Ever wondered what people did before nappies?

Lillibet_2

This is still commonly practised in some countires including Native-Indian America & China, where I've seen it in practise. Not something that I would want to try with my son but in rural China they had it off-pat. It has been extensively discussed here in the past, as well as featured on TV programmes like This Morning etc.

Agutka

I thought the general idea was good until they showed those american programmes where the mothers let their kids do their business anywhere and everywhere - why does it have to poo over the veranda and be left there when you have a perfectly normal toilet in the house? Put me right off!

foreversomeday

I'll try and answer individually.

mrcow, the point of it (to my mind) is that it would be easier to flush a child's waste down the toilet than change a nappy several times a day. Obviously if you were using nappies as backup there would still be nappy changes, and if you weren't and you missed there would be worse cleaning up to do... admittedly, I haven't had my baby yet so I am yet to experience it but other benefits would be no nappy rash, no need to toilet train in the conventional sense (seeing as we hadn't trained baby that weeing in a nappy, ie clothes, was the way to deal with it) and less washing of nappies or money spent on disposable nappies. I think the main point is that I know I would hate to sit around in a nappy 24/7, so I don't see why I should make my child sit in one for any longer than he or she has to.

Floxie, it's not about "allowing" your child to go to the toilet when you require them to, it's about increasing communication with your child and realising when he or she needs to go. I too hate it when parents try to compete with their children over milestones which don't mean anything anyway as all children develop at different rates. As for the timing issue, mothers who breastfeed on demand know when their child is hungry, they don't just time it to every couple of hours and hope.

Agutka, I haven't seen the American programmes but I suspect that would put me off too! I plan on putting my child in washable nappies as well as practising EC because you are bound to miss some at first and I don't fancy cleaning poo off the carpets, sofas, beds...

bravobeastie

My son will be 4 in July and he is toilet trained.....almost

Whereas he will quite happily toddle of to the toilet for a wee, he won't have a poo on the toilet. He will come up and tell me he wants a poo and i put a nappy on him for it. We can't understand why he won't go on the toilet but guess that he will eventually and we don't make a big deal out of it. Same as at bedtime too as he goes into such a deep sleep he ends up having 'accidents'

We've had a few dry nights but don't want to push it and make him feel uncomfortable or upset.

Kids do everything at their own pace, my daughter (now 7) was toilet tained completely by the age of 4. I couldn't imagine trying to make a child go to the toilet until he/she is ready.

fitzmum

" haven't had my baby yet so I am yet to experience it but other benefits would be no nappy rash, no need to toilet train in the conventional sense (seeing as we hadn't trained baby that weeing in a nappy, ie clothes, was the way to deal with it)"

So how are you going to manage for the very first few months when babies DONT communicate really in any sensible way or form except to cry? Surely by the time that the baby HAS got to the age where they can let you know they will be already accepting of sitting and in a nappy and 'eliminating' (strange way of putting it imo!)

I don't mean to sound rude but being as this is your first child I can see why you may want to look down these avenues and be wanting to do the right thing. Many of these theories seem quite crackpot to myself and other mums who know the day to day realities of having children and believe me it aint as simple as it seems.

I can remember being very sure I was going to do everything the right way, breastfeed till baby was one, all organic veg, washable nappies and lots of other things when in reality when baby came along life as I knew it went out of the window.

Breastfeeding was much, much harder than I ever imagined it to be, I was permanently knackered and ate whatever was fairly nutritous I could lay my hands on with minimum effort. I was doing well if I could get out of the house with baby by lunchtime. The endless (and I mean endless) washing of clothes, nappies etc was exhausting and to be honest the first months were hell with colic and I didn't really start to enjoy the baby properly till he was about 3m old and everything had settled down. It wasn't how I envisgaed it was going to be.

Looking back, the thought of having to watch the baby to try & preempt the need for the toilet would probably have sent me over the edge.

If I could give any advice to anyone having their 1st baby it would be to try & make life as EASY for yourself as possible. Baby will grow and WILL become potty trained in its own good time as all kids do. If you make life as easy for yourself as possible you will feel better yourself and baby will also benefit. Don't have too high hopes of feeling the need to do everything the right way because babies being babies it just won't happen that way.

Come back after you've had the baby & let us know how you are getting on - I'm sure you'll feel a whole lot different then & will be happy to have the baby sitting warm, comfy & dry in a good old disposable nappy while you catch a well earned 5 minutes peace!!

All the best with the baby xx

skylight

princess wrote: »

I remember my gran, now deceased mentioning this as something commonly done in her circles in i guess it would have been the 1920s and 30s - when nappies were a luxury lots of people couldnt afford and even if cloth was available, washing was a nightmare. The baby was held over a pot at intervals from birth. She said it was quite possible to anticipate when it needed to go

My Nan was the same. She tells me that she was also doing this in the 50's on advice from her mother who was doing this in the 20/30's but Nan mainly did this after feeding and mealtimes and believed that it saved her an awful lot of dirty nappies/time/washing etc.

Rachie_B

mrcow wrote: »

Don't see the point of it really though?

What's wrong with using nappies until the child is ready themselves? If you are trying to savemoney on nappy useage, try reusable nappies instead. Potty training is really not that big a deal.What you're describing is just making work for the sake of it. They get there in the end without you having to stand over a toilet with hovering baby!

My middle daughter has just been potty trained at age 2 1/2. It took one day! Reason: I waited until she was ready and didn't try and work my agenda.

Sounds like a complete waste of time tbh

:T couldnt agree more

looby-loo_2

Doesn't it entirely depend on the child

mrcow

foreversomeday wrote: »

I haven't had my baby yet so I am yet to experience it but other benefits would be no nappy rash, no need to toilet train in the conventional sense (seeing as we hadn't trained baby that weeing in a nappy, ie clothes, was the way to deal with it) and less washing of nappies or money spent on disposable nappies. I think the main point is that I know I would hate to sit around in a nappy 24/7, so I don't see why I should make my child sit in one for any longer than he or she has to.

Nappy rash isn't really a problem for most children these days. Modern nappies are not wet and pull any excretions away from the skin. Your baby is not going to be sitting in a dirty or wet nappy if you are changing them correctly.

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy. I'm a mother of three and can categorically state that once your little one comes along, you are going to have far better things to worry about than this lol. If it is something that you wish to pursue, wait until after the birth before you make a decision (sometimes the reality of a situation can help focus our decisions).

squashy

fitzmum wrote: »

Breastfeeding was much, much harder than I ever imagined it to be.......If I could give any advice to anyone having their 1st baby it would be to try & make life as EASY for yourself as possible.

Just to pick up on a couple of points you made, I agree there is a learning curve to breastfeeding but once you have cracked it I think it is FAR easier than scrubbing bottles, faffing about with a steriliser, scooping out little bits of powder, boiling and cooling water to the right temperature, reheating the bottles when baby is screaming, plus the added worry of what chemicals I am giving my baby in the formula and leeching from the plastic in the bottles, knowing I was increasing the risk of her having health problems and illnesses, increased risk of cot death, the expense of formula, the list goes on.

I am all for a stress free babymoon too and for me top of the list to help with this was to make sure I perservered with breastfeding. It also releases endorphins too (the happy hormone!) so I am sure that helps!

I have also heard about EC. I find it really fascinating! I often leave baby with no nappy on and I can kind of guess when she is going to wee but I have never taken it to the point of sitting her on a potty or anything. I dont see the harm in it though. I can kind of see the logic though about it eliminating (scuse the pun!) the need to re-learn the place for wees and poos!