Perhaps.
A movement of parents has emerged that believes that infants come out of the womb with the natural ability to control their bowls. Consequently--for them--,what's the use of diapers?
I can somewhat concur with their position. Diapers represent a way to control environment and promote a "healthier" atmosphere in our neighborhoods. Keeping young tots from dropping their excrement as they go on their merry way represents the way Western, industrialized countries do it. Third-world, countries, though, see nothing wrong with allowing infants to...er.."go on the go as they please". Parents in many African and indigenous communities allow their children to run around and go to the bathroom wherever and whenever they wish.
Here's my problem with the movement: I think children can eventually learn to go to the bathroom on their own through social learning and modeling. "Training" a child as an infant to go as a baby is a convenience-based idea, not a necessary idea. I am a little bewildered as to why parents are so eager to get their babies potty trained so early. If the benefit is earlier bathroom independence, I caution them. By watching for subtle signs when they need to go and by whisking them to a location where they can go "on cue", are parents really training children to be control their own bowls? Are they not in danger of setting up a system where children will be DEPENDENT on their parents to help them go when they need to go? Are these children really learning to recognize the sensation of going to the bathroom in such a way where they can give themselves time to get to the potty and go?
One more thing: all children do not learn bowl-control with the same efficiency. Some parents reading this article may automatically think "Hey! If her baby can do it, mine can." That is not how potty-training works. If you force a child to potty-train before you know when he is ready and willing to do it, you are putting expectations on him that he may not be ready (or able) to reach. The result? DELAYED potty training. Warning to parents: all babies can not go diaper-less. It depends on the type of child God has given you.
