If your child is late with the potty training, chances are you have plenty of people trying to make you feel guilty about it. But missing that milestone's not all bad. Your child will get to it when the time is right, and in the meantime, you can celebrate these good things about remaining diaper-bound.
1. Public toileting is easier.
Yeah, it's a hassle to tote the diaper gear, and find the restroom with the changing table. But think about this: Once your child is free of diapers, you will have to deal with dirty disgusting public toilet seats. And a child who wants to touch things that ought not to be touched. And put the hands in the mouth. Seriously, diaper-table confinement is a blessing to be treasured.2. Other good fights get fought.
Targeting toilet use tends to take over family life and parent-child interactions. Remove it from the stress list until your child is really really ready, and you've got so much time and effort and creativity and ingenuity available for all the other developmental milestones in jeopardy. Pick your battles, and your triumphs, too.3. You're not diapering, you're bonding.
What do you do when you're changing a diaper? Talk to your child? Sing a few numbers? Engage in some nice babble or nuzzling or nonsense? Right there, you've got some good interaction going. Your opportunities for that kind of immobilization and loving communication will not increase over time. Nothing wrong with maximizing them.4. Pants fit better with diapers.
If you have a slim-hipped little one, you know what's going to happen when all that diaper-bulk goes away? Major-league droopy-drawers, that's what. There will be time enough to deal with belts and suspenders and overalls and duct tape and whatever will be required to keep your kiddo decent. For now, appreciate the artificial hips.5. Diaper bag = big bag of tricks.
Having an adequate supply of
distractions is invaluable when you're out in public with your child. But purses and pockets can't stash nearly enough to get you through a
mall trip or a doctor's visit. Diaper bags, on the other hand, are just full of pockets and pouches and wide open spaces for tucking books and toys and tapes and snacks and what-all. You'll miss it when it's gone.
6. Samples are simpler.
When the doctor wants to check out your child's output, scooping something out of a diaper or handing over a wet one is a lot less onerous than catching what goes into the bowl. Ew.7. Monitoring movements is simpler, too.
The more independent your child gets with toileting, the harder it will be for you to answer your pediatrician's questions about potential troubles with waste production. Whereas, when you're diapering, you certainly have detailed knowledge to share. You like to be an informed parent, don'tcha?8. The only hands that need washing are yours.
Once your child is doing his or her own duty, making sure those little hands are washed thoroughly will become an issue, and an issue of much more interest to you than to your child. You're protecting your little one from a germ-filled doom by handling the nasty stuff yourself.9. Your bathroom stays cleaner.
Speaking of hygiene -- diapers have the advantage of keeping messes fairly contained. A child doing independent toileting, not so much. Especially if you have a boy who has trouble standing still.10. Your child gets to win one.
Kids with special needs often have so little control over what happens to them. There's poking and prodding, waiting-room torture, examinations and evaluations, rules and regulations. Though your child may not be able to control what comes out when, neither can anybody else, and that's gotta feel good, you know?
