"Elimination communication" is a fancy term for "paying attention," in the same way we notice other stuff babies communicate like hunger, tiredness or a desire to be picked up.In this case, parents watch for the kind of fussiness, squirming and funny faces that come before a baby urinates or has a bowel movement. Caretakers should also pay attention to any daily routines that the baby follows, like urinating after feedings or when waking up. At that point, it's a simple matter of holding the baby on the pot, and pretty soon he or she connects the toilet with its function, and the pattern is set.
As an anthropologist, I know that this idea is nothing new. Most babies and toddlers around the world, and throughout human history, have never worn diapers. For instance, in places like China, India and Kenya, children wear split pants or run around naked from the waist down. When it's clear that they have to go, they can squat or be held over the right hole in a matter of seconds.
Parents and caretakers in these cultures see diapers as not the best, but the worst alternative. Why bind bulky cloth around a small child? Why use a disposable diaper that keeps buckets of urine next to tender skin?
Utter balderdash. Few people would be happier than Ann and myself to expedite our three in pampers to graduate quickly to the potty seat. Trust me on this one. However, one of the first rules of anthropology is to never judge one culture by the standards of another, and author Meredith Small does just that. Only rural and remote Chinese have their kids running around hald naked, and it isn't because they have some astonishing confucian knowledge we'd love to possess. They simply don't have the resources. The other 99% of chinese use diapers. But what do I know? Only one half of my family lives in Asia.
Another presupposition she appears to have is that parents have nothing better to do than hold vigil and wait for the tell tail facial expression change. You know, the people with one kid and no work to do. Sorry, no can do. We work from home and would love to stare adoringly at our three kids all day but that would preclude us from procuring the means of feeding them. Does Small practice what she preaches? Of course not!
At this point, I haven't changed a diaper in six years, and it doesn't look as if I'll be faced with this issue again. But given the opportunity, I'd certainly go the diaper-free route. Just the thought of a baby's bare bottom bouncing through the house is reason enough to try.
I was curious as to whether Professor Small has more than one child and could appreciate what a larger family that works for a living has to deal with. I couldn't find that out, but did see that she's in the poppycock attachment parenting camp, and advocates co sleeping with her children. Sorry, but the "because they do it in China" justification doesn't do it for me. My wife, a native of Korea, knows why parents co sleep with their children in Asia, and it isn't because they have some enlightened secret that American excess wipes from the mind. They do it out of necessity. They don't live in McMansions with their 1.5 kids and 2 dogs.
Again, I'd love to get the kids out of diapers ASAP. But having them poo & pee all night (X 3) in a bed that isn't exactly a mud hut floor isn't optimal.
Yeah, I've been to China and have seen the kids with the split pants. And darned if I ever saw a parent rushing them anywhere....kid just went where and as he pleased (I have pics)....needless to say, I washed the soles of my shoes each night. No diss on China, simply proof that *gasp* anthropologists may not be omniscient. I know that's a crushing blow.
I'm not a parent, but I've done enough babysitting in my day to know that ditching the diaper would be an awfully stupid thing to do, unless you enjoy cleaning up the poop deck, if you will. Sorry, had to.
Posted by: Portia | October 13, 2005 at 02:00 AM