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12 changes a day is not an outlier for a newborn, it’s normal. My son is 18 months and we change him probably 6 times a day at least. Diaper pricing is depende

12 changes a day is not an outlier for a newborn, it’s normal. My son is 18 months and we change him probably 6 times a day at least. Diaper pricing is dependent on how many you buy at once, I buy giant boxes so my unit cost is low. If you don’t have $40 to buy the giant box, but only $10 to buy a small package. You are paying twice the unit cost.

distances 9y ago
> 12 changes a day is not an outlier for a newborn, it’s normal. My son is 18 months and we change him probably 6 times a day at least. You can start potty training a kid at around one year's age though, which will decrease the need for diapers. That age depends on a kid of course, in my family it has started around when the kids learn to walk so age of 1-1.5.
- billyhoffman 9y ago
  What? Potty training is dependent on physiological changes around muscle control. It is usually not possible before 18-24 months. I have 3 kids under 5, and 24 months is the earliest that interest to go on the potty started. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddler/toilet-training/Pages/Psychological-Readiness-and-Motor-Skills-Needed-for-Toilet-Training.aspx https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddler/...
  - snovv_crash 9y ago
    Then how do Asian kids do it by age 1?
    - Someone1234 9y ago
      I assume you're referring to China, since "Asia" is a big and diverse place. The Chinese use elimination training, or "potty on demand." You place the kid over the potty, make a specific sound they associate with going potty (you created the association previously) and they go. You then repeat this enough times in a day to eliminate the need for diapers. I don't think elimination training is potty training. In potty training you're teaching the kid to tell YOU when they need to go, in elimination you are telling THEM when to go. Plus in potty training they're doing "active holding" whereas in elimination you're aiming for things to never get to that stage by going "potty on demand" enough throughout a day. I think elimination training is very interesting and some parents have had great success mixing elimination with diapers to reduce the amount of accidents/cost. But even if they're trained on the elimination technique, they'd still need to be potty trained later, it just might be easier (since, again, you're asking them to tell you, rather than you tell them).
      - ataturk 9y ago
        The Chinese also let kids roam around diaper-less and just shit and piss wherever. I have a hard time buying into the idea that the Chinese have anything to teach anyone about anything at this point in history. The whole place is a falling down mess, and now it's a dictatorship besides. And yes, I do/did have some very close friends from Mainland China, but always like the Taiwanese better.
      - kolpa 9y ago
        It's elimination communication, not elimination training :) The concept, as you explain, is that the caregiver is alert to cues that a poop is coming, and moves the child to the potty.
  - Amygaz 9y ago
    Sticker books. Just put books that they can't place and match stickers, always leave near the toilet. If you like sticker books, and who doesn't, you know what to do...
  - stuaxo 9y ago
    There are a bunch of people training them from very young, with baby lead potty training. It's certainly interesting to see the difference between countries in all baby things, e.g. UK, US, Italy, France and Japan. - How long kids are in nappys. - How much food you are recommended to eat when pregnant. - What foods to avoid when pregnant. - What foods to give to babies and when. These all vary massively from country to country.
  - cullenking 9y ago
    I'm a parent of a fully potty trained 24 month old. Mostly potty trained by 18 months, with lots of reminders. It's not easy, takes absolute commitment. The moment you look at your phone your 16-18 month old will be hiding behind then couch peeing (at least ours did). That being said, it's nearly impossible if you don't have a parent doing full time caregiving. No daycare will do it. My wife used to do it as a nanny, where she learned about it, but that's an outlier. Really not easy to navigate between you and your family or friends who have similar age kids!
