No More Diapers! A Look at a Method of Infant Potty Training

Surely one thing that all mothers of infants have in common is diaper changing, correct? Well at least that's what I thought until I recently came across an article about some mother's beginning the potty training process right after birth. That's right, no Pamper or Huggie clad bottoms for their little ones. Some let their babies go bare and others search to find underwear small enough to fit their baby. Surely they receive strange looks and criticism for their actions but some believe it is actually working in their favor.

Normally parents wait until after their baby learns to walk before they begin the potty training process. This seems rational since the child will be able to actually get up and go to the potty when they feel the need to. However, there are some parents who begin the potty training process much earlier than others, like immediately or a few months after birth. What's surprising about the mother's who are trying to potty train infants is the fact that infants have no control over their bladder or bowel movements at such a young age. Their bodies and systems are still maturing and there are many things that will only progress with time. Imagine being in a public restroom and see a mother holding her infant over the sink to allow the baby to urinate. Surely you will wonder what on earth she is doing. After all, that's what changing tables and diapers are for.

The mother's who are choosing to begin potty training at such an early stage in their child's life believe they are developing a closer bond with their babies. Some even say their babies can signal them when they need to use the restroom. Whether it be hand gestures, fidgeting, or body movements, some parents believe these to be signs of the baby needing to go to the restroom. These parents who engage in infant potty training actually believe that diapers hinder the baby by conditioning the infant to think it's alright to soil diapers and then later on confusing them by training them to use the toilet.

Obviously not every parent thinks this way. Diapers are a godsend to many. Babies often relieve themselves while sleeping and at just about any other unpredictable time during the day or night. A diaperless baby is bound to make plenty of messes on bed linen, clothing, furniture, and wherever else they happen to have an accident because they weren't wearing a diaper.

So is it wrong to have your baby wear a diaper for the first year or two of his or her life and then train them to relieve themselves in the potty and not the diaper? Many experts and parents alike will say it's not wrong at all. After all, babies have to be taught everything and some things cannot be learned during infancy. A parent doesn't expect their baby to know how to write or speak in full sentences right away. If a baby who is learning to talk says "ba ba" instead of bottle, the parent won't withhold the bottle from them until they say it correctly. Why? Because that is normal infant behavior just as an infant wearing diapers is normal infant behavior. The infant potty training method has infants as young as newborns being trained without diapers. And according to research done on completion time, it takes roughly 2 years for these infants to be completely potty trained. Two years of age is roughly the average age many toddlers are being potty trained anyway. When you look at it that way, there really doesn't seem to be much of an advantage to trying to potty train a newborn you just brought home from the hospital.

Potty training methods obviously require much time and patience whether you begin when you bring your newborn home from the hospital or wait until the child is able to walk and better communicate his or her needs. One mother began training her son at 3 months old and reported that he was completely potty trained at 25 months which is roughly a 2 year time span. With me and my siblings, potty training began for us at 1 to 1 1/2 year of age once we had learned to walk and could communicate certain things. Each of us were potty trained by the time we were 2 years of age, with the exception of my brother who took a little while longer. However, the length of training time was nowhere near two years. In fact, it wasn't even one year. It is important to realize that all children learn at different paces. It is also the parents decision to decide when they want to begin potty training their child.

These days potty training can be used as a tool to encourage a child as he or she is learning. They make the transition from diapers to Pull-Ups to big kid underwear and they feel a sense of accomplishment as they grow and realize that they are doing the right thing by going to the bathroom instead of soiling themselves.

Some doctors are supportive of the infant potty training method and others are supportive of the conventional potty training method. It's a matter of what works best for the mother and her baby. However, there is no research proving that potty training beginning in infancy is any better for the child. In fact, even when starting at such early ages, the infant isn't fully potty trained until around the same time as an infant who started training at 1-2 years of age.

Parents believe some benefits of infant potty training develop a closer bond with their baby (this is only speculation and is not a proven fact), no diaper rashes, no diapers to buy, more comfort for the baby, better infant hygiene, environmental help, and infant learning skill as it applies to elimating waste. People who stick to the traditional method of their infants wearing diapers are really only spending more money since they are buying diapers. As long as they change their baby often enough and keep them clean and dry their baby will also have good hygiene. As far as bonding, all parents can form close bonds with their infant regardless of whether or not the infant is wearing a diaper. Other than that the benefits of one method do not outweigh the other.

If these infants could talk what would they say? Would they prefer the comfort of a snuggly diaper which mom or someone will change for them when necessary, or would they prefer to feel the cool breeze against their little bottoms as they are being trained to relieve themselves over sinks, toilets, or even outside? Since these infants cannot speak for themselves it is up to the parents to decide. In the end I'm sure both sides will agree that they just want a happy, healthy baby who of course learns to use the potty.