Here in China, children learn to use the "potty" at a very early age. earlier than most kids in the western world. we have heard of kids being trained as early as 12-15 months!! Chinese toilet training consists of: holding your baby gently by the hips over a potty, or by the edge of the road and whistling softly to imitate the tinkle of urine. its amazing! Chinese babies & toddlers don’t wear diapers at all, not even cloth ones. Instead, they always wear "split pants" (see pict above). Also, someone is always available to be with a Chinese baby (since there is only one child per household), to be fully attentive to their needs. Parents/grandparents begin to toilet-train their child as early as one month! Incredibly, most babies are basically toilet-trained by six months, at least during waking hours. By the time they can walk (12-15 mo), they know to squat down in their open-crotch pants whenever they feel the urge.
Obviously, there may be a huge debate across the globe as to when/how to toilet-train a child, and that is not the purpose of my post, but just to share the way it is done here in the Orient. And it works for millions of Chinese babies all the time, so there must be some truth to this method. And it is VERY conservation friendly - conserves trees, water, petroleum & landfill space, which are huge factors. Not to mention the built-in air-conditioning.Now, I happen to smile when I see a little Chinese bum. they are everywhere!! Maybe until the children are around 3-4 years of age, they will continue to wear these "split-pants." And today, Asia decided to join the crowd and pull down her shorts & undies while we were playing outside this morning. My head was turned in another direction as I watched Eden running down the path, so I giggled when I looked over and saw her squatting to pee on the grass. She has seen it done SO many times here, so why not join the masses? (sorry, no picture for ya) The only differences: she is already potty-trained, AND she had me run inside to fetch some toilet paper while she stood there half-nakies. Silly kid. I think she was just curious and wanted to prove to herself that she could do it. Now she's even more Chinese than ever.
FYI: I do have a few qualms about this method. I notice that there is little concern for location of this event....which creates in me - a hygeine concern, where my girls sit, play & explore. I have seen this happen on a bus, near a tree, over a garbage can, on the street....you name it! I try not to think about the grime/dirt that is all around me - ALL the time...or else I think I would be consumed by it. If these parents can handle it, we can too. Now you have a glimpse into another cultural difference in our world. And a little reminder to not whistle while you walk here in China.
