The diaper-free movement, also known as elimination communication, natural infant hygiene, or infant potty training, is the practice of potty training a baby from infancy rather than waiting until your child is two or three years old. years to start. The general theory is that babies have a natural elimination instinct and don’t want to get dirty. If parents can understand the baby’s elimination cues, there is no need to wait until the baby is two or even three years old to begin potty training.
The diaperless movement theory believes that the main reason why potty training toddlers can be so difficult is because we have already conditioned our children to urinate and poop in their diapers. When we potty train a young child, what we’re really trying to do is break a habit we created in the first place. So instead of training your baby to pee and poop in a diaper and then having to untrain him again at age two or three, why not capitalize on the elimination instinct from birth and save money? in diapers?
How are a baby’s elimination cues learned?
There are essentially four ways you can do this, although a combined approach is usually the way to go.
1. Follow your baby’s time patterns and rhythms.
This involves knowing when your baby is most likely to go to the bathroom. Although there will be variations between babies, there are some general patterns you can see. For example:
- after waking up (in the morning and after naps)
- during or after a feeding
- frequent and regular periods in the morning
- less frequent and regular periods in the afternoon
As you practice keeping your baby diaper-free, you will eventually learn what pattern your baby follows.
2. Read your baby’s body language and cues.
Before six months of age (where it is believed that a diapered baby will be conditioned to urinate and defecate in a diaper), babies naturally show signs of wanting to relieve themselves. These might be:
- squirt or fuss
- wearing a look of concentration
- ceasing all activity
- increasing in activity
- fidgeting or waking up from sleep
If your baby has been without a diaper for a while, you’ll also find that your baby can reach you so you can take them to the bathroom.
3. Use the mother’s (or father’s) intuition.
Some parents will have a natural instinct to know when their babies need to have a bowel movement. Even if you don’t have the instinct naturally, you will develop it as you continue to practice natural infant hygiene with your baby. Here are some examples of intuition at work:
- a sudden thought wondering if your baby needs to go
- just knowing that your baby needs to go
- feel like urinating
- feeling the sensation of warmth spreading across your lap even though your baby is dry
4. Create cues from the mother (or father).
To aid communication with your baby regarding elimination, you can have a routine “position” and sound associated with each elimination experience. For example, always hold your baby a certain way over the toilet and make the same signal sound to tell your baby it’s potty time.
In summary
Diaper-free movement can seem a bit daunting and challenging at first, especially when you’re trying to read the cues of a baby who hasn’t yet learned to communicate with you. Potty training toddlers have usually learned words like “potty,” “wet,” and “dry,” which is definitely much easier to understand. Babies also have smaller bladders and will need to go to the bathroom more often. This can present a real challenge for a parent who is always on the go.
That said, the diaper-free movement doesn’t necessarily have to be an all-or-nothing approach. Some parents have their babies diaper-free at home and in diapers when they go out. If that still seems like too much to you, try leaving your baby without a diaper for a few hours a day. Once you feel more confident, you can increase the duration.
