Why Disposable Diapers are Dirty and Dangerous



reposted by P.O.T.T.Y. Generation Staff
Babies do a lot of pooping. In fact, the average baby goes through 6-8 diapers a day. Unless you practice elimination communication, your baby will use between 6,500–10,000 diapers before potty training around 30 months old. If you use disposables and disposable wipes, this costs about $75–$100 a month retail—at least $3,000 per child!
Cloth Diapers
According to a 2010 study, one-third of U.S. mothers are cutting back on basic necessities (such as food, utilities, and childcare) to buy diapers for their children. But as much as disposable diapers cost individual families, they cost us even more as a nation and as a planet.
Consider these alarming facts you may not know about disposable diapers: 

Disposable Nation

Approximately 90-95% of American babies use 27.4 billion single-use, plastic diapers every year. This generates 7.6 billion pounds of garbage each year—enough waste to fill Yankee Stadium 15 times over, or stretch to the moon and back 9 times. Every year.... read more










Original article at: http://www.smallfootprintfamily.com

Potty Training a Strong Willed Child (Part 1)



What is a parent to do when it seems they've tried every potty training tip in the book?

By: Daniel Wagner.

In our experience with potty training, my wife, Manda, and I have never really had a huge problem for the most part with our three oldest children. They were easily taught and willing/curious to learn. But what is a parent to do when a child just doesn’t seem to “get it” when it comes to personal hygiene and the societal necessity for mature bathroom habits? 

Sophia, the youngest of our four children, is the sweetest little girl you could ever hope to meet. She loves to dance and sing, take pictures with her kid-proof digital camera, and talk your head off if you give her the opportunity. But when it came to potty training, she had no interest in learning. 

There have been many times when we’ll catch her doing the potty dance; wiggling and squirming, crossing her legs, etc. If we addressed it, and asked her if she had to go, she would deny, deny, deny like crazy—as if she were afraid she would miss out on something. 

There was a constant struggle between us. Manda and I were always trying to rack our brains, wondering, what do we do next? We tried everything we could think of; taking advice from our friends and family who had older kids. We tried:


·         Reward systems, including
o   Special Treats
o   Candy
o   Small Toys
o   Other various rewards
·         Spanking (a method from our old parenting philosophy before we discovered peaceful parenting)
Girl with Stickers
Some rights reserved by abbybatchelder
·         Shaming (telling her that her friends at school would make fun of her and not be friends with her if she didn’t clean up her act)
·         Scolding (went hand-in-hand with shaming – only more firm)
·         Begging (that was a strange effort that taught her nothing)
·         Special Trips and Fun Days (such as going to the park or arcade if she made it a few days without any accidents)
·         Charting (using markers that we applied, or stickers which she applied)
·         We even Cut Off Drinks at a certain time of night (which didn’t seem to have any effect on the frequency of occurrences)

Something that seemed to work for a while was buying boy themed pull-ups. She responded to an aversion to wearing boy-themed pull-ups. If she was doing well, we would buy her the girl themed pull-ups. Kind of a reward/consequence system. 

Each of these methods worked for a week or two before she grew tired and bored of it and regressed right back into her old ways; sometimes worse, depending on the severity of the consequence or punishment. She was a rebel at heart, and there was nothing we could do to force her to learn. 

Every so often, we would go in her room and get hit in the face with the overwhelming scent of old urine. Upon investigation, we discovered that she was cleverly hiding her soiled clothing under the mattress, tucked into shelves, back in her dresser drawer, etc. She was not learning to use the bathroom properly; rather, she was learning that she would be punished for accidents and was actively developing the skills necessary to hide those accidents from us. 

So what exactly was going to work with little Sophia? 

In Part 2 I discuss how conscious and peaceful parenting helped us determine what made her different from the other kids and why none of the methods we tried seemed to work. 

 Daniel Wagner.

Daniel Wagner, owner of the Parent of Progress blog, shares his experiences, tips, and advice for new parents and/or parents who are new to the concept of peaceful parenting and the challenges associated with the transition in differing mindsets.

When should I start toilet training my child?







I believe toilet training is mostly a decision parents need to make as soon as they as parents are ready.

A child will learn to do just about anything if the parent is wiling to teach. Think of the first time your child latched on to your breast or a bottle to eat. Think of the first time your child started walking.

A Toddler
Potty Training 
There are developmental stages in life however just like the need to eat and digest the food a child eats, the need to eliminate is there from the day a child is born. The saying "your child must be both physically and emotionally ready for toilet training" I believe is not true.

Toilet training my youngest daughter as an infant proved to me over and over the choice I have every day to either put her in diapers and allow her to soil her self while desensitizing or I could hold her and teach her that's ok to feel and eliminate.


Of course I chose to let her feel and teach her to eliminate. I am a proud mom and would like to share that my little Abbie was fully potty trained by four months old and once she learned to sit and crawl she would use the potty on her own.

With the use of diapers I need to agree with most experts who say most children are ready when they are between 22 and 30 months of age, although every child is different.

Potty training can becomes a long and frustrating process if you try to start it before your child is ready emotionally and physically once you have used diapers, however with the right amount of time and tools it can be done at any stage in your child's development.

Potty Training at 11 mo
Before a child can use the toilet, he/she must be able to control their bowel and bladder muscles.

Some signs of this control are having a dry diaper after a nap or for at least 2 hours at a time, having bowel movements around the same time each day and not having bowel movements at night.

For total independence a child should also be able to climb, talk, remove clothing, and have mastered other basic motor skills before they can use the toilet by themselves, and until then a parent should be willing to offer support.

I believe most children are physically ready to toilet train before they are emotionally ready.

Your child must want to use the toilet and be willing to cooperate with you. He or she may even talk about being a "big boy" or "big girl" and wearing underpants rather than diapers.

Training generally does not go well if your child is in the stage where "no" is his or her automatic response to every request, however giving it enough time will create not only a bond it will also create trust and follow the leader game will have a brand new meaning.

When did you start potty training and how did it go?






Adriana Vermillion is the Founder and CEO of P.O.T.T."Y" Generation®, The Potty Whisperer™, a Lead Trainer and Parenting Coach with over sixteen years of experience in potty training special needs children and coaching parents. Adriana is a freelance writer, author and a frequent motivational speaker available for your event at www.adrianavermillion.com