Hi, I am due in February with my first child and my husband and I are going to go diaper free. Diaper free is basically listening and watching for the baby's signals and then cuing him to poop/pee with a sound. I was just wondering if anyone else is currently doing this or is planning on it.
Re: Is Anyone Else Doing Diaper Free?
Started fertility treatments 11/2010
Ovarian dysfunction, LPD, male factor
6 failed medicated IUI's
Pregnant 5/2011 - Miscarriage at 6 weeks due to triploidy
Decided to adopt - 6/2012
SURPRISE! Pregnant without intervention - 7/2012
Sweet Baby James Born 3/2013
Decided to be "One and Done"
....OR NOT.
Pregnant 12/2018 despite birth control pills
Here we go again...
Due 8/26/19!
Not to say you shouldn't do EC if that's what will work for your family, but I just thought I'd clear that part up.
Started fertility treatments 11/2010
Ovarian dysfunction, LPD, male factor
6 failed medicated IUI's
Pregnant 5/2011 - Miscarriage at 6 weeks due to triploidy
Decided to adopt - 6/2012
SURPRISE! Pregnant without intervention - 7/2012
Sweet Baby James Born 3/2013
Decided to be "One and Done"
....OR NOT.
Pregnant 12/2018 despite birth control pills
Here we go again...
Due 8/26/19!
Elizabeth 5yrs old Jane 3yrs old
No one in my family or circle of friends had done it, so we kept it to ourselves. I really think people believe you are crazy when they first hear about it. You are right though, it is common outside of the US, especially in Asian countries. Both my sisters were amazed when they saw her cue and poo on the potty at 7 months. A little tip, if you decide to do sign language, it is very helpful with this. She started out with a grunt for her cue, and then we transitioned to the sign for "diaper" (it was the easiest and she does her own variation of it with one hand). She would even crawl to the big potty when she had to go. That said, she still wears a diaper at night, if we are out in public, and is only "diaper free" certain times of the day. Even if she doesn't use it, I like that my home and furniture are not being peed on if she does have an accident. I say pee only though, because I cannot even remember the last time she went poo in her diaper. Like I said, we're part time, but it still worked. She's one now, and once she stays dry through the night she'll be "potty trained."
It's not for everyone, but it worked for us. Let me know if you have any questions.
I read diaper free baby as well. Like many things with parenting, it's not as simple as it seems when you read about it and kids keep changing so just when you think you figure out their routine/cues- they change things up. I did really like and connect with the book though and recommend it to people interested.
We do this part time with my son. Not so much the "diaper free" part (though we do give him naked time in the morning and at night), but offering him chances to use the potty when he's been dry for a while or shows cues (he often doesn't). We are planning to do the same with baby number 2 starting around 2 months/ We are very stress free about it and it's been fun minus some messes. He makes a psss noise on his own and puts stuff animals on his potty to go and makes the noise for them. He sometimes tells us after he goes potty (in his diaper). However he is by not stretch of the imagine potty trained. There are days he goes in potty and days he uses his diaper every time (He's in disposables when not naked.) I am hoping that his early exposure to the potty and understanding that is what his body does will let us start the process of potty training before he turns two. (But only in the sense that when he needs to go he uses a potty instead of a diaper. . . not so much the holding it part or through naps and at night.)
You're absolutely right that EC (whether full or part time) is not the same as potty training. I read a similar article as @KateLouise. You shouldn't be asking little to hold their pee (heck, I'd even say the same for adults a lot of the time). ECing should not be stressful for the child; no shaming or disappoint when there are "accidents"/messes, etc.
Anyway all this to say that I second the suggestion to make sure you've got a lot of help and support if you want to do this in the early days - that would probably make it a lot more doable. At least enlist DH to be the laundry-doer ;-).
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This was exactly what I was thinking. How rude.
This was exactly what I was thinking. How rude.
Not to mention, disgusting.
There are three reasons for breast-feeding: the milk is always at the right temperature; it comes in attractive containers; and the cat can't get it. ~Irena Chalmers
Each to their own but it wouldn't be my choice. I would rather saw my efforts to teach something else.
According to everything I've read when you EC you shouldn't be asking them to hold their bladder. You are just having them go on the potty instead of a diaper when they do need to go; based on noticing and responding to their cues.
