I have a confession to make. Remember when I bragged that my son’s bedwetting issues were over? Yeah, well, call it the parent-of-one-child intoxication, but after a week of dry sheets, I am now swimming knee high in smelly, wet bedding on a daily basis. I’ve gone through one of those large jugs of Tide-with-Bleach in one week. What’s that, like 42 loads? Insane.
I mentioned this problem at my book club and one woman – the mother of two grown boys – said the bedwetting at her house got so bad when her kids were young that she would literally …read more

I had several comments and even more e-mails from people who had read the post “A soggy mess to be in” last week about my son’s unwillingness to wear a pull-up to bed. So I thought I’d give an update.
While washing mounds of sheets last week, I called my friend Emily and mentioned my situation to her. She has two boys, 7 and 10, and a laid-back style of mothering I find comforting. She doesn’t sweat the small stuff. And bedwetting, she said, was nothing to get upset about. Her 7-year-old was still wearing pull-ups to bed. He hated it …read more

My son and I are at an impasse. He doesn’t want to wear pull-ups to bed and I don’t want to get up at 3 a.m. to change his sheets. He just turned 5 and my inner parent is telling me that he should be diaper free by now. My doctor (yes, I consulted him) says he is normal. That he will soon learn to mind his bladder at night and besides, he says, no 18-year-olds are heading off to college in pull-ups anyway.
Still, try to tell that to a 5-year-old “big boy” who is sobbing at his bedside because …read more

We are officially a diaper-free household. Tonight is night #2 in the great Commando Sleep Off. Honestly, I’m not worried about it. I can’t remember the last time he woke up wet. It all happened so gradually, I’m wondering if there shouldn’t have been some sort of ceremony or marking of the event.
Saturday night I tried to casually get him into underwear, but he was having none of it. His big blue eyes went all round and shiny, his lower lip pouted out, and he gave me his patented Sniff Sniff little snortle of child dismay. “What, you still want …read more

Most parents automatically reach for the Huggies when they think about diapering because it’s so easy and convenient. While its impact on the environment is arguable, it’s not exactly the best option for your baby’s sensitive bottom. Ever gotten a rash from wearing a sanitary pad? It’s like that with a disposable diaper, which people tend to leave on babies for longer than they should because they have too much faith in its absorbent qualities. There is also the risk of developing conditions such as asthma and male infertility, among others.