Anatomy blog? Parenting blog? Both? I wanted to complain about diapers but felt the need to connect it up with the anatomy. diapers are bad for the pelvis. Our legs are meant to hang directly down from the hips to the floor but diapers, depending on the make and heft, can easily shove the legs wide out to the side.
I recently asked a client if his fourteen month old baby was using a potty. He looked at me crossed eyed and said, “no, of course not”. So I told him our story.
When my daughter Ida was about six months old my wife Caitlin was reading a book called “Diaper Free Before Three”. In the introduction to the book it was revealed that when disposable diapers showed up on the market someone wrote a landmark essay saying in effect, “let your children determine when they should get out of diapers”. It isn’t always about money but this can be a costly decision to make.
That day we were out shopping and saw potty’s for sale. Imagine my surprise when I looked at this tiny innocuous piece of plastic and it said “Not for children under three.” We bought it on the spot.
The next morning when Ida woke up we put her on the potty and she used it happily. And it was that easy. When my son was born he began using the potty at one week. And the thing of it is that we don’t do anything with all that much gusto. We didn’t force it on either kid but slowly but surely they used the potty more and more and were both easily, with an emphasis on easily, out of diapers at around two years old.
As I said, we are not that radical but there is a movement in the US called EC- elimination communication. These parents never use diapers and learn to tune into the needs of their children. Powerful stuff if you have what it takes.
At my old yoga studio we had a support group for EC families and I remember talking to a marine who came in, cut like a rock and covered in tattoos. He did not look like the model for an EC type of Dad but he explained that his wife had heard about it and living in New York on a soldiers salary sort of mandated that they save on diapers. The sweet part was how much he appreciated the practice as it had brought him much closer to his baby whose needs he could now understand and meet.
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