Most animals (humans included) are aware of when they go to the bathroom from the get go and don't want to live in their own ick. We're actually training babies to go in a diaper and be ok sitting in it. That's part of why potty training becomes so hard for some kids. My friend's son wears underwear all day and uses the potty for pee, but asks for a diaper so he can poop in it (not the toliet). He obviously knows when he needs to go, but over time was "trained" that diapers are the place to poop.
In my (limited) opinion, if it is stressful to you, then you shouldn't do it. We don't even EC full time and use disposable diapers, so it's not like I'm a EC fanatic. But I feel like people are always so critical of it without even understanding the conceptual basis behind it, even on this board, and it bugs me.
According to everything I've read when you EC you shouldn't be asking them to hold their bladder. You are just having them go on the potty instead of a diaper when they do need to go; based on noticing and responding to their cues.
Most animals (humans included) are aware of when they go to the bathroom from the get go and don't want to live in their own ick. We're actually training babies to go in a diaper and be ok sitting in it. That's part of why potty training becomes so hard for some kids. My friend's son wears underwear all day and uses the potty for pee, but asks for a diaper so he can poop in it (not the toliet). He obviously knows when he needs to go, but over time was "trained" that diapers are the place to poop.
In my (limited) opinion, if it is stressful to you, then you shouldn't do it. We don't even EC full time and use disposable diapers, so it's not like I'm a EC fanatic. But I feel like people are always so critical of it without even understanding the conceptual basis behind it, even on this board, and it bugs me.
I can see why it would bug you and I confess that I don't know all of the details. However between the time elapsed from signally to going surely they are holding their bladder. I don't know about you but my need to pee doesn't build up, it just arrives.I'm also skeptical of how effective EC is for during the night. In your experience do you still need a nappy? I ask because most paediatric urologists say that it's pointless trying to potty train until 2.5years because the connection between the bladder and brain just isn't fully there. So basically you can potty train easily during the day but it's night time that's the true indicator of whether they've learned or not.
All that said, the communication aspect of it is very appealing. I do signing so I understand how fantastic it is to be able to pick up on cues and signals and meet their needs as it makes for a happy baby. However it is still not a practice I see the need for for me personally.
DD #2 2 years old (08/17/11)
DD #3 born 08/29/13
In the book I read there was a whole section on doing it at night. I believe people actually get up and take their baby in the middle of the night. Our family would never in a million years survive doing that. We diaper at night and that things is plump full in the morning.
We offer him chances to go on the potty based mostly on timing (after naps or long periods of dryness). Sometimes we catch cues for peeing.
Like I said we don't EC full-time, that would stress me out! But I like that my son has know what the potty is from an early age and doesn't always have to go in a diaper.
I am planning to use GDiapers though. I don't like the idea of disposables polluting our environment, and couldn't commit to always using cloth (not to mention all the chemicals and water used to clean them).
Apparently diapers are the 3rd biggest constituents of landfills and yet only 5% of the world uses them. They also take 500 years to decompose, so every disposable diaper that's ever existed still exists somewhere on this planet. Gross in more way than one.
BFP#1 "Watermelon" born 3/2011
BFP#2 "Pumpkin" 7/14/12 ~ EDD 3/23/13 ~ Natural M/C 8/3/12 @ 7 weeks
BFP#3 "Pineapple" born 4/2013
BFP#4 "Grapefruit" EDD 3/29/16
I am a working mother, so my babies are in diapers part time during the week while I'm at work. At home, I prefer prefolds, fitteds or flats WITHOUT covers, so I can change them immediately after a miss. We typically do not go entirely diaper free until they are ready to potty train, and then it is part time in underwear/part time diaper free. And no, I do not get peed on and my floors do not get peed on all the time. In years of doing this with two different children, I've only ever been peed on as many times as I can count on one hand.
I am just lurking, but I am baffled by this. What will you do if your baby has a huge blowout with no diaper? I breastfed DD every 2 hours or so as a newborn and she pooped pretty much every feeding for a period of time. This included some seriously nasty blowouts!
Will you just do dozens of loads of laundry a week? What is the point of this? I haven't read anything on this so I have no idea why anyone would put themselves through this.
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