Diaper Free: The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene Kindle Edition

Thank you, thank you, thank you ! I was not sure about trying my baby on the potty! But it works. I started her around six months and she is now 11 months and we use very few diapers throughout the day. I only started this style of potty training because she would scream so when she wet herself. What I love most about it is it doesn’t really feel like potty training… It just feels like I am taking care of your needs! It’s like feeding her helping her sleep or nursing her… Keeping her clean is a wonderful gift I can give her as a mother. This book is very easy to read and carefully thought out. I am so thankful I was brave enough to try something different than my parents, peers, and society!

We got this to gift it. It works. This author is great and her instructions are spot on.There are a bunch of other so-so books on the same topic. Don't get them.

I wish this book spent more time on how to practice E.C. rather than the author's personal viewpoints on various mothering techniques that have little to do with elimiation. It was helpful, but I might rather read a different book if I was going to read a how to on E.C. for the first time.

It is amazing what we have forgotten over time and through commercialization of diapers. It really works to shorten the time of potty training. Your child will be able to tell or signal you they need to go even if they cannot undress themselves. I felt it made it much easier in cleanup, because usually you would get number two in the toilet, and not in the diaper. We also started right after birth. The big caveat is that it does take time and you need the support of everyone involved who takes care of your child. If the day care people don't care then you can't expect you child to care either. It has quite a bit of upfront cost in time, but the sooner you start the sooner you finish and move on to better things. We bought this book as well as the Infant Potty Training book. Both are good sources of information.

I am so happy I ran across this book and read it while I was pregnant. I have not chosen to go diaper free, but instead started putting my son on a Baby Bjorn potty at 7 weeks old just during diaper changes. From the very beginning he peed 99% of the time which kept the new diaper dry longer OR it saved the washcloth I was using to protect myself from squirts! He also immediately began pooping whenever he needed to. This is a much more natural position for elimination than laying on your back. Now at 4 months, I would estimate that 95% of his poop ends up in the potty instead of a diaper. I cannot imagine what life would be like if I had not read this book and tried it. I consider my son potty trained...he is just not trained "not" to use his diaper yet. The best part...he LOVES sitting on the potty. He is always happy and smiling while looking at himself in the mirror. Diaper free completely is not for me, but you owe it to yourself and your baby to be open to the possibilities. Kids don't have to run around at 3 years old in diapers because we "trained" them that that is where they "should" potty. Of course the diaper manufacturers don't want you to know this!

I found this here on Amazon when my baby was 3 months old, and it introduced me to Elimination Communication/Natural Infant Hygiene. It is a simple way of life that I continue to practice with my 2 year-old. She has been EC'd since she was 3 months old, and she has a great relationship with the potty. She has no fear of it, and she completely understands the potty concept, although at her age, she is more interested in exploring than taking time to sit on her potty most of the time, but she is way ahead of where she could be if we hadn't EC'd. We also cloth diaper so she is very aware of when she goes. This book is a great way to learn about Natural Infant Hygiene, and all of its wonderful benefits. It is a good and fast read. Get it now, and enjoy.

What an inspiration! If every person just did a little of this, we would have a kinder, more communicative world! Get this book! Loan this book! Gift this book!

