Say Good-bye to Diapers in Honor of Earth Day!

By: Linda Acredolo, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, UC Davis and Co-Founder, the Baby Signs® Program

Earth Day is a good time for all of us to reflect on what we can do on an individual basis to promote the health of our environment so that our children will inherit a verdant, health-inducing world rather than one increasingly beset with man-made environmental (and health-reducing) problems. Well, one thing many parents can do is get their baby out of diapers a lot earlier than is the norm these days. The mean age in the United States is about 37 months—and climbing as bigger and bigger disposable diapers become available. This is a far cry from earlier, pre-disposable diaper times when children where routinely trained by 18 months. What the trend toward later and later potty training means for the environment, of course, is more diapers and human waste in our landfills—where the remnants will remain for 500 years per diaper or more! If you’re interested in a few more shocking details about diapers and the environment, watch the National Geographic piece Impact of Diapers on Environment. 

As many of you know, we at the Baby Signs® Program are anxious to help parents get their babies out of diapers as soon as possible—hopefully by age 2—both for their own benefit and for a healthier environment. To this end, we’ve developed potty training resources with step-by-step instructions and tips for Mom and Dad as well as resources to motivate babies younger than 2-years to “Climb on board the Potty Train!” After all, being motivated is really what “being ready” for potty training boils down to once children. The bottom line? If kids in the past were trained by 18 months, there’s no reason that can’t happen today—especially with a little help from the Baby Signs® Potty Training Program.