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This moment is inevitable for every parent. The time has come to part with the baby's disposable diapers - pampers. And then, with the same fatal inevitability, a number of questions arise: how to wean a child off diapers? When? Which of the existing methods are most effective?
Everything has its time. Pediatricians and child psychologists strongly do not recommend that parents speed up the process of potty training their baby.
The baby may accidentally hit the target and make a “pee-pee” in the right place and at the right moment for the mother, but it will be an accident.
The process of conscious control of defecation and urination is possible only when the child reaches 22-30 months. Therefore, pediatricians advise parents not to go crazy and not waste their energy, time and nerves.
Of course, there are exceptions. Some mothers set records and then drive other mothers into depression, declaring that their baby has been using the potty since 9 months, and they, happy parents, have forgotten where diapers are sold and how much they cost.
Important! There is no need to fall into black melancholy from such statements. Someone's personal achievements are just exceptions to the general rule. And nothing more.
Having once decided on the timeliness of switching from disposable diapers to reusable panties, parents must muster their will, stock up on nerves and get down to business.
The work will be painstaking, without haste and hysterics. It is not advisable to retreat and return to diapers.
The goal is a gradual reduction in their number during the day, reducing them only to night and recreational ones, and then complete refusal.
Attention! There are several signs that indicate your baby is ready to ditch his diaper.
Weaning a child off a diaper will require a lot of patience and caring love from parents.
For every successful “potty trip” - praise and even wild delight. In case of failure, no shouting or threats.
Important: night “troubles” are the most protracted. A baby who is already doing well without a diaper during the day can continue to “wear pants” at night. The fact is that in a dream a small child does not control his bladder.
In addition to the physiological characteristics of each child, there are a number of general rules that parents should follow.
Advice: If a child, placed on a potty at night, continues to sleep on it and does not do anything in it, these attempts should be abandoned for a while.
Going to the toilet together and commenting on your actions can teach him a lot. If there are older children in the family, then the role of teacher can be assigned to them. It has been noticed that children are more willing to repeat after their brothers and sisters.
The so-called “wet tights” method is very effective and potty trains in 10 days. The essence of the method is that the feeling of discomfort from wet clothes encourages the baby to “do business” not in his pants, but in the potty.
For the same purpose, special panties have been created for potty training - a kind of transitional link from a diaper to regular, reusable underwear. The essence of such panties is that they do not allow moisture to leak out, but do not absorb it like diapers and do not create the usual feeling of dryness and comfort.
On a note: There are children who are especially sensitive, with a fine mental structure, and shy. These people react very sharply to the presence of strangers and people of the opposite sex during the “toilet process”; they cannot go to someone else’s potty. In such cases, you need to try to create the most comfortable conditions, and the problem will be solved.
You won't be nice by force. There is no need to forcefully hold the baby on the potty until “this” is done. A much more effective method is to have a toy friend nearby - your favorite doll or stuffed animal. The method of transferring the desired actions to a toy simulator works: the baby will want to imitate a toy friend who is deprived of a diaper, and will learn to go to the toilet on his own.
Advice: fairy tales on the “potty theme” play their positive role. Like, it’s sad for the pot to stand idle, especially lonely at night. We need to help him... A kind, sympathetic child's heart will help wean the child off the nighttime diaper.
There are a number of other effective methods for potty training a child, for example, how to wean a child off diapers using the Komarovsky method in the video below:
Modern parents have the latest devices to make caring for their baby easier. One of the most successful developments for new mothers are diapers. Thanks to them, you can sleep peacefully at night, walk longer, and not carry around a bunch of spare onesies.
1. How to understand that the child is ready?For the past 20 years, these waterproof panties have been available on the shelves of domestic stores. And for the same amount of time, parents have the same questions: when and how to wean their child off diapers so that everyone feels good? There are several effective methods to help you and your baby stop wearing diapers.
Often parents do not understand when the time comes for weaning. In addition, relatives and friends scare with horror stories about the dangers of diapers and that it is better not to start using mime.
In fact, diapers are absolutely harmless and very convenient to use from birth. Dr. Komarovsky spoke about this in very detail and interestingly, pointing out all the points, both from a medical and everyday point of view.
In his opinion, and the experience of most women, weaning should begin no earlier than 1 year. All your actions before this age make no sense, since only from the age of one and a half years the child’s brain is able to control the function of urination. Until this moment, everything happens unconsciously. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try not to use a diaper.
If your child can do the following, he is ready to wean:
When you now know how to wean, now we will consider all the methods for weaning a child from diapers.
You should start by completely refusing to use diapers for a day. At first it will not be very easy, but if you hold out for 2 weeks, you will be very pleased with the result.
