This woman is 100% certifiable!

Many of them like the thought that they are rediscovering an ancient practice used in other cultures, though they tend to gloss over the fact that many of those cultures had never heard of Pampers.

Excuse me, but isn't this the very reason WHY outhouses were invented? To prevent this sort of thing? Because, you know, feces. All over the frikkin' place? Nasty and UNSANITARY. YEee-UCK! "Other cultures" my ass. It was as disgusting then as it is now. But back then, there was an excuse - they didn't know any better. Now we do. Do you really think regression is the way to go? What hopeless idiots.

"I think for a lot of parents, the motivation is just to be more in tune with what their kids' needs are," Adriane Stare...

I think for a lot of parents, it's just plain LAZINESS on their part. And ignorance. Health ordinances, anyone?

Paging Captain Trips. Pagi
ng Captain Trips....

Or asteroid strike...

Right now I have been spending 12+ hours of every day (minimum) nursing around my daughters feeding schedule. It has been a pride swallowing experience. This kid can eat through three poops and one and a half cooking shows and be hungry again 20 minutes later. Just enough time for me to take a quick shower and visit a toliet.

I am in tears a lot, my daughter hears my voice and smacks her lips... She sees me she smacks her lips - basically I live on the sofa right now. I hate formula (makes baby poop less btw - like only once or twice a day. Breast milk = 12 or so dirty diaper changes minimum) but i am determined to provide my child with the best nourishment.

My question, does this lady give her child breastmilk or formula?

Just thinking about the amount of work involved here is completely overwhelming! !

I foresee new park signs: Please Curb Your Child

So these kids are being raised with the ultimate in entitlement: they can take a dump anywhere they want, and it's someone else's job to clean it up. I wonder how long it will be before the parents (and their neighbors) get introduced to a few of the "traditions" of those "other cultures": cholera, typhoid, and dysentery.

But mostly, they say, they like feeling more in touch with their babies' most intimate functions.

Baby's most intimate functions are going to get you covered in crap, Mommy and Daddy. Cripes. It's a baby. Babies shit, sometimes in unbelievable amounts. Just how intimate to you want to get? Not to mention, how are little Marlowe and Finnegan going to react when they find out the rest of the world isn't as fascinated with their excretions as their parents are?

Oh, by the way, the context-sensitive advertising on the left-hand column of my Advice Goddess page is featuring "Honest Diapers," which are supposedly "Non-Toxic, Eco-Friendly, and Fashionable." Better than those perfidious poop-pockets everybody's been using, for sure!

So these kids are being raised with the ultimate in entitlement

Helicopter parenting taken to the next level. I feel sorry for their kids, and for any other family members who have to put up with this. I expect invitations to friends' houses are a bit rare at the moment.

Thinking back to some of the "explosive" baby poops we experiences, I really, really do not want to know how much time this woman spends cleaning up. I hope she cleans up.

Gross, just gross.

Well now, I will never set foot in a house with a very young child ever again.

Sick. And a possible public health hazard to boot!

Swyping this in while driving, so bear with me a bit....

First heard of this 15 years ago with "attachment parenting" by Bill Sears. The claim would be that a parent very attuned to their child would have zero accidents.

Hold on, need to merge.

Anyway, the claim would continue that there are modern cultures out there (aboriginal?) that still don't use

Oh shit, hold on

diapers and that the mother and kid, kid LITERALLY on mother's hip of course for attachment parenting together ensure no accidents (and presumably a life without therapy because well attachment parenting)

That's the claim, I am not saying I support it.

Anyway, now just need to find a place to park.

DO these women have friends? Family? ANYONE in thier lives to call them on this shit?

A girlfriend of mine considered doing this with her child when she was pregnant. I told her that we can't be friends anymore if she did and I explained all the reasons why this was a bad idea. Fortunately, she came to her senses. She's potty training now and after seeing all the work that goes into that, she's grateful that I was the ONLY one of our friends who called her out on it at the time. (I guess everyone else was worried about offending her...?) We still make jokes about it. I let her blame the pregnancy hormones for her momentary lapse in judgement.

Friends don't let their friends kids shit on the street!

"I let her blame the pregnancy hormones for her momentary lapse in judgement."

Seriously can relate- however, nothing like a nice dose of reality to set those hormones straight! :-)

We saw someone let their kid pee in the flower bed right outside the window of a restaurant. I was already familiar with the whole "elimination communication" concept, and just rolled my eyes at the whole thing, but the Hubs was absolutely horrified. I guess I'd have been horrified, too, if the kid had pooped. I don't even let my DOGS sh*t in other people's yards.

I don't think I'd ever be friends with someone who would do this. By that, I don't mean that I would break up with a friend over it; we just wouldn't be friends in the first place.

