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By Mica Trappl
When my little baby girl
was born, I was in the same situation as so many women around
me. I had to make decisions concerning the care of my baby
and one of the trickiest ones I found was the nappy question.
I thought cloth nappies were a good idea. I’ve always
had a very strong commitment to the environment. However,
cloth didn’t really seem like the best alternative either
(although light-years more environmentally friendly than “disposables”)
as cloth nappies and covers do still involve the use of fabrics
and plastics, and the manufacturing process - using energy
and resources; you still have to waste thousands upon thousands
of gallons of water in order to launder them, you still have
laundry detergent going into the sewage system, and you still
have to use energy to power the washer and dryer several times
a week.
But what could I do? Nappies are a must and cloth seemed to
be the better option. Surely there was no other way. Or was
there?
After the first six months of my daughter’s life, we
had gone through a substantial amount of nappy changes, buckets
of laundry and some very nasty cases of nappy rash. For some
reason it had never felt right to pack my baby’s soft
and sensitive little bottom into this airtight and often humid
environment for hours on end. But still I strongly believed
nappies had to be and there was no other way.
Then one evening I came across something that changed the
whole story forever - Ingrid Bauer’s web site on “Natural
infant hygiene”- about a kind of infant potty training
where it is possible to raise babies completely nappy-free,
by tuning in with your infant to communicate with his or her
need of elimination.
To be honest with you I was rather stunned, but also intrigued
by the whole thing and I wanted to find out more. I soon realised
that Infant Potty Training was something that about half the
population on this planet do every day. IPT is and has been
the norm for centuries in many parts of the non-western world.
In western nations, we seem to have left the natural method
of IPT behind for a number of reasons. For the last 50 years,
we have been told that babies are unaware of, and have no
control over, elimination; that they will self-train at the
age of 2-3 years; and that we will somehow harm our babies
if we potty train them too early. As a result, the concept
of IPT is now unfamiliar, and seems unbelievable to many of
us.
SO WHAT IS IT INFANT POTTY TRAINING?
For thousands of years, throughout human existence, parents
have cared for their babies hygienically, without nappies.
Still today, in many cultures around the world, mothers know
how to tune in, understand, and respond to their children’s
elimination needs to keep them clean and content. For these
mothers, knowing when their baby “needs to go”,
and holding them over an appropriate place, is second nature.
We all recognise when our baby is hungry - they show us the
signs and we notice, and there are naturally regular times
of day at which they are likely to need to eat. Babies also
have a need to eliminate, and are equally capable of communicating
this need with us.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
When the mother (or father) knows or feels that her baby needs
to go, she removes the nappy or clothing and holds the baby
in a secure, close position over an appropriate receptacle.
The signs to watch for are:
TIMING AND ELIMINATION PATTERNS
the mother learns when the baby usually goes and how this
relates to other body functions, such as sleeping or nursing.
For example, many babies pee as they awaking, and at regular
intervals after nursing.
BABIES’ SIGNALS AND BODY LANGUAGE
once they begin watching for it, many parents are amazed to
see that their babies are actually signalling when they need
to go. Though every baby is different, some signals include:
fussing, squirming, grunting or vocal-ising, pausing and becoming
still, waking from sleep etc.
INTUITION
Many mothers find they simply “know” when their
babies need to relieve themselves. Especially once they’ve
been using infant potty training for a while.
CUEING THE BABY
Infant potty training is a two-way communication. Around the
world parents use a specific sound (such as psspsspss or Sssss)
and a specific position to hold there baby when they eliminating.
This serves as a kind of primary language that the baby comes
to associate with the act, and a way for parents to offer
an opportunity to go. However, it is always the baby who decides
whether they need to. Sometimes the baby also begins to use
this sound as a signal to the parent.
I guess it takes a certain mind-set to use and complete Infant
Potty Training. It certainly took me a while to feel completely
at ease with the new approach. I think it’s a bit like
breastfeeding. It takes a while to get used to but after that
it’s just the most natural thing in the world.
We still use nappies when we are out and about and during
the night but instead of a bucket of cotton nappies to wash
a day we are down to one a week. Nappy rash is a thing of
the past for us. I feel the whole thing brought us even closer
together as a family, through the increased awareness and
communication. After experiencing this I would never ever
go back to full time nappies again.
If you are curious and want to find out more you can either
check out any of the websites listed below, or you can contact
me via e-mail: micamu@whale-mail.com
USEFUL WEBSITES
www.natural-wisdom.com
www.babieswithoutdiapers.com
www.timl.com/tt
www.ukparents.co.uk/cgi-bin/infantpottytraining
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