Stock up on 10 to 15 panties, rompers or tights for the day. Now during the day you will only use them.
First you need to talk with your child and figure out how he will have to indicate to you his urge to pee or poop. The simplest sounds are “pi-pi” or “ka-ka”.
Also introduce your baby to the potty in advance so that he has a clear logical chain. The urge to potty, thus, in addition to dry laundry, you will eventually be able to not only wean your child from wearing diapers, but also potty train him.
The idea behind the wet panties method is that your baby will feel uncomfortable and you can track exactly what time he pees. Having roughly determined the schedule, invite him to sit on the potty in advance. Also, the baby himself will understand how unpleasant this is and will try to ask on his own. Thanks to this method, you will not only solve the problem of weaning, but also save a lot on diapers.
Let’s turn on our imagination, remember that there is an actor in each of us, and put on a performance for your child. How his favorite toys refuse to wear diapers and prefer regular panties. And they love to go potty. You can also show by your example how great it is not to wear a diaper.
Children happily accept such methods. By the way, it can be used in many situations in the future
Perhaps the most difficult thing is how to wean your child off diapers at night. After all, many babies sleep so deeply that they do not feel the urge or do not prefer to wake up. Therefore, in this case, you should not rush, do everything gradually. Over time, you yourself will notice how the baby will begin to withstand the night intervals. As he gets older, he will begin to ask to go to the toilet on his own or go there on his own.
Disposable diapers are used almost everywhere by modern mothers and fathers. Nowadays, it’s hard to imagine children’s daily hygiene procedures without them. Diapers save a lot of time because they don’t need to be ironed and washed - this is already a thing of the past. To change them, you just need to take a new one out of the package and put it on your baby. But the emergence of this useful invention brought with it new problems. Now the question of how to wean a child off diapers is quite acute.
Our mothers and grandmothers have a unanimous opinion on this issue: it is necessary to wean a child off diapers as early as possible. But their desire to quickly potty train the baby is explained by the fact that at one time they made their own diapers from gauze, and washed and ironed them after each use. Pediatricians believe that this should be done at the age of 2–3 years. This point of view is justified by the physiological and psychological characteristics of the development of the child’s body. It is at this age that children begin to consciously approach their needs.
The child himself, of course, is unlikely to understand how and where a civilized person needs to relieve his natural needs. He needs to be taught this, just like sitting, crawling, walking, talking.
If earlier children experienced discomfort while in wet diapers, and it was easier for them to understand that something clearly needed to be done about it, then modern toddlers feel dry and comfortable in diapers, which means it is more difficult to teach them to do without this constant attribute of their infancy .
Of course, the sooner you start introducing your baby to the potty, the faster you will wean him off diapers. But in this case, be prepared for the fact that the child may at first simply not understand what you want from him.
At 2 years and later, learning will be more effective. It will become easier for you, since by this time the baby will have matured not only physiologically, but also psychologically. He will be able to independently begin to control the processes of urination and defecation.
Remember to be patient and attentive to your baby. Each child is individual. Therefore, here, first of all, it is important to take into account the readiness of the little one to begin learning “toilet science.”
Undoubtedly, there are a number of signs that signal to parents that it is time to potty train their child and gradually move away from diapers:
First of all, parents themselves must be prepared to stop using diapers. The fact is that at this turning point, and therefore difficult moment for the child, you need to pay more attention to him and communicate with him even more often.
You need to choose a potty based on the child’s gender
Sound and light effects can only scare the baby. A potty is a means of hygiene, and, above all, it should be comfortable
To start, just show your child the potty. Explain why it is needed, what sounds need to be made in order to convey to others your desire to go to the toilet. Let the baby get used to the new accessory. And only then can you begin training using one of the methods listed below.
Prepare yourself mentally for the fact that in the coming days you will use disposable diapers exclusively at night or during walks. You will need a baby potty, as well as at least ten clean tights. If these are pants, they should be easy to unfasten.
In the morning, put tights on your baby without a diaper and explain to him that he is without a diaper and if he wants to go to the toilet, he must inform you about it or sit on the potty on his own. True, at first the little one will just wear pants out of habit.
But patience, patience again. Wait about five minutes before changing any tights that your baby has gotten wet. Let him feel how uncomfortable it is to walk in wet pants. Then you should remove them from the little one, wash him and put new ones on him. The temperature in the room should be comfortable.
After about five days, it is likely that the child will already start asking to go to the potty. And after a few weeks he will sit on it himself. But this, again, is purely individual.
This method is one of the most effective. Its disadvantage is that the child needs to walk around in wet tights for some time, and this is unhygienic. In addition, you will have to do more washing and wipe wet puddles from the floor.
