Our book for April is Diaper Free: the Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene by Ingrid Bauer. It’s sooo good! I love this book and its wisdom. I’ve started practicing it with Bear, and it’s been great.
According to the book, going diaper free eliminates the need for most potty training. Infants who spend all day in their diapers get out of tune with their bodies and learn to ignore their need to eliminate. They learn to just go without communicating their needs. And they get used to walking around in a toilet, so when i’s time to take their diaper away, it becomes very difficult to relearn how to pay attention to this need and do something about it. They’ve lost that connection, and they get used to thinking cloths are for poo and pee. The diaper free approach takes that away, so infants already know how to communicate and end up potty trained by the time they’re around nine months old.
Right now, we are trying the diaper free approach part time. I practice watching Bear’s cues during and after feeding & naked time. I love the way he looks at me while I hold him over the toilet, then goes as I make cueing noises: ‘pssss’ for pee and grunts for poo. The pee and poo noises are ridiculous and funny and cute! Afterward, he smiles so deep at me. He’s having so much fun communicating his needs and having them met-yahoo! I’m very proud and excited.
Aside from all the happy fun, there are lots of benefits to going diaper free, namely no diaper rash and fewer diapers used. I save two to three rounds of pee and poo in diapers each time we practice being diaper free. So, on a good day, when I am 100% available to tune in, I’m saving a ton of diapers and keeping my baby dry and fresh and naked!
We’re not fully diaper free yet, but practicing the diaper free approach has been super fun and empowering. I would love for Bear to be diaper free all the time, and maybe we will get there someday. We’ve been doing this since Bear was 6 months old, so almost 3 months now and we use elimination comunication most of the time, with cloth diapers by day and one natural brand diaper to last the whole night. I glad to be saving diapers, being attuned to my baby’s needs, and just doing the best I can.
When we are using diapers, I try to do what’s most eco-friendly. I’ve heard some conflicting info about what is the most eco diaper, and I’ve tried a few options. I’ll be sharing my research about this in an upcoming blog, so stay tuned for more info on that.
Anywho, if you have a baby, or are thinking of having kids, please read Diaper Free. You can download the kindle edition from Amazon, so it’s totally easy to get. It’s not on paperback yet, but even if you don’t have a kindle, you can download a free kindle reader that will let you read the book on your computer. It’s a beautiful book that can get you closer to your baby, and it’s great for baby to get more naked time and to be in tune with elimination needs instead of just sitting in a wet, poopy diaper every time he has to go. Plus, there’s nothing better than breastfeeding and squeezing that little baby butt-I mean come on! And of course cutting down on diaper use is so much better for the environment.
I hope you love this book as much as I do! As you read, add your thoughts and questions to the comments below. I’ll compile them and post some of your feedback in a month.
Happy reading!
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