Do you ever use nappies?

 Yes, occasionally, but I don’t like it when I do, and they give my baby a red bum.  Sometimes though I have a distracted day when I miss lots of pees and run out of dry training pants.  Or this week I hurt my wrist and needed to reduce the number of times I was lifting my baby.  But once you get into the swing of it, nappies actually become more of a nuisance than a convenience. They’re hard to remove if you recognise that the baby is signalling to go, and the signals are hard to ignore once you understand them!  I find that I end up wanting to change the nappy after every pee anyway (because I’m used to her being clean and dry now) which defeats the object of a nappy.  I’ve also noticed that nappies interfere with her sitting balance. 

How long did it take to become nappy-free? 

We started using NIH when our daughter was 4 months old, because we didn’t know much about it before then.  By 5 months she was nappy-free all day and by 6 months all night as well.  Actually the nights were much easier than expected and we just should’ve tried sooner.  *We do use training pants to catch a ‘miss’.  This is very different to using a nappy though, in that they are designed to be changed straight away and are only worn dry.  They look and feel pretty much more like normal pants as they are not bulky and do not cover as much of the body. 

At what age do children use the toilet independently when you use NIH? 

This depends on what age they develop the social understanding that the toilet is more appropriate than anywhere else.  I imagine this varies a lot, but I can’t imagine a child grasping this before maybe 18 months.  NIH is not a race to toilet independence - it’s a different way of responding to toileting needs all along.  One advantage though is that when the child does gain this social understanding, they already have the awareness and control of their bodily functions and can therefore just get on with it.  A child who has been effectively conditioned to use a nappy might want to use the toilet, but still has to re-learn these basic skills.  I think that’s why all the conventional books say that children don’t gain control until around 18 months – most people just don’t know that they start with control and lose it through lack of use. 

Why did you choose NIH? 

It always felt wrong to me to be leaving my child sitting in her own waste, and it also  puzzled me that children were running around and having conversations but still peeing and pooing themselves!  I chose NIH because it makes biological sense, it’s much more hygienic and it encourages a more positive relationship with the child around toileting.  I think I was lucky to be introduced to an alternative to nappies! 

 For more information on NIH, including information about practical introductory sessions, please check out www.urbanbabies.co.uk   - Happy ‘ECing’ if you’re brave enough to try!!