BellaOnline Forums Family Moms Help - Potty training tips for little girls needed

Hmm... I'll pass on the cloth diapers.

Its so funny. She's SO easy to work with. Every half hour (when I'm home with her) I say "let's go potty!" and she drops trou and heads for the potty. I love it! No bribe required (yet). She was super excited when she actually saw pee in the pot--no BM yet, but here's hoping!

We did buy her a potty (she picked the one she liked--it plays music and makes a flushing noise) and we did buy her some terry training pants (boy, those are hard to find these days).

My 7 y.o. still has nights when he doesn't wake up to go. *sigh* I keep hoping he'll out grow this, or so says the pedi.

There is the neatest little book out for that age called
"once upon a potty". I guess it is still out there. There are two versions, one for girls and one for boys...

Well, it takes about 500 years for the throw-aways to decompose. You're putting lots of chemicals on baby's behinds and really harming the environment. However, for this discussion, your children in chemically-treated paper will never feel like they would if they wore cloth diapers. That's what makes it difficult for throw-away diapered children to learn to use the bathroom.



He's still quite young.

I agree there are a thousand products that could/should be removed from the market place for the sake of our planet. Diapers and feminine hygiene products, though needing environmental improvements, are NOT two of them. We can not turn back! My grandmother washed out her pads so I would not have to! We should call for more 'green� products though.

I'm going to have to look for "Once Upon a Potty."

We've tried those "green disposable diapers" -- believe me, you don't want them near a babies bottom. They're a little like extra thick plain paper towels. Ish.

I had to use cloth diapers with my son. He was allergic to the disposable. It made daycare a nightmare--had to have a doctor's note in order for the daycare to allow the cloth. I wouldn't do it again for any reason unless the child had an allergy.

My daughter's sensitive, but not allergic. So we very thankfully used disposables.

Now we're into training pants. Yeah! But I don't use pull-ups. Just regular terry training pants during the day. She does wear a diaper at night and probably will for a while yet. I'm just loving how easy she is to work with, though.

Hi Paula,

Unfortunately, many people are unaware of what the plastic, throw-away diapers do not only to the environment but to our children's health!

Not only does it take 500 years for the paper components (which are chemically laden) to decompose, the plastic part of the diaper never, ever decomposes. It takes 82 pounds of plastic and 250,000 trees to manufacture throw-away diapers each year, and that's ONLY for American babies.

Sodium polyacrylate is a chemical used in throw-aways. It was banned in 1995 for use in tampons because the chemical is linked to toxic shock syndrome, yet it's still used in throw-away diapers. Dioxin is the most toxic of all chemicals linked to cancer, according to the EPA, and it's used in bleaching paper for the throw-aways.

Proctor and Gamble's own research showed that diaper rash increased from 7.1% to 64% with the increased use of throw-aways. In 1987, a chemical in new Pampers Ultra caused severe skin irritations, oozing blood from perineum and scrotal tissues, fever, vomiting, and staph infections in babies. Employees in Pampers factories suffered from tiredness, female organ problems, slow-healing wounds and weight loss.

You'll undoubtedly find some very conservative sites that say washing cotton diapers is just as taxing on the environment as the throw-aways. That might have some merit if you compare all the incredible bleaching that the diaper services must do because their diapers are not used by just one baby obviously. Even then, you aren't loading up the landfills with all the plastic, chemicals, and human waste which can then seep into our drinking water. Cotton diapers do not contain any wood splinters, which have been found in throwaways.


Yet, the chemicals used right next to delicate skin is really what concerns me. And the plastic makes them much hotter, increasing the incidence of rashes. Personally, I use cotton and wool diaper covers. And the financial cost is astounding! Because they are expensive, many parents won't change the diapers until they are well beyond the capacity for needing changing. All those chemicals have an even greater chance at being absorbed into a little delicate body.

I don't see how anyone can justify using chemicals and plastic against her child's skin when cloth diapers are much, much healthier both for the environment and child's health. I think that most of us would just rather not think about it.

Throwaway diapers are a large part of our throwaway society. Just something to think about.

(The ingredients in female hygiene products is another topic altogether!)

Hey Ally, What you say is valid and has a great amount of merit.
Yet, the food we eat (i.e.. milk, and vegetables, laden with chemicals, hormones, etc.) concerns me far more. There are questionable amounts of pollutants in breast milk and baby food isn�t ideal. The air a baby breathes is tainted. And the plastic produced for pop bottles I am sure rivals diapers.

I tried cloth diapers with my first child. I actually always had cloth for emergency, incase I ran out of disposable. My experience with cloth was the baby had far more discomfort and inflammation than he ever came close to having with disposable. And no health alert has been made obvious by the use of disposables in the last 30 years.

My point was since scientists are capable of such amazing creations, they could no doubt develop a diaper that is made from sustainable products and is environmentally friendly. If mothers take care of the problem, (quietly and menially like mothers always do) by saying OK don�t trouble yourselves, we will use the old outdated cloth method instead. That allows scientists to work on more exciting things like bombs.

You know the larger majority of women will never go back to cloth. Nor, will they hand wash the cloth diapers because modern washers steal too much of our precious water resources.

True however, we should get off our collective �behinds� and lobby for what we need, instead of leaving this to someone else.

Hi Paula,

I'm afraid I don't understand your reasoning. If cotton is "outdated" (maybe breastfeeding is, too?), then I'm sure you wouldn't wear it for yourself for underwear, so are you proposing that scientists create new fabric for women's underwear? Synthetic is terrible because it doesn't breathe, and most gynecologists strongly dissuade it because it leads to yeast infections. That which comes from a chemical lab isn't always better. Sometimes we're looking for something that already exists.

Many people have trouble with natural diapers because of either infrequent diaper changes (I'm amazed at how long many parents will allow their children to stay wet) or improper washing.

There are many other concerns that you mention. However, they don't erase the health and environmental hazards of chemical diapers, which are numerous.

Ally, I'm sorry but I feel my underwear choices are personal. However, I will say that I am lucky enough to be at a point in my life where I currently don't wear diapers.
And am pretty good about making it to the potty!

Way to go Lynn! I love milestones. My oldest son was waiting to get taller than me (2 MONTHS AGO) Now he is 4 inches taller, how did that happen??