- pbhjpbhj 9y ago
  With my first child I decided pretty quickly I'd had enough of changing pooey nappies once we began with solid food; so we started at c.6 months with potty training. All the guides said don't even try until they're 2½ IIRC. At that age they can't usually sit up, you hold them on first thing in the morning, and any time you're changing them. Worked quite well. I added in audio cues after reading some Elimination Communication (EC) info. 3rd child, 2½ yo, will now poo & wee in potty a couple of times a day, and can tell us when he needs it. A good strong feedback loop, positive praise, no negativity about lack of "production". Cloth nappies seem to accelerate potty training too (we've done cloth and compostable, solely the latter with current child), I think they can feel they wet themselves more easily, better feedback. If the nappy is so "good" they don't feel wet then there's no intrinsic incentive and no feedback. As we did our version of baby sign (with parallel vocalisation) from c.6 months our eldest was able to tell us he needed the potty before he could talk. Breastfeeding seems to make a positive difference with nappies and potty training too, I think the child has a healthier bowel and so perhaps more control, less gas, etc.
  - koolba 9y ago
    > Cloth nappies seem to accelerate potty training too (we've done cloth and compostable, solely the latter with current child), I think they can feel they wet themselves more easily, better feedback. If the nappy is so "good" they don't feel wet then there's no intrinsic incentive and no feedback. Modern diapers are so good that they're counter productive to potty training. The innards whick all the moisture so the child's bottom remains completely dry until it gets extremely saturated.
  - brianwawok 9y ago
    > All the guides said don't even try until they're 2½ That is absurd. I wonder if the diaper companies wrote them? We did something like 18 months which is far less impressive than yours but was not rocket science or anything. Maybe cheap diapers helped, as they don't feel as dry?
    - pbhjpbhj 9y ago
      TBH I think that we probably started before we needed to, but poop in the potty means less mess for me to clean! I suspect you may be right on both questions.
Aeolun 9y ago
> 12 changes a day is not an outlier > we change him probably 6 times a day at least Does not compute... 6 times a day is not 12 times a day.
- sleet 9y ago
  You seem to have cut out the parts that make it compute. Try reading the words in-between your quotes.
c22 9y ago
I realized in my thirties that if I had just dropped $1000 on a pallet of razor blades when I turned 18 I'd have saved a couple times that. Way better returns than the actual "investment" that money ended up in.
- celticninja 9y ago
  yes but storing a pallet of razor blades isn't easy and from 18 - 28 (when you would be using these razors) you are going to move a lot, due to work, college, just general renting. So moving a pallet each time is probably inefficient.
  - Iv 9y ago
    It costs money to save money. Someone told me that mid-rich people often group together to have a grocery accountant who will do their bulk shopping for them and it ends up costing them less than a supermarket prices for superior products.
    - ada1981 9y ago
      In Park Slope we have our food coop, which is co-owned by 16,000 of us and does just bulk buys of everything we need. We also voulenteer to work 3 hrs a month (I do childcare). Our groceries are the freshest, localist, most responsibily sourced and affordable in NYC 20-50% off other stores. FoodCoop.com
      - iambateman 9y ago
        Thx for sharing this. Really cool. Where I live, I'm pretty sure we don't have a coop...but I want one!
        ada1981 9y ago
        We do about $50MM in revenue a year and also provide startup capital, training and voulenteer labor to help folks start their own. Drop by for a tour and say hey if you do.