To implement this technique, you will need to involve older children (brothers, sisters, friends). Focus on the fact that these children already go to the toilet on their own and do not use diapers. The child will probably be interested in this, he will strive to imitate their example and will soon sit on the potty.
Weaning occurs faster when the baby has already entered kindergarten. There he will see for himself that other children go to the potty and do not wear diapers. This will be a big motivation for giving up disposable diapers.
When it is not possible to involve other children, you can use the game method. Take your baby's favorite toys and tell him that they are all grown up and don't use diapers. Plant them in a pot.
After this, you need to invite the child to follow the example of plush bunnies and bears. In the first days, you can even read fairy tales to your baby so that he sits on the potty and relieves himself there.
And be sure to praise your child for his success. This is how he realizes that he is doing everything right, and next time he will definitely try to be praised again.
When you have already managed to teach your child to walk without a diaper during the day, it’s time to proceed to the next logical step - to wean him from sleeping in a diaper.
In this case, some particularly important points need to be taken into account.
But it also happens that all your attempts fail. There is no need to worry about this; it is enough to use the diapers until they remain dry by morning.
There are several extraordinary tips that can make the process of potty training a child much easier. And they do not depend on whether you are going to do this before a year or after two years.
Potty training a child is not that difficult. Remember: you don’t need to listen to the advice and recommendations of acquaintances, friends, and relatives who will tell you that children need to be put on the potty almost from birth. Be sure to wait until the moment when the baby is ready to give up diapers on both the physical and psychological levels. Then the learning process will go quickly and efficiently.
After a year, many parents think that it’s time to wean their baby off the diaper. Is it that easy? Where to begin? Which is better? Do all children take such changes in life calmly? We bring to your attention several ways and tips on how to approach this issue more easily and correctly.
You can use diapers until the child wants to go to the toilet on his own. Why wean if both the child and parents are comfortable using disposable diapers?
According to numerous studies by pediatricians, children from 1.5 years old do not need diapers; at 9 months they already understand and can control the processes of bowel movements. Therefore, once the child reaches 9 months, you can smoothly begin the process of transitioning from diapers to panties until completely abandoning them.
On the other hand, the development of each child is very individual. If some parents manage to refuse to use diapers starting from the age of 7-8 months, others use so-called “diapers” until almost 2 years of age.
— When should you start weaning your child off diapers? Is there a difference between “weaning” for boys and girls? “It is recommended that potty training begins around 18 months. At this age, the urination reflex begins to mature (the child can consciously hold urine).
It all depends on the child’s temperament; gender does not matter. On average, girls are potty trained earlier and faster than boys.”
Ovchinnikova Evgenia Vadimovna
While the child is in a disposable diaper, he is comfortable, dry and does not have the desire to ask for a potty. The first advice given primarily by pediatricians or mothers is to take a closer look at the child and when his behavior changes, i.e. characteristic signals, you can remove the diaper and try to put the child on the potty. The inconvenience of the diaper is that the child cannot remove it on his own, at least until he understands how the Velcro works. Children are not particularly patient, so if a child fails several times in a row, this can reinforce the habit that it is difficult to remove a diaper.
“I am a very suspicious person. When friends on the street began to talk about the successes of their children and how they quickly gave up diapers, I just started to panic. At that time, Vitalik was only 10 months old. And the torment began. From my own experience I can say that if a child is not ready, then he is not ready. At 1.5 years old, we calmly switched to panties first (we slept only in diapers), after 3 months we were already sleeping during the day without diapers, and after a couple of months we completely abandoned them.”
Vitalik's mom
Moscow, 27 years old
The process of parting with diapers can take a long time, but parents should be patient and calmly teach their baby to do without them. We bring to your attention the 6 most common methods of weaning a child off diapers. The basic rule is that parents must patiently explain to the child what needs to be done and help them.
— How, in your opinion, should we wean a baby from diapers? Where to begin? What is the most important thing to know?
“First of all, it is important to start on time. Potty training too early is just as harmful as potty training too late. Some parents believe that the child will grow up and refuse the diaper himself. But in reality, the child will simply form the habit of going to the toilet in a diaper, and he will not want to relearn it.
First, change your baby from a diaper to regular panties so that he feels that being wet is uncomfortable. Buy a potty and explain to your child what it is for. It’s good if there are older children in the family who already know how to use the potty; by repeating after them, the baby will learn faster. You can also show how to use the potty using toys as an example. It is important that the child is not afraid of the potty or does not perceive it as a toy. Therefore, the potty must be immediately placed in a suitable place - in the toilet, and not in the nursery. The first time your baby goes to the potty, be sure to praise him.”
