Princess Buttcheeks

Well, March has gone and past me.  And, not a single blog post.  At first I felt disappointed in myself, but blogging is hard work and it doesn't come naturally to me yet.  Also, thanks to those of you who encourage me to keep blogging.  It's delightful to me that all kinds of people are interested at peeking into the life of this new modern mom.

This is what March looked like for me:
Ada starts calling me "mommy."
Ada takes more and more steps.
Ada makes a few poops her potty.
My mom teaches us the skill of home-brewing.
I turned 24! BUT, I only feel 22.


Today I wanted to talk about a goal that Ada and I have been working on the last few months. Our goal is for her to be potty trained by June 18 of this year.   Around here, we call it "diaper free."

Two experiences have really shaped the way I want to help Ada become diaper free.  The first is a vivid memory of my mom potty training my little brother (who is now 18) John Lloyd.   She potty trained him in 2 or 3 days, by sticking him outside to play all day long NAKED (except for a tshirt).  When he peed, his pee would get all over his legs and feet and he would throw a fit.  So then my mom would tell him that next time he should pee on the flowers, or the trees, or the rocks, and then eventually the toilet.

My second experience is what I saw while I lived in China for six months.  In China, babies wear what we would call "split-pants."
 

I would see babies as young as probably 3 months wearing these.  I saw babies squatting to pee on sidewalks.  I saw a mom RUN out of a grocery store with her baby to make it just in time to hold the baby over the sidewalk for him to pee.  Can you imagine how nice it would be if your 10 month old was already diaper free?  I think split pants are a great idea!

Why does bare naked butt work?  I think it's because babes can see and feel the cause and effect of relieving themselves.  Also, parents can easily see what cues their babes make right before they pee or poo, and specifically when they peed or pooped.  

So, that's where I'm at right now.  About once a week, I let Ada be naked for several hours.  Diaper free is really about training myself to learn how Ada communicates that she's about to relieve herself.  While she's diaper free I watch her as best as I can to see what she does.  Some days are more successful than others, and we've made progress since we started 5 months ago.  And you know what's surprising?  It's actually  kind of fun and exciting!  Ada loves being naked, too.  I call her Princess Buttcheeks when she's diaper free. Neighbors be warned, you probably will see our children squatting in the backyard and front yard for the next several summers!

If you want to learn more about diaper free methods, you should visit http://diaperfreebaby.org/.

Have you experienced or witnessed any odd potty training methods?