forget cloth v disposable!

[pesme]

Who needs nappies

Issymum, that's really interesting! Presumably your two were not being cared for on a one-to-one basis, so how did it work?

issymum that is really interesting.

it doesnt say in the article what is done at night - does the baby hold on the wee, and kick and shout til mummy comes along? or does she use nappies?

i could maybe see it being possible with baby no 1, but how on earth does she have the time/keep the baby within view/earshot while she has 2 older ones

respect to her and her patience

I find the idea interesting, but the tone of these 'nappy-free' articles slightly grating, with their implicit reproach ("If you were a really good mummy, you would intuit your baby's every little wee-wee").

I suspect that as Issymum suggests, mothers who manage without all these trappings are still using cloths of various kinds to mop up the inevitable accidents. When we lived in Africa, where babies are carried on their mother's back for long periods I seem to remember various cloths being used around the babies' nether regions, though that was in my pre-child days, so I didn't notice the details the way I would now.

But dd2 is nearly 20 months, so my nappying days are hopefully pretty limited. Hurrah! And then i need never care again what arrangements people make for their babies' eliminations.

Issymum, sounds as if your dd's are doubly lucky in having great adoptive parents and good pre-adoption care. I have friends who adopted two children from Bulgaria, who were by no means 'radiantly well' when they arrived here. Hopefully those images of them being loved and cared for in their pre-adoption lives will help see your dd's through the difficult questions about adoption.

I've read a lot about this. Very intersting. Arguably much easier in a hot country with very few soft furnishings I would think. Wee and poo would then just dry very quickly.
My g/mother said they held babies over the pot from 6 months.
I reckon that I could send ds's (13 months)bowel movements. Not sure about the wees though.

I did find cloth nappies hastened potty training for dd as she could feel the wet nappy. She was in knickers a few months before the age of 2.

Yes Issymum. I grew up in PNG and don't remember seeing many textiles or nappies come to thinkof it. One lovely thing there was the way they used their bilums. These are intricatley woven and very colourful big string bags with a very long integral handle that they use to carry everything.

For newborns,they weave them with possum fur so that they are soft,then pop the baby in,hang it from a tree and give it a push every now and then. The mesh also keeps the flies away.

Lovely story about your dd's by the way. I flew home from Moscow once with my 10 month old dd, and sat next to a couple taking their newly adopted girl form Azerbaijan back to NY. it was 2 days after 9/11. What a maelstrom of emotions they must have been feeeling!

Issymum, if shouting, Cbeebies and chocolate bribes constitute bad parenting, then all our kids are stuffed.

When we lived in Indonesia babies were nappy-free zones. It must be much easier to do in a warm climate. It didn't appear to be a problem if there was more than one child as most people semed to have much bigger gaps between their children than we do here. It was unusual to see people with a baby and a toddler - the older child was generally at least 3yo before No2 came along. I also found this article on the subject, which answers the night-time question.

Suedonim,bigger gap probably due to extended b/feeding acting as a natural contraceptive (one of the wider implications of b/feeding that is often forgotten,along with the energy implications of boiling up water,which is probably unsafe anyway to make up formula.)