Pediatrician at the Semeynaya medical clinic network
Evgenia Vadimovna Ovchinnikova
Having chosen any of the methods, try to adhere to it strictly. However, if the child has a persistent aversion to your actions, try offering a new method. Giving up diapers should be gradual, gentle and non-traumatic.
Constant tantrums when parents don't wear a diaper when going out can lead to psychological consequences. Therefore, pediatricians and child psychologists advise parents to be patient and wean the baby gradually, not to scold, but to explain as many times as necessary. And be sure to praise your baby when he tries to achieve what you need!
There is nothing wrong with the fact that occasionally you will have to put a diaper on your baby again when you have practically given it up.
“When Svetochka turned 1.4 years old, we decided to go to the sea to relax. By this time, they had practically abandoned diapers; they were only worn at night. Imagine our surprise when the child peed twice on the train. Stress, change of place, new people and surroundings played a cruel joke on us. At first there was a panic: would I really have to use diapers again during the day? But soon everything got better again. On the way back, we decided not to risk it and put a diaper on the baby for the whole day. This was the only time, and after 2 months they gave up diapers completely.”
Svetlana's mom
Moscow, 33 years old
The time when a child can start weaning off a diaper is determined by the parents themselves. The main rule is patience and consistency of actions. Choose your method, and soon your baby will be able to do without diapers both day and night.
Ekaterina Morozova
Reading time: 10 minutes
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Diapers first appeared in the distant 60s as a means to make mother's work easier. Moreover, not around the clock, but only for specific periods of time (cases) when you can’t do without them. In Russia, mothers began to actively use diapers about 20 years ago, and to this day, diapers are an integral part of the family budget of all young parents.
How long?
How long will it take to buy diapers, and is there a way to quickly “transplant” a toddler from diapers to a potty?
Normally, by the age of 3-4 years, children should wake up dry and go to the potty.
But the widespread and round-the-clock use of diapers has led today to an increasing number of cases of enuresis in children over 5 years of age.
How harmful they are is the second question, today we will look into the question - at what age is it time to stop with them and how to do it as painlessly as possible.
How do you know when it's time to wean off diapers?
Newborns the crumbs are not able to restrain the urge to urinate - after filling the latter by more than half, a “wet thing” occurs reflexively.
The baby is under one year old Neither the brain nor the nervous system is yet responsible for the excretory system of the body.
And only from 18 months control over the functioning of the rectum and bladder appears. It is from this age that it makes sense to begin the painstaking work of giving up diapers. Before a year and a half, this makes no sense. Naturally, the child himself must “mature” so that the mother does not work alone, and the “cooperation” is effective.
It is worth noting that children 6 months from birth are able to withstand a dry “break” for a maximum of 3 hours. The child's final control over the bladder appears 3-4 years old, and by this age there should no longer be wet tights either at night or during the day.
To summarize, we can say that The ideal age for transferring a baby to a potty and giving up diapers is 18-24 months.
If you notice these signs of another stage of growing up in your baby, then you can gradually put the diapers away in the closet.
Don't rush to give diapers to neighbors or friends right away! The process of getting rid of them will be long and difficult, so be patient and find the best way for yourself that will help you and your baby get through this stage quickly and painlessly.
All these methods are good for giving up diapers during the daytime.
Don’t forget to ask your child more often about his intention to murmuring on the potty, don’t rush to change wet pants, use gauze diapers if you’re tired of cleaning up puddles.
As for walking, take 2-3 sets of replacement pants with you if it’s summer outside. In other seasons, it is recommended to wear diapers so as not to catch the child’s cold. Experts advise starting to give up diapers at the beginning of summer.
And don’t forget about the baby’s mood! If the baby is capricious, do not put pressure on him, wait a day or two.
One morning, the little one (already familiar with the potty!) wakes up, and his mother happily tells him that he has grown up (you can even celebrate this day with a festive breakfast), and all the diapers have become too small for him, so they had to be returned to the store (or given to small children ). From now on, you only have a pot at your disposal.
Be patient - it will be difficult at first, because babies still have little control over themselves in their sleep.
It is ideal if your little one has a clear sleep and eating schedule - in this case, it will be much easier to teach him to sleep without diapers, because urination usually occurs “on the clock.”
And also, if you have already gone through the process of weaning yourself from diapers during the daytime.
And most importantly, praise your child for dry pants and a dry bed. Let the little one remember what he can do to please his mother.
According to statistics and medical research, it takes an average of 21 days to form a habit.
Your baby may need a little more time. Or maybe vice versa - you can handle it in a week.
The main thing is the right atmosphere, your love for the baby - and, of course, patience.
Have you had similar situations? And how did you wean your child off diapers? Share your valuable parenting experiences in the comments below!
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