distances 9y ago

> 12 changes a day is not an outlier for a newborn, it’s normal. My son is 18 months and we change him probably 6 times a day at least. You can start potty training a kid at around one year's age though, which will decrease the need for diapers. That age depends on a kid of course, in my family it has started around when the kids learn to walk so age of 1-1.5.

billyhoffman 9y ago
What? Potty training is dependent on physiological changes around muscle control. It is usually not possible before 18-24 months. I have 3 kids under 5, and 24 months is the earliest that interest to go on the potty started. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddler/toilet-training/Pages/Psychological-Readiness-and-Motor-Skills-Needed-for-Toilet-Training.aspx https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddler/...
- snovv_crash 9y ago
  Then how do Asian kids do it by age 1?
  - Someone1234 9y ago
    I assume you're referring to China, since "Asia" is a big and diverse place. The Chinese use elimination training, or "potty on demand." You place the kid over the potty, make a specific sound they associate with going potty (you created the association previously) and they go. You then repeat this enough times in a day to eliminate the need for diapers. I don't think elimination training is potty training. In potty training you're teaching the kid to tell YOU when they need to go, in elimination you are telling THEM when to go. Plus in potty training they're doing "active holding" whereas in elimination you're aiming for things to never get to that stage by going "potty on demand" enough throughout a day. I think elimination training is very interesting and some parents have had great success mixing elimination with diapers to reduce the amount of accidents/cost. But even if they're trained on the elimination technique, they'd still need to be potty trained later, it just might be easier (since, again, you're asking them to tell you, rather than you tell them).
    - ataturk 9y ago
      The Chinese also let kids roam around diaper-less and just shit and piss wherever. I have a hard time buying into the idea that the Chinese have anything to teach anyone about anything at this point in history. The whole place is a falling down mess, and now it's a dictatorship besides. And yes, I do/did have some very close friends from Mainland China, but always like the Taiwanese better.
    - kolpa 9y ago
      It's elimination communication, not elimination training :) The concept, as you explain, is that the caregiver is alert to cues that a poop is coming, and moves the child to the potty.
- Amygaz 9y ago
  Sticker books. Just put books that they can't place and match stickers, always leave near the toilet. If you like sticker books, and who doesn't, you know what to do...
- stuaxo 9y ago
  There are a bunch of people training them from very young, with baby lead potty training. It's certainly interesting to see the difference between countries in all baby things, e.g. UK, US, Italy, France and Japan. - How long kids are in nappys. - How much food you are recommended to eat when pregnant. - What foods to avoid when pregnant. - What foods to give to babies and when. These all vary massively from country to country.
- cullenking 9y ago
  I'm a parent of a fully potty trained 24 month old. Mostly potty trained by 18 months, with lots of reminders. It's not easy, takes absolute commitment. The moment you look at your phone your 16-18 month old will be hiding behind then couch peeing (at least ours did). That being said, it's nearly impossible if you don't have a parent doing full time caregiving. No daycare will do it. My wife used to do it as a nanny, where she learned about it, but that's an outlier. Really not easy to navigate between you and your family or friends who have similar age kids!
pbhjpbhj 9y ago
With my first child I decided pretty quickly I'd had enough of changing pooey nappies once we began with solid food; so we started at c.6 months with potty training. All the guides said don't even try until they're 2½ IIRC. At that age they can't usually sit up, you hold them on first thing in the morning, and any time you're changing them. Worked quite well. I added in audio cues after reading some Elimination Communication (EC) info. 3rd child, 2½ yo, will now poo & wee in potty a couple of times a day, and can tell us when he needs it. A good strong feedback loop, positive praise, no negativity about lack of "production". Cloth nappies seem to accelerate potty training too (we've done cloth and compostable, solely the latter with current child), I think they can feel they wet themselves more easily, better feedback. If the nappy is so "good" they don't feel wet then there's no intrinsic incentive and no feedback. As we did our version of baby sign (with parallel vocalisation) from c.6 months our eldest was able to tell us he needed the potty before he could talk. Breastfeeding seems to make a positive difference with nappies and potty training too, I think the child has a healthier bowel and so perhaps more control, less gas, etc.
- koolba 9y ago
  > Cloth nappies seem to accelerate potty training too (we've done cloth and compostable, solely the latter with current child), I think they can feel they wet themselves more easily, better feedback. If the nappy is so "good" they don't feel wet then there's no intrinsic incentive and no feedback. Modern diapers are so good that they're counter productive to potty training. The innards whick all the moisture so the child's bottom remains completely dry until it gets extremely saturated.
- brianwawok 9y ago
  > All the guides said don't even try until they're 2½ That is absurd. I wonder if the diaper companies wrote them? We did something like 18 months which is far less impressive than yours but was not rocket science or anything. Maybe cheap diapers helped, as they don't feel as dry?
  - pbhjpbhj 9y ago
    TBH I think that we probably started before we needed to, but poop in the potty means less mess for me to clean! I suspect you may be right on both questions.

Aeolun 9y ago

> 12 changes a day is not an outlier > we change him probably 6 times a day at least Does not compute... 6 times a day is not 12 times a day.

sleet 9y ago
You seem to have cut out the parts that make it compute. Try reading the words in-between your quotes.

c22 9y ago

I realized in my thirties that if I had just dropped $1000 on a pallet of razor blades when I turned 18 I'd have saved a couple times that. Way better returns than the actual "investment" that money ended up in.

celticninja 9y ago
yes but storing a pallet of razor blades isn't easy and from 18 - 28 (when you would be using these razors) you are going to move a lot, due to work, college, just general renting. So moving a pallet each time is probably inefficient.
- Iv 9y ago
  It costs money to save money. Someone told me that mid-rich people often group together to have a grocery accountant who will do their bulk shopping for them and it ends up costing them less than a supermarket prices for superior products.
  - ada1981 9y ago
    In Park Slope we have our food coop, which is co-owned by 16,000 of us and does just bulk buys of everything we need. We also voulenteer to work 3 hrs a month (I do childcare). Our groceries are the freshest, localist, most responsibily sourced and affordable in NYC 20-50% off other stores. FoodCoop.com
    - iambateman 9y ago
      Thx for sharing this. Really cool. Where I live, I'm pretty sure we don't have a coop...but I want one!
      - ada1981 9y ago
        We do about $50MM in revenue a year and also provide startup capital, training and voulenteer labor to help folks start their own. Drop by for a tour and say hey if you do.