has no issues with this and the 3rd is (as aforementioned) only 20 mths old and has shown no signs of interest in the potty as of yet.
Though more uncommon than common it does happen. Most kids outgrow it as they get older. About 10% of 5 years olds have it.
Oh, and most people wouldn’t know that unless they have a child with it or are a pediatrician…. as with most noncommon issues.
His bladder contracts too suddenly for him to get to the potty before he goes. Basically he has very little warning to get to the bathroom in time, and besides he IS 6 so he hates to stop what he is doing to literally run as fast as possible to the potty.
Really? No signs of interest at 20 months? I don’t know that I have ever known a child to be that old and not be curious about the potty or their body and how it works. Strange.
My 18-month-old is all about trying to use the potty and he should be completely potty trained before summer. He likes to look into it and try to flush and even sits on it several times per day trying to go. That’s how it was for all of the kids I have potty trained (working on the 4th child right now).
“he IS 6 so he hates to stop what he is doing to literally run as fast as possible to the potty.”
I understand the 6-year-old boy thing. Why don’t you take him every hour or so and have him at least try to go? I am thinking that it could help him realize that if he makes himself try to go more often, he won’t be embarrassed with accidents. Just an idea.
I also read online that sodas can cause this to flare up and get worse. So can constipation. Do you have a diet plan in place? Is he under a lot of stress of suffer from anxiety?
What does his school do to cope with his problem? Does your family have to operate any differently-Say stay close to a bathroom? What tests did you have to go through to get the diagnosis? Just curious.
http://www.hmutx.com/faq/faq_childhoodincontinence.asp
I thought that was odd too. 6 years old? Holy crap! I think Base has the idea and that’s what we did with our son. We kept asking him each hour or two if he had to go, he would say no but we’d have him sit on the potty anyway. Once he sat on the toilet he’d end up going. It took 2 months of that and he got tired of his father and I asking him every hour or two and eventually started going on his own. 3 years old and hasn’t had a problem or accident in months.
I know each child goes and learns at their own pace, their are ways to beat this issue. It’s not going to be easy at 6 years old because he’s already gotten into the habit of ignoring whatever signs he gets that it’s time to go. I think its something that needs to be corrected as soon as possible. If its not corrected by the time he starts school, the other kids are going to tease him about this and it’s only going to make things worse. Good luck.
At this point in the child’s life I would suggest re-testing for this disorder. I am willing to bet that the child (now 6 years old) gets a clean bill of health. This has become a control issue at this point. All it will take is commitment and discipline.
Let me just say this before someone jumps down my throat…If you don’t want to be judged, don’t post your personal family business on a public blog.
Your last sentence echoed my thoughts the last few days here Base….I’ve read a little too much about the drama in personal lives lately. Why people, (not this thread, but in general) post the dirty details of their problems to strangers is really odd IMO, maybe a cry for help in some cases. Like I said in the chatbox, there is a boundary between help and advice from us and what your therapist or lawyer only needs to know. I remember last year the high school kids were always on this website during lunch clogging the chat box, they must get a kick out of some it for sure. Sure beats Geometry class….
You think there’s too much personal info here, check out some of the other threads. Maybe they are trying to justify their behavior?
Yeah, who knows. I’ve been on this site over 2 years and read a lot. Sometimes I wonder if certain people unload so much personal stuff on ifz because those around them in real life have heard it 100x already?
It would be interesting to see an article on personal information on the internet. Anybody interested?
It would be quite interesting. Based on what dinatwn posted in other threads, I have not only found her crimal record for the state of Idaho, but also the grandmother’s name, daughters’s full name and her daughter’s lawyer’s info. I think everyone needs to be more careful. This is all legal and public information available to anyone. If I felt like it (and was bored enough) I could find a lot more too.
It confuses me when people post so much.
Fhew!
If you’ve got this far still on track and are interested in doing infant potty training gradually – or discovering a little more about this ancient practice, visit my website,
Part Time Diaper Free.
I have a free online guided tour about EC / IPT there that is increasingly popular!
Base and others – yes I ask him every 2 hours if he needs to go. He denies it. It try bribing him to even “try” to go. He resists. I then put my foot down and tell him if he doesn’t at least try it will mean a time out (which takes place in the bathroom so he could go while he’s in time out) at which point it becomes a test of wills and he ends up in time out and trying to use the potty. I have been consistantly doing this for over 2 years now.