When we were potty training our kid, we used- ahem- the potty.

that's a whole heaping pile of cray-zee. disposable diapers? BEST INVENTION EVER

If you're going to raise a "Caribou Baby", you should go live where the caribou do. Your closest neighbor is 3 miles away, and won't give a...ummm...shit where you kid lays down a couple of nuggets.

You'll have to get some bells for the family, and some firearms and ammunition because not all of nature's critters are family friendly. Little junior might be considered a nice snack before the main course.

Amy wrote:

Also, an observation -- It's conspicuous consumption [also costly signaling in anthropology] taken to the poop level. (A sign that Mom is rich and "elite" enough so she can afford to watch baby every minute -- or hire some nanny to do it.)

Precisely. This is a status symbol, albeit a very weird and disgusting one.

I had an acquaintance try to talk me into this.

No. Just no.

Breastfed babies, especially, shit all the time, and it goes everywhere. There's no way I'm holding a bowl under her butt.

Diaper rash isn't really a problem if you change the diapers regularly. I'm using cloth diapers, and it isn't a whole lot more work than disposables.

Feebie: The round-the-clock feeding will ease soon. My 11-week-old has slept through her 3 am feeding 3 days in a row, so I'm hoping we're looking at her sleeping through the night soon. (And by that, I mean waking up at 5 am.)

Ugh. I blogged about this awhile back--it's one of the dumber ideas to surface in parenting trends that I've seen in recent years. Even my cloth-diapering hippie mom thinks these bitches are crazy. Them and the lotus birthers.

I'm currently in the same boat as Feebie, and the last thing I feel like doing is holding a bowl beneath my two-week old, anticipating her next poot. I have precious little time enough as it is without that brand of madness.

Parents in these communities are also the most likely to refuse to vaccinate their children. It's all of a piece.

Is this what "elimination communication" smells like?

I really wonder how these mommies would feel if I visited their homes and shit all over their $20,000 antique Persian rug? Or hey, how about wiping my runny nose on their sofa?
News flash, UWS Freaks: kids feces carry bacteria that can make other children and adults critically ill. Containing bodily functions isn't just polite, it's a public health issue.

Sure, you can teach your rugrat to pee between parked cars. And your neighbor can knock you down and rub your nose in it to teach you civilized behavior.

Bad yuppie. Bad! Bad!

"Sure.......Bad yuppie. Bad! Bad!"

HA! I actually did laugh out loud at that one.

All joking aside, this woman is quite literally insane. An unfit parent at the very least. A better case for child protective services I've never seen.

On a side note, I will say that letting your baby run around for SHORT periods of time, in the house or back yard, say, is good for their skin cause it let's it breathe. I think she kinda forgot the short part.

So this woman knows exactly when the larva is going to take a dump? I find that hard to believe. I imagine her carrying the kid around on her hip and bam! her artisan peasant dress, and her leg and her foot, is covered with crap.

Also, the writer of the article is named Anemona. Tell me that does not sound strangely appropriate for a poo article. Say the name five times fast and see what it morphs into.

Er, from what I've read the point of EC is not to poop around the house, it's to be able to tell from your baby's body language when they are about to go, and hold them up over a toilet or potty to do so. It's touted as early toilet training.

We didn't do it as I can never figure out when she wants to go.

Here in Switzerland folks are very relaxed about training. They're in diapers till they're like 20 or so. OK not quite, but they're very relaxed.

The idea behind this is much like potty trianing a puppy, you pay attention to what goes in and when so you know what will come out and when.

And I don't find the idea of kid pee any more or less offensive than dog pee, and they go every where.

But I did not do this. A cousin who tried quit very quickly.

I did get pooped on plenty, even with diapers. They don't always work.

"Say the name five times fast and see what it morphs into."

Anemonanemonanemonanemon.

Ah. It's the Muppets theme song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N_tupPBtWQ

Silly, of course but if she keeps a healthy saltwater aquarium, it begs the question - are Anemona's anemones' enemies' enemas an anomaly?

When my daughter was on breast milk, she pooped like 5 times a day. My son is on formula, and he goes maybe every other day. He pees like a racehorse, though, and if we didn't have him in diapers it would go all over the walls, furniture, probably even the ceiling.

I wonder if this moonbat mom would be trying this with a boy.

All joking aside, this woman is quite literally insane. An unfit parent at the very least. A better case for child protective services I've never seen.

I wouldn't go that far. I've seen a lot of really unfit mothers. These women are just quirky -- and annoying, if they let their kids go in public.

I did get pooped on plenty, even with diapers. They don't always work.

I'm kind of amazed that we haven't invented a diaper that keeps the poop where it belongs.

My bf kid did not go everyday and iim told anywhere from once a week to several times a day is normal

Yay, hipsters! Knee deep in baby poo. This also made me think of that song, "Do it like they do on the discovery channel". Its good enough for the Caribou! Its good for the earth! Let the poop fly free! Avoid any fans though.

