Benefits of Infant Potty Training
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- ffisch
- laurie2
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» ffisch - Even more benefits!
I´ve been doing IPT with my son, since he was 2 months old and we enjoyed and enjoy all the benefits mentioned in the article. Plus some more! Here are a few, that crossed my mind right now:I knew another reason a baby that had been fed, was neither tired nor bored nor in pain and wearing dry diapers might have to cry. Sometimes it just means: "I have to go and I don´t want to go in my pants!" A situation which can easily be helped - if you consider the possibility, which we usually don´t ("babies are not aware of their elimination before they are ready to potty train - not before 18 months" - what CRAB!) So unecessary crying and distress for mother and baby (and father) was reduced.
I learned to make really use of my sewing maschine. Starting with easy, quickly to remove cloth diapers (the bought ones are so expensive), I graduated to training pants (couldn´t find cloth ones hereabouts), easy to pull down pants with an elastic waistband (the ones you can buy are too wide and stay up only if worn over a diaper). By now I felt confident enought to make ds a beautiful warm fleece jacket for winter and a cap for summer - so my sewing is not confined to things I need for IPT any more :-)
We love going on bicycle tours for several days. Of course every piece of luggage counts, when you have to carry it on your bike. Last year we had to bring rather few diapers for our 9-month-old boy. This summer I´m confident we won´t need any!
The smell: After same time in a (dry and clean!) diaper, his bottom smells - I suppose it´s that unventilated enviroment. It´s worse with disposables, but as soon as you use covers with cloth diapers, it gets smelly, too.
With IPT I´ve got a finely tuned instrument telling me, if me and my son are in tune right now and wether he is feeling really well. If we have too many misses, usually something else is amiss, too: He´s tired, I´m tired, he´s teething or about to get a cold, we´ve been away from home more than two days - things like that.
A babies bottom is so much easier to clean, if the poo hasn´t been sat on first.
If someone starts critisising me for still nursing at night ("he doesn´t need it anymore, it´s just a habit"), I can always counter that ds wakes TO PEE and stays dry at night that way. Stops those critics dead in their tracks. :-))
And just a little benefit: As soon as we started with IPT never again was I peed at while changing ds. :-)
Freddy
ds Wolfgang (11/99)
IPT since two months, stopped needing daytime-diapers at 12 months, nightime diapers at 16 months. Often tells me by saying "dede" and doing the ASL "toilet"-sign, when he has to go. Apart from that, we still rely on timing and other signs quite sucessfully - one or two small "accidents" in 24 hours right now..
-- posted by ffisch
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