More Baby Stuff
So, we’ve covered how Tajik babies sleep. Now I’d like to move to a subject less palatable, but more interesting: how they poop. I am nobly forgoing material that would get me a link from New Eurasia or Global Voices online- something about, for example, how Turkmenbashi’s death was perceived here in Tajikistan- in order to discuss something that, though rarely discussed and often overlooked, is essential to the development of any individual and every civilization.
That thing is potty-training.
Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, your baby is only four months old and you are already thinking about potty-training? In short, yes.
I remember the first time I went to the island of Kizhi in lake Onega, in the Republic of Karelia in Russia, where I served together with Shannon in the Peace Corps. There were two women with a baby in a stroller sitting beside an ice-cream stand. I saw the baby wake up, and the mother pulled the baby out of the stroller- the baby was probably around eight months old or so- held it under the thighs, and went “sssss”. And the baby peed.
Voila: the answer to the question that anyone who knows anything about the cost of diapers and the average income of someone living in a poor country has probably asked himself at least once. 30 cents a diaper… a dollar or so per day income, or just a bit more… means that even if you spend nothing on eating or keeping warm, you would never be able to afford disposable diapers for one infant without risking a serious rash.
And cloth diapers are unheard of, is the weird thing.
This came up for me when looking into what to buy to prepare for our baby. I decided I didn’t want to do disposable diapers, because they are very expensive and moreover bad for the environment. And yet, in Tajikistan, we didn’t plan on having a clothes dryer.
So I started to think about how Tajik women trained their babies. As expected, they used the same method I saw that Russian woman using. However, not having grown up around this method, I had to look up how to do it. I found several books on it, but when my husband saw one book on my bookshelf in the US, he just smiled. “You don’t need a book, you just do it.” So here is what they do:
Sometime between birth and three months, when the baby starts to show signs of when he or she is about to pee or poop, the parents take the baby from under the thighs, hold it over a pot or in the garden, and make a sound: “uh-chishhhhhh”. The baby obliges and goes.
I had my doubts but it seems this is an instinct all healthy babies have. My husband took our four-day-old baby after she hadn’t done anything in a while, took her from under the thighs, and peed her. He said “uh-chishhhh” once and she went both. Coincidence? Amazingly, provided the baby needs to go, it works every time. If the baby doesn’t want to go, usually it screams, whines, or tries to get away. You know when the baby has to do by getting a feel for it over time- you get a “feel for it” much more quickly if the baby is not in diapers, since ignoring your instincts causes you to be wet and gives you a lot more washing.
In this way, everyone in Tajikistan- and most of Asia and Africa and South America, for that matter- is fully toilet-trained by two years. They are usually dry most of the time by about one year old, and even at six months many take their babies out without diapers for short jaunts.
In case you wondered.
- Uncategorized | Time: 11.0.21 (UTC+8)
Huh. That is so interesting. I have heard of people potty training their infants, but I never heard about their being an infant instinct.
Comment by Sylvana — 05.02.2007 @ 03.0.14
Wow that is great! I wish I could do that with Jacob. Sadly, I don’t spend enough of the day with him, what with all the books I have to read and papers to write. But we do try to keep him barebottomed as much as possible, and say psssssss when he pees, to draw his attention to what he is doing. Not quite good as a prompt, but we hope at least he is becoming aware of what he is up to. There are movements in western countries to potty train infants, I can send you some links if you’re curious. Jacob is in washable nappies, which insh’allah are also supposed to make training easier. A cuddle and a tickle to Artemis, a hug to her mother from Chicago, IL.
Comment by Flora — 05.02.2007 @ 14.0.04
Sy- it is interesting! In fact I think without the instinct it would be impossible to train them. The tiny ones don’t really get cause-and-effect so how could you?