When the fit hits the shan, these hipsters aren't gonna make it me thinks.

...it's to be able to tell from your baby's body language when they are about to go, and hold them up over a toilet or potty to do so.

Isn't that roughly how you housebreak a puppy?

Seriously, I'm no longer surprised at the crazy parenting notions that come along every few years. Each generation is acting like it's the first one to ever become parents.

One of my co-workers did this. She said when her daughter made a face she would tske her to the potty. She called the baby potty trained because of this, but to me it was mommy that was trained.

nothing new really, we've had these idiots at the shore for decades - letting their kids run around on the beach "eliminating" everywhere.

And, then, some folks wonder why the beach is closed due to "unsanitary water."

I'm with Gog on this, rub their noses in it!

I guess this is a trend I understand.

But then again, it's the same basic idea behind potty-training parrots.

I should be able to recognize the facial expressions of my own child about to go to the restroom if I can recognize the facial expressions of an Amazon about to do the exact same thing.

But I'll stick with my birds for awhile yet, 'cause at least when I am not paying attention enough to react in time they make considerably less mess.

However, if you can't leave the house without 0 accidents, put a diaper on the kid.

Diaper free is pretty common here in the Portland area with tons of parenting groups for it, so many that I've been in restaurants and other businesses with signs saying all babies must be diapered to go in. I think the DF parents are nuts. However, EC and diaper-free aren't quite the same thing. EC the kids usually still wear some form of diaper or tiny training pants and the caregiver puts them over a bowl or whatnot every 15 minutes or so to try to catch them at their dumping reflexes. After 6 months you start trying to teach them cues to make them go on command auch as putting them on the pot and going "ssssssssssssssss" at them. It's completely idiotic in ky opinion. I cloth diaper the majority of the time and can't fathom wasting all my time trying to get a baby to crap in a bowl and not make a mess everywhere, let alone cleaning up the myriad messes they will make without a diaper. I know a couple women who do DF with their babies and every time they successfully catch crap in a bowl (rarely) we hear about it in their Facebook status. These same women also wear their babies and toddlers strapped to them most of the day, cosleep, extended breast feed (one still nurses her oldest son at 5), extended rear face their car seats (one's 8-year-old daughter is still rear facing because "she's under the weight maximum), and they won't vaccinate or see traditional doctors. Instead they go to naturopaths and herbalists and feed their children homeopathic meds. There is a major trend toward stupidity parenting lately!

Having skimmed the comments all day, it boils down to these people are disgusting idiots.

I didn't know they made rear-facing cars seats for above 20 lbs/1 year.

My wife decided it was more environmentally friendly to use cloth diapers rather than the disposable kind.

It took about 3 days into child #1 before she decided the earth wasn't going to run out of holes anytime soon.

First of all, big hugs to Feebie! It will ease off, it will! God luv ya! It's intense, isn't it? DIL was saying something similar last year. It does pass...

I've laughed my way through this thread, very funny comments, everyone.

I never heard of this! It's crazy! Bowls!? As someone said up-thread, humanity decided it wasn't a great idea to just keep crapping everywhere, and outhouses were invented!

If a mother is running to the toilet (or a bowl-bleah) every 15 minutes, SHE is trained and not the child. The Japanese don't do the 'crap anywhere' bit but they can be fanatical in getting rid of diapers. I never fail to roll my eyes at exchanges like this-

"My baby is toilet trained at 10 months old! (or MIL saying that neighbor's baby is)"

"How do they let you know they have to go?"

"They don't, I take them to the toilet every 15 minutes (all day every day)"

"Well, what if you don't take them?"

"They do it in their diaper"

Oooooookay.

God help us all.

@BunnyGirl: I know a couple women who do DF with their babies and every time they successfully catch crap in a bowl (rarely) we hear about it in their Facebook status.

Now that's funny!

@NicoleK: They have car seats that rear face up to 40 lb now and it seems like one particular brand (a Diono Radian) will until something crazy like 65 lb. the car seats I have for my kids can until 40 lb, but at least so far my oldest was too tall to use it rear facing around 15 months (he outgrew the last strap setting that could be used for rear facing). Now that he's just turned 2 he's 38 in tall and on the verge of outgrowing it forward facing too, but he's nowhere near the weight maximums yet (only 24 lb) which everyone seems to go by anymore in determining what seat and what direction to face their child. My kids are very tall and thin so I'm much more concerned about their height than their weight for car seats.

"Instead they go to naturopaths and herbalists and feed their children homeopathic meds."

Well, there's a ray of light. If they keep doing that, they'll Darwin themselves out of existence in a couple of generations.

>>>"Um, if you let your child go diaperless, how do you stop this?"

Depends™.