As far as school goes, the kid can go for over 6 hours (sometimes) without peeing. Holy crap. I make him go before school and he makes it till after before he has an accident.
Things are getting better though (FINALLY) he has only had 2 accidents this week and it seems to be lessening. I think maybe his body is starting to send signals that are strong enough not to be ignored.
Even if this was not the case though, I have to point out. If a reasonably caring parent (I qualify this because there ARE parents out there that just don’t care) has a child like this, believe me, it’s not because of lack of trying or lack of consistancy, and usually when people say it is it can be insulting to the parent who is struggling with it. Sometimes things ARE medical. While I wasn’t offended by any of your suggestions I have tried all of them over the last 4 years and some that I know would have been upset by the suggestion that they hadn’t tried a common solution. I say this to merely suggest that people try to be more sensitive to those with children like this when talking to them, because it is a touchy subject (mostly because other parents make it a competition) and I can almost guarantee that those parents feel that they must be lacking in some way.
Well, I’ll stop my blabbering now. This is an old topic and though I feel strongly about helping others to understand that sometimes there are extenuating circumstances that should be considered, if they don’t understand by now, they aren’t going to.
Touchy subject or not, you brought it up so be prepared for the criticism. I don’t think any of are being insensitive about the subject. You presented a problem and we are giving suggestions.
Have you tried rinsing him off in a cold shower after an accident. Have you returned to the doctor and had any tests run? I will put money on the fact that he is manipulating you.
Manipulating or not, this is a problem and I feel for April. There is a problem in a large number of children called enuresis, which is essentially bed-wetting. A child can experience this until he/she is well into adulthood. Supposedly there is evidence to show that 2-3% of the adult population still have this problem. Can you imagine the self-image and self-esteem problems this can cause in a teenager (as if teenage years were not hard enough). Until someone has experienced this or a similar problem in their own family, they have no idea what the affected family is going through. April, there is medical help out there available if you feel you need it. Please don’t wait too long to get it.
I agree, it’s got to be difficult. Good luck April.
Base – I said it COULD be insulting. I did NOT say I was insulted. I wasn’t. I don’t get offended or hurt very easily or I wouldn’t speak my mind or any opinion on the internet.
No, I have not rinsed him off in a cold shower, this is too harsh of a punishment in my mind. I would feel guilty about it so I haven’t even tried it. Though if it worked for another parent and they felt okay with it, then that is great. I think no less of them. I HAVE tried rewards, telling him to use it every 2 hours, taking away things like his videogames and his pants if it happens more than once in the same day (and for him loosing those things are very upsetting), as well as a number of others things and combinations of the above.
Yes. I have talked to his pediatrician about it. Yes, he agreed there there may be something wrong after asking me MANY questions. We are due for some tests when his annual exam comes around (which is near his birthday which happens to be in 2 weeks). Many times it’s hereditary, my father wet the bed till he was 13 years old, I kid you not. He (my father) speaks of how furious it would make him as a teenager, how frusterated he was. I want to do all I can to help my son not feel those same feelings even if he DOES have bedwetting issues till he is an adult (though I would think we would have him on some kind of medication or treatment plan). In the meantime I want to assist other parents in realizing that sometimes there really is not much that can be done.
I do think that there are special situations like April, where parents just can’t train their kids.
I just know that it is possible for most kids to be potty trained by 6 months old. On my flight to Seattle, I was speaking with a Russian family who said most everyone that they know in Russia have potty trained kids previous to the first birthday.
Most third-world countries are this way as well. Diapers are not always available. The alternative for thousands of years is infant potty training. Americans are just behind the times.
WOW! That is definitely a good aprroach. The most important part is allowing the child to understand the difference between going on a potty and staying wet.
i would really love to potty train my 4.5 month old son. the only problem is that i am severely visually impaired, no sight at all. how can i adapt the methods and observations of my child in order to fit my situation? i would have to constantly keep a hand on him in order to feel for certain queues. him straightening and tightening his legs, him kicking his legs alot, etc.
by the way, he is in the new huggies pure and natural disposable diapers because my husband did not want to do cloth.