Gone are days when parents used the wash and dry nappies on their toddlers. With the kind of lifestyle, we are living today, re-usable nappies have come almost impossible to use. Who has all this to wash and dry them? We are too busy for this kind of work. That’s why single-use nappies have made it very easy into the market.
With single-use or disposable nappies, they are convenient and easy to use. All you need is put them on the toddler, and the process has been made very easy. Then, once the toddler has pooed or peed, you remove, throw it away and put on a new one. That’s how easy it is, and you don’t need to wash anything.
But there are several problems most parents don’t seem to understand about these nappies. One of them is pollution. It has been proven that disposable nappies are contributing to the high rate of environmental pollution. First, a big percentage of these nappies is plastic. So, they take many years to decompose, unlike the natural fabric of the old washable nappies.
Second, they are not recyclable. This means the waste will continue piling in the landfills and other areas they are thrown into. Apart from environmental damages, single-use nappies are compromising public health. The used nappies are everywhere. We throw them into waste-paper baskets, streets, wheelie bins, and public rubbish bins. These are areas you couldn’t find human faeces years ago.
Another problem that young parents may not notice is a prolonged toilet training age. Before the coming of the single-use nappy, most toddlers were trained to use the potty by the age of 2½ years if not earlier. But that’s not the same today. Today, the toilet training age is starting at 3½. Even toddlers of 4 years have a hard time to stay nappy-free even during daylight hours.
You might have also seen toddlers’ pull-ups being advertised as ‘potty training’ aid. Please don’t fall for that because it will not work for your baby. It’s just a marketing gimmick to trick into buying more products. Pull-ups have been found to elongate the period the toddler will be using nappies. So, they are not good for your baby.
Experts believe that there are positive things that can be extracted from disposable nappies. The old potty training, though good, exposed kids to stress and psychological problems. That’s because of the too much pressure put in babies during potty training. In some cases, it had a disastrous effect on the growth of the child. That’s a problem reduced with the coming of a new generation of single-use nappy kids.
But that’s not an excuse to use the single-use nappies. Parents only need to create a stress-free and non-competitive environment for potty training. Such conditions will not expose the child to any kind of psychological problems. So, create a relaxed environment for your baby, and you will have no reason to use disposable nappies.
It’s also important to emphasize that toddlers are not the same. So, the age of potty training will vary from one toddler to the other. Family lifestyle, parent’s attitude and the communities they live in are crucial factors affecting potty training age. The issue of health may also determine nappy-free training age. Healthy toddlers will be nappy-free by 3 or even before.
As a parent, avoid anything that would prolong your toddler’s potty training. This includes the single-use nappies and toddler pull-ups. It will save you a lot of money in the long run. Delayed training also robs the toddler the independence they need. This includes toddler activities such as outings, swimming and preschool. So, parents, be careful with single-use nappies.