My mom alerted me to the phenomenon of raising babies without diapers, and before deciding she was crazy, I ventured on some research into the subject. After having quickly read through this book, I thought to myself, "I bought a book on this?" It's a good book, it's just very... common sense. Ingrid Bauer explains how she came to the conclusion that she didn't want her baby stuck in diapers in such a way you'd think that any mother would come to the same conclusion. Of course, they don't, because we live in a diaper culture. We just don't see it much in the US, but it is actually widely practiced throughout the world. I plan to start with diapers, practice the "Natural Infant Hygiene" Ms Bauer recommends, and see what happens. Her philosophy is that kids naturally know when they are going to eliminate, and they'd rather communicate to you that they have to go than go in their diapers and wait uncomfortably for you to get them a clean one. She also hypothesizes that babies will forget how to control their elimination if you don't start communicating with them earlier on than 2 years, when most parents potty train their kids. Thus, they have to learn it all over again and it's a big pain that can be embarrassing for both of you.Even if you aren't home with your kid 24 hours a day, it's still possible to use the techniques when you are around. It's not an all-or-nothing solution. You can diaper part of the time, and communicate with your child about eliminating when you are around. One cool thing is that most kids who have learned to control their elimination from birth have very little trouble with bed-wetting. 10% of 10 year olds still have bed-wetting episodes! That means 10% of 10 year olds are self conscious about and not fully in control of their elimination. That alone makes me want to try this, for the sake of my kid's personal respect, trust, and independence.*New information*The previous bit was from before I had my baby, and now that she is 19 months old, I have some perspective. We received cloth diaper service for the first year as a gift, and the first weeks we were using up to 80 diapers per week. I actually first started my girl on the potty at 3 weeks and was astounded at how quickly she caught on. The fourth time I took her to the potty, she instantly went on cue. We made the complete switch to training pants (purchased on Amazon at 15 for $25, Luvable Friends brand) at 12 months. I made this decision because we were down to 20 diapers a week, she rarely wet at night, and she could walk to the potty and sit down on it on her own. She has had her share of "misses," but to me it's worth it for the "catches." I work in a daycare and parents are constantly asking me about how I got my baby to use a potty so early! It certainly wasn't through any kind of coercion. It was a very natural process that only requires a good parent-child connection.I was never as extreme about EC as the author or some people I've met that are very active in the diaper free yahoo group, but I usually see that we are nearly as successful. There are certain developments that happen in the brain and body around the same age regardless of parenting, such as ability to consciously communicate about something that will happen in the future, and the ability to pull one's pants down! Often, my daughter will sit on the potty and pee right through her pants. This is a good thing still because it's not a puddle on the floor, and the laundry is the same or less than with a diaper, and she gets the practice. One thing I am diligent about is always pottying her before and after sleeping for naps or night time. Also we get up once in the middle of the night to go. It is very clear when she needs to go at night because it is difficult to get her back to sleep and she whimpers. Getting to know your child's patterns and ever-changing signals is key.The most important thing to take from this book is the simple philosophy that you should not let your baby forget the awareness of needing to eliminate. As long as you keep the awareness up by making attempts at using the potty, you are making progress. Yes, even on those days when they just will not signal and go through about 10 pairs of pants! Your baby doesn't have to be truly diaper free to maintain this awareness. The end result is a nice thing to daydream about, but Elimination Communication is really about the process of teaching your child about his or her bodily functions and how to handle them in a hygienic way from the start. It is about honoring your child's need to feel cared for, clean (yes, really), and empowered.This book was great for educating me on Elimination Communication, providing practical tips like how to hold your baby on the potty or outdoors, and listing most common signals children give before they eliminate. That said, I haven't picked the book up in over a year, so it's not something you will probably read again and again. Unless you feel you need something to encourage you and remind you, I would recommend borrowing this book from a library.

In some ways it's a wonderful, rich, wise and sophisticated book. In other ways it romantisises parenting and feels a bit judging of most parents. Mainly I just wish that each statement was referenced as the instinctual, opinion and factual claims are all mixed up without any anchor to where the info comes from. I also think the book glorifies parenting in the developing world where, along side the wonderful things it describes, you also have child marriage and FGM etc.All in all it's definitely worth a read but only when you're in a frame of mind to discriminate and take things "with a pinch of salt*

I agree with the other three star review, I'd have given this more but I haven't seen any practical ways to implement these ideas and have read better books on the subject. There was no "part time" approach so I read a book that suggested starting with catching poops but worrying about pees until the baby was a bit older and you were ready and I liked that as I believe it's something I could work around my daily routine but in this book the goal seems to be getting a child dry as quickly as possible rather than finding a method that works for you and moving a child too fast is just as detrimental as leaving them in nappies too long as far as I'm concerned. Personally I intend to start this journey when my son can sit unaided and then take it from there. I'm glad I got this book for another perspective and it DOES have some insights but I gave it three stars because apart from theory I don't feel it had much to offer to the subject.

Best book for parents with a first baby. Lots of tips. I read it 13 years ago and my son was a nappy free baby. Now I bought this book to a friend and I hope she will enjoy as much as I did.

I really liked this book as it opened ny eyes to a whole new way of toileting- I do think EC is a lot harder to practice than she makes out in todays world though, we no longer live in the kind of community where everyone can help out and it is hard to practice when distracted by toddlers, food, phones etc but I have incorporated many of the principles into my daily life. It is worth a read even if you can not follow natural infant hygeine word for word.

great