The true libertarian view of diapers

Alexander Moseley, PhD

Recently on mises.org the libertarian economist Art Carden extolled the economic and environmental benefits of disposable diapers (nappies to us in the UK) over the cloth diapers that environmentalists prefer our babies to sport. And in some respects rightly so: the economics of disposability suggests that they are less wasteful than their cloth counterparts despite common conceptions. Yet something is amiss. Well, why encumber our infants at all?

Surely, the libertarian would prefer a non-interventionist program in which the parent and child mutually learn leading to a greater bond within the family and in which the baby’s requirements are acknowledged as possessing value rather than ignored because his or her excretions can be handily ignored in a disposable diaper? A financial cost-benefit analysis of the benefits of cloth versus disposable is blown out of the water by the freedom approach!

Secondly, the cost of potential hazardous chemicals and irritants on the new infant’s skin should also be factored in as a potential cost. As an article on naturalnews.com explores, http://www.naturalnews.com/024796.html, several chemicals may induce adverse reactions in both the child and the handler even, and assuredly, if an adult gets a reaction from a chemical, the effect on the child’s immature immune system is magnified.

So why not go laissez-faire as libertarians extol in the political realm? Get a hold of a decent infant potty training book, we used "Infant Potty Training: A Gentle and Primevel Method Adapted to Modern Living" by Laurie Boucke. Training can begin very early on through a variety of methods based on either associating the child with the toilet or potty and excretion or carefully observing their rhythms or their behaviour. What has helped us is that we’ve also employed signing from the Tiny Talk Baby Signing course: indeed, Charlie’s first signing was for toilet, which was for a parent incredibly exciting for so many reasons! He was communicating, he was communicating a basic need, I could understand his communication! I believe that Ludwig Wittgenstein would have been moved.

So rather than wrap the baby up in a diaper, give them the freedom to express themselves. It’s no worse than having a puppy – and the maturing baby is just as keen to avoid messing as much as the maturing dog. All healthy babies are capable of communicating their needs, and you could say that we do them wrong in not listening when they are telling us that they are hungry or need to urinate.

We began around the 3 month period and I think we've lost three poos to the floor in all that time, the rest have been caught either by noting his rhythms or by his communicating his need to head to the toilet. We've invested in a couple of baby loo seats to assist matters here – and a good book to read to him nearby is very helpful: a Maisy pop-up book has been mutually enjoyable.

Pees are more entertaining, particularly for a boy - you need to accept accidents, and treat them with humour rather than condemnation, encouraging him when he makes a move towards the toilet or signs appropriately. When behaviour or the rhythms of the day change, then we can lose sight of his needs; this was particularly true, as Boucke had explained, when he began exercising new muscles in crawling and later in standing: sometimes, you can tell that he just doesn't realise that he's peeing! Carpets may suffer, but that is to be expected with a child in the family! If an expensive carpet needs protecting, then buy a cheap rug to lay on top, but do watch out for corners - nice places to have a quiet pee when engrossed in playing. I've found that a handy cloth or tissue adequately soaks up urine, and the only stains that are visible are when I tried to water down the urine – when I’ve blotted up the pee and then placed tissue on the carpet with some form of pressure added on top (a chair leg for instance), then no stain has been left.
 
Again, the emphasis in my mind is less on the financial wear and tear on the carpet (after all, that depreciates in our minds as soon as we invite children or pets into our lives!), than on the communication pathways that open between parent and baby. The disposable tends to create a distance that so much in modern parenting does - the push chair instead of the sling, the separate room instead of the same bed, different food instead of allowing the baby to partake, formula instead of breast. Of course, under some circumstances, one or two compromises may have to be made, but the stress should always be on the need to communicate and to maintain communication channels with your baby.

Meanwhile - what to do at night? We sleep with our boy (another tale) and as soon as he wriggles, he needs a pee - off goes mum to empty him. There is a natural division of labour here I'm afraid. I don't mind clearing up the accidents, but we've found that if I try to toilet him in the middle of the night, he loses the contact with mum and becomes inconsolable - instead, mum can offer him a soothing breast while he's transported from the bed to the loo and back.

We've found that gradually he extended his time of not needing to go. By now (13 months) he can go from 1am to 7.30ish.

We've bought some waterproof sheets (which you'll need any one day if you follow the mainstream route of training him later), which serve for the nocturnal accidents, which are about one a month and usually when Moira is in a deep sleep and I'm working till the wee hours writing.

Update: around 18months. Charlie still likes to run around without trousers at times and accordingly urinates in the fresh air (we have a tiled floor!), but he is now predicting his own needs increasingly; we have given up the waterproof sheets on the bed (keeping one under the main bedspread), and he sleeps usually right through without any need to pee; if does (he's just discovered the fun of drinking from 'sports' bottles of water, so he's often quite full by evening, he still wriggles and squirms in an obvious manner that suggests toilet time.

Would we have changed anything? Perhaps got him started earlier! And maybe we should have had some receptacles around the house for him to crawl/run to, but really, the mess he's made has been easily manageable. Others may disagree and have their own tips! Do share!

alex[usual sign]classical-foundations.com

November 08- April 09

July 09

Accidents are now fewer and fewer between. Nappies are a thing long gone and we now find it surprising to see other children the same age in nappies. He wears little underwear under his trousers and manages most of the time to let us know that he needs to go. If he's outside though, he's usually (in this weather) free of any clothing (or sports a teeshirt), so he can urinate where ever he feels like. I recall my mother made a big issue out of this - I used to do as as the dog did, which must have seemed only reasonable at the time (no other toilet role models I believe), but this gave me long-lasting hang-ups about needing and going to the toilet - hang-ups that have not quite gone, I realize, but which I endeavour not to pass on to my boy by making him feel embarrassed or ashamed about his natural needs!

Any information on these pages should be taken as information only and not health advice. You should always consult a professional medical practitioner concerning any issues that you may have or change of diet regime - the GP is often the first port of call, but there are also chiropractors, osteopaths, physical therapists, homeopaths, nutritionists, naturopaths, herbalists, and so on, who can offer relevant advice.