Flora- And cuddles, tickles and raspberries to Jacob! Did you know that was going to be my name, if I’d been a boy? Anyway. Yeah, it’s time consuming and let’s just say we aren’t going to buy another light-covered carpet until one of us gets our tubes tied. I also use cloth diapers (American for “washable nappies”
because no matter how unbusy you supposedly are, there is no way you can watch an infant to catch pee all day. Believe me I tried. I discovered that for the first six months, most Tajiks just wash their own clothes and baby’s clothes as often as we wash diapers. They also don’t let the baby outside of the cradle as much as we do. I am aware of the westerners who do this, because I did, after all, buy the book, thanks for the link, though, and thanks for commenting- I haven’t been by your blog lately, been missing it.
Comment by Administrator — 05.02.2007 @ 15.0.07
wow. you have blown me away. I had no idea. Imagine if everyone in the West did that. Pampers and Huggies would go bankrupt !!!
Comment by beaver — 05.02.2007 @ 15.0.34
You think I wouldn’t link this on GVO? This is the most interesting post I’ve read from the region today!
Comment by Nathan — 05.02.2007 @ 18.0.37
This is so increadibly fascinating. I’ve known many children who are two and up who still aren’t potty trained.
Sorry about the carpet.
Comment by Shannon — 06.02.2007 @ 00.0.52
Beaver- And I suppose that is why the medical establishment is so uniformly against potty-training before two. Though I wouldn’t really call this potty-training I guess, it’s more like a gentle, slow learning process for the baby. Better than a shocking weekend potty boot-camp at the tender age of two. And I don’t know that it’s possible for a working mom to do it (witness Flora, who we all know must be the most dedicated mum to her dear Jacob). Here working women can manage because grandmothers, aunts, and cousins can pick up the slack as everyone knows how to do it.
Shannon- I think that’s just bizarre when an otherwise-normal three year old is in diapers and drinking from a “ba-ba”. Just my opinion but I think that is going to far in the whole child-led everything spectrum. The carpet… well, it won’t survive but I didn’t like it that much anyway.
Nathan- My God, the news sources on Central Asia really are weak. Glad to provide you with something, uh, not exactly print-worthy but at least less boring than the demise of the communist party in Tajikistan or whatever everyone else is writing about.
Comment by Administrator — 06.02.2007 @ 05.0.50
Highly useful information, definitely worth a try. Though in Southern Africa you will see kids in cloth diapers, which are just a cleverly wrapped and pinned square or triangular piece of fabric. But the kids run naked a fair bit too… asking for sweets…
Comment by paul — 06.02.2007 @ 06.0.17
This is exactly how my Mother trained all of us when we were young. She never used diapers, and from the time we were babies she ‘trained’ us on when to pee and such. I guess there were no diapers then in East Africa.
Comment by Barsawad — 06.02.2007 @ 08.0.43
Paul- Interesting. I wonder whether they use traditional training as well… given the lack of water for washing, probably.
Barsawad (or is it Omar?)- Then you’re in the majority. There might have been diapers but you mother didn’t want to waste money. Or possibly she just thought it was cleaner. Anyway nice to see you around.
Comment by Administrator — 07.02.2007 @ 07.0.17
I somehow feel that they would figure out a way to arrest you in the US if you did this. Some bizzare link to child abuse or at least public indecency.
If I knew anyone expecting a baby I would forward this to them though.
Comment by exmi — 08.02.2007 @ 19.0.13
Exmi- there are many people who do this in the United States (ref Flora’s offer to provide links), and none of them are arrested for it. Surely, keeping your child free from diaper rash is not on par with spanking with a belt on bare skin (which, by the way, is totally legal until you draw blood on a regular basis, provided you are related to the person). Public indecency is not a related question- children go in the toilet or a potty in a bathroom, not on the street.
Comment by Administrator — 09.02.2007 @ 14.0.42
This is now getting some attention also in the west. We tried this kind of communication with our son and it sure works. It’s not about training the child though as some comments here suggests. The baby will do what he needs to do and doesn’t have any pressure about timing. The parents are trained to read the signals of the child and give it an opportunity to do it’s business.
On the web there are many pages about this if you search for Elimination Communication or Infant Potty Training.
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