natural infant hygiene

[morg_monster]

Was amazed to read in the Independent an article about this. Idea is: baby doesn't use nappy as a toilet and from birth instead is held over bucket or toilet to 'go'. This means they never learn it is OK to sit in your own mess - usually kids have to unlearn this idea when being toilet trained. They also recognise their own natural urges for what they really are and again don't have to be retaught later. It requires being with baby 24/7 so you learn their own personal signs for when they need to go. After a couple of months they are pretty reliable and so little mess (imminent no. 2's are supposedly easier to detect phew!)
Result: toilet trained much earlier and more reliably (less likely to bed wet), plus pros of less nappies. Obviously a big commitment though and would probably limit your social life....

I was gobsmacked had never heard anything like it. Though it does make sense - apparently in less developed countries this technique has always been done. What do you think?

further info: www.natural-wisdom.com or www.timl.com/ipt

[Bangkok]

I can only assume the date of the article is 1 April!  Sorry, but v sceptical

[morg_monster]

that thought did cross my mind but we're still a few days off the 1st yet. and the websites do seem to be genuine with plenty of links. Maybe if you consider that it all apears to have been thought up by an american it becomes less surprising...

[Hgrove]

I think at the beg.of 20th cent. it was quite common to "start" babies this way from extremely young, as soon as they could sit up, though not from birth, but I think that was because they had to hand wash terry nappies.  In the 60s, 18 months was normal potty training age, probably because of the terry nappies again. I have not got time to read up the sites mentioned above at the moment, but I have to say, it does not sound like a very good idea to me.

[FP]

My mother tells me that potty training almost from day one was common in the 1940's when I was born and most babies were out of nappies at a very young age.  I must admit my own child was out of nappies very young as well because I learned to read the signs and he caught on pretty quickly.  The trend nowadays seems to be to leave them in nappies for ages and then put them in such things as trainer nappies that pull on.  Not sure that I agree with this. 

Personally, I don't think an issue should be made of toilet training kids.  However, we do it with puppies!!! so why not with children? 

All kids are different, but I do think that some of the old ideas were better in this respect. 

It is certainly true that you never see babies wearing nappies in the less developed countries.

[Kingaroo]

Well, FP, maybe the reason those babies aren't wearing nappies is that in less developed countries, there is often human waste in the street, not because the baby runs to the potty on time.

I have a friend who potty trained her son at age 2 or so by letting him run naked outside on her private property.  She said it was helpful to him to see the pee coming out and get a visual cue at the same time as the bladder cue, so he linked the feeling of need with the feeling of release and control  She said it took less than a week.  I don't think she tried it for BMs.

[Le Chat]

This method is commonly known as toilet timing rather than toilet training! The reason alot of children here are not toilet trained younger is that parents decide themselves when to try it ... the child could have been ready months before. There really is no rush though ...it's not like they're going to start school wearing a nappy/diaper! On saying that, my son was 20 months when he was trained but then he's always and still is a smarty pants!!!

[pochulina]

I think from the day they were born is cwazy but they can learn from a few months of age not to poop on themselves ALTHOUGH they may not physically be ABLE to go and do it themselves... Why do they cry when they do. It cant be nice...

[purplefish]

I don't think this idea is such a good one, actually find it a bit strange (just like to point out I don't have kids but interesting all the same) i do however also find it strange that some children are still in nappies at the age of 3 or 4. My mum said I wore nappies as a baby but potty trained myself quite young after seeing my brother use the potty, I was a good baby, shame they all can't be like me....lol

[Ouisch]

I've read about this method before, but unless one parent or the other has unlimited time to spend with the baby all day and night (and doesn't have to go to work or anything), it would be difficult to develop any sort of consistency training-wise.

[oneota]

Well, at least in the parts of Ethiopia I was in, it was not done.  The mothers there used various materials for diapers .

[trogette]

I've done this, from birth, with 2 babies now. The point of it is that yes they are aware of and are capable of communicating about their bowel and bladder movements. There are a couple of misconceptions in the thread here surrounding the idea that one person has to be with the child 24/7. Anyone willing to read the signals can use natural infant hygiene with a baby so it doesn't take the 24/7 commitment of one parent. Both parents, along with siblings and carers (grandparents and other rellies, childminders, nursery workers, whoever...) can work with the baby through timing and cueing to keep the baby clean and dry. Also part-time 'ec-ing' can work fine too, the baby will quickly understand who is able/willing to interpret their cues and respond to being taken to the toilet even if they aren't taken every time they cue. Some babies will take exception to being wet/dirty and 'force' their carers to provide a 'potty-tunity' to use the Americanism! Plenty of babies will 'save' their wee or poo until they have a clean nappy or do it during a nappy change, I don't think it's an accident.

How hard is it to understand that babies are as aware of their bottom end as they are of the rest of them?