Baby Diapers

I am not here to harp on the political pros and cons of disposable

diapers vs. cloth

, only to speak about baby diapers in general.

only place in th is debate is that of an information-giver. My

opinions don't matter, these are your decisions to make.

If you are a die-hard cloth diaper

ser

, you can still use the cloth

while your baby wears

orthopaedic

casts

for his clubfoot correction

With that said - I would

recommend against cloth diapers

during

the casting phase, because it's important to keep the top of the cast at

the groin clean and dry which may prove more difficult in a cloth

diaper. The casts your baby will wear will go all the way up the

thighs

with a lot of cotton batting hanging out at the top,

making

the t

an easy target for diaper leaks.

Disposable diapers, also called Paper diapers, have changed the way

American mothers live to the point that they are considered an

absolute necessity.

Very few modern mothers would even flirt with

the idea of giving them up

- and for what it's worth, I'm probably in

that majority myself.

Cloth diapers intrigue me though. The economic advantages of

cloth diapers far outweigh the disposable type, and depending how

"Crunchy" you are, one could increase their savings by making their

own laundry detergent paired off with their own home made solar

water heater. The sky is literally the limit when it comes to seeking

more natural solutions to modern problems.

Paper diapers are a problem - the absorbent filling does not

biodegrade in a land fill situation, neither does it burn (I dare you to

try burning one in your back yard!).

Millions and millions and

millions of these toxic diapers go in to the American landfill each year,

just as the toxic waste from their manafacturing process goes in to

our air, lands and waters, polluting or otherwise wasting our

natural resources. Another point brought up is that the

government strictly regulates the disposal of human waste - toilets,

septic tanks and public sewers are required by law to prevent the

wanton spreading of disease through human defication and

urination.

Not so with baby diapers,

which are full of potentially deadly disease-

ridden

bodily baby

waste

that sits in our landfills daily.

Beyond that, a disadvantage of disposable diapers is the argument

that using them delays potty training. I personally believe this is

true. Because of the diaper's super absorbency, the child is really

not aware of wetting his diaper, therefore he is not learning the

"Cause and Effect"

- I peed, therefore I am wet.

Using cloth diapers, a child is immediately aware of his own bodily

evacuations (as is his mother!) and the discomfort of being wet

immediately teaches him that his body is causing this.

But what about the idea of no diapers at all?

There is a very small but growing number of American mothers

who are adopting the practice of Infant Potty Training - the

technique of dealing with infant waste elemination in under-

developed countries.

A person could have a lot of fun with this argument. On the one

hand, why do we Americans think it is right to teach our babies and

children to urinate and deficate in their own clothing (i.e.diapers) to

wear around until some adult cleans them up?

Then again, why go through the hassell of "taking a child out to

potty" like one would a house-trained dog?

I like the theory of Infant Potty Training and regret I did not learn

of it sooner - like nine years ago when Brian was an infant...or even

one year ago when Garrison was.

Many mothers will complain that their new infant begins to pee as

soon as the diaper is taken off.... the Infant Potty Training minded

person would say that yes, that is logical. The infant knows it

shouldn't soil it's own clothing therefore it waits until it is naked to

go.

Either way, the fact remains that a huge population of humans the

world over live in places where diapers do not exist, so their babies

are taught to elimate their waste more or less on command with a

gentle approach that speaks to that infants instincts to keep himself

or herself clean.

Babies don't just leak constantly, they do have muscle control from

birth - Infant Potty Training uses that instinct and control to teach

the child to empty his body at his mother's urging when the time

and place is appropriate for it.

This is a far cry from our American

system

where

children will deficate in

their

own pants sitting at the

dinner table (or on Dad's shoulders...).

But -

IPT is

not for everyone, obviously.

The use of diapers is ingrained in our society and probably always

will be a mainstay of American child rears and rearing. A parent

cannot begin to think about potty training too soon though,

because the older a child gets, usually the harder it is to teach a child

to stop soiling their own pants and do so in the toilet instead.

To a child this is

hugely

inconvienient and they will mostly object to

the idea if introduced too late in their infancy. After spending two

or more years being taught to poop their own pants, wouldn't it

seem odd that suddenly it's a big No-No?

The child is likely go disagree, then

it becomes a major battle of wills,

with the child winning the war.

Do I use cloth diapers? Honestly, no.   Do I think myself and everyone else
should? Well, ya, I do. Save The Planet, of course.   But the fact is, cloth
diapers are a lot of trouble and Amercians are nortorisly lazy people in this
regard.

I do believe looking further in to the IPT idea is worth every mother's time
- if for no other reason than to see the looks on the faces of the other
mothers when you bring the subject up at the next Play-Date!   But
natural is always better - it just isn't always convineient.

I also believe in letting children go without diapers completely just as
much as possible, because it does begin to teach them very early on that
necessary connection between Cause and Effect that they will need to
know before you can ever introduce the idea of using a toilet.

Going "nakie" also saves on diaper costs which ever you use - cloth or
disposable, and reduces the occurances of diaper rashes, especially in hot
climates. I also suggest parents begin to set their baby on a toilet using
one of those small child-size toilet seats at an early age to get the child past
any toilet-anxiety before the subject of being anxious can even enter their
minds.   Let the toilet become part of their natural habitat, not some
foreign, freaky thing that is suddenly thrust upon them (or them upon it!).

Why a small toilet seat and not the little potty chairs? Because it's just like
going from breast feeding to bottle feeding to sippy cup...skip the bottle
because it's just one more bad habit you'll have to break later, go directly
from breast to cup, and skip the potty chair because the child needs to
know how to use a toilet - potty chairs will only exist in a few key places,
like home or Grandma's house.

Everywhere else in the world he'll need to use a real toilet or have an
accident because he's afraid of it or doesn't know how.

A Few More Words on the Subject of

Baby Diapers

Read more about:

Potty Training for

the Child Who

Wears A FAB

Potty training, clubfoot or not, is
really something you just need to do
in the way you feel is right for your
family and your particular child.

However, many parents who have a
child wearing a foot abduction brace
at night express concern, "How will
my child use the toilet at night?"

If this is your first child, it is
understandable you'd wonder this,
but if it is your 2nd child or more,
you probably know that children
don't really get up to potty in the
middle of the night very often.

If you limit their drink intake, for
example no drinks past 6 PM, then
have the child potty before he or she
gets in bed, then night time potty
trips will be mostly eliminated.

It is also advisable to put a plastic
mattress protector sheet on your bed
during these toddler years.

But - there will be those times when
the child does need to potty in the
night.... and in that case, most
children just yell for Mom or Dad to
come help anyway. Your child
wearing the FAB will be no different,
just go help him or her to the potty.

Some bathroom floors are slick even
when dry. The boy standing on his
FAB while he uses the toilet is liable
to have that bar slip right out from
under him, crashing him down on
to the toilet bowel (don't ask how
Everett and I know this!). I keep a
no-skid rug in front of our toilet
now that he can stand on to pee,
helping to prevent his bar from
slipping away.

Everett is a child quite small for his
age so he has yet to get up on the
toilet seat with out help. A larger
child though may very well be able
to, or you may help with a sturdy
step stool.