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Mix one of the world's largest populations of babies with eager American companies to own the untapped diaper market and you have the Times article today about how disposable diapers are slowly edging out traditional split pants. What are split pants, you ask? Reporter David Chen writes that they are "pants with the giant hole on the bottom" so babies in China have tended to relieve themselves anywhere, everywhere. As you ew, Gothamist thinks this makes some sense, when the weather is very hot (thus avoiding diaper rash) but, yeah, split pants seem more trouble than they are worth and thank goodness for Marion Donovan. Of course, disposable diapers still seem wasteful to some Chinese, but marketers, like Yvonne Pei of Pampers, are doing their best to convince otherwise: "Pampers promotes overnight dryness, and it helps baby to have a good night's sleep. If baby doesn't have good sleep, baby doesn't have good mental development." (Plus Pampers has introduced a diaper wearing elephant as a mascot - we wouldn't want to see that in split pants.) Gothamist knows of some babies who wore Pampers but now as adults do not seem to have have the greatest mental development, but that's another story for another time.
Last note, the title of the article: A New Policy of Containment, For Baby Bottoms. God, the copy editor who wrote that headline is good.
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i think split pants are just practice for the squatting that people from the asia are really good at doing. i mean, despite my background, i can't do that squat at all. it has to be the split pants.
and can you imagine how much more trash they would have if they used diposable diapers? that would be a wonder of the world or something.
That's a TON of diapers and ecologically frightening. Either way (split pants vs diapers) a baby will most likely be laying in their own excrement at night at least for a little bit-- no matter what it sucks for the kid. I don't buy Pampers' slick claim that babies will have better mental development indirectly as a result of wearing diapers.
But here's my question-- if a split pants toddler is knowledgeable enough to squat down and take a dump in the street, then why not a toilet? I'm confused.
my *guess* would be: lack of toliets.
From all the reports I've heard, the children may relieve themselves a bit more publicly... but as it trickles down their leg, rather than warming their bum, the kids are quicker (and more sure) to potty train.
I also imagine the parents are a lot more aware of what they feed their children, and (just like pet owners) develop a seventh (we already have identified six senses, folks... time to move on!) sense about impending bowel movements.
Disposable diapers are, for whatever reason, the de facto symbol of America's growing landfills. I think the press has blown out of proportion their impact. The book Rubbish is fascinating and I recommend it to anybody who wants to have an informed opinion on the subject. After reading the book, it was obvious that any opinion I had on waste management prior to reading the book was uninformed and often contrary to fact.
I just can't get past the notion of squatting in public. Are there 'please curb your child" signs?
Do any of you have kids?
If you would like to see what baby poo really is, then judge the split pants vs pampers debate, drop me an email, and I can arrange for a seminar at my home.
Hmmm...a Gothamist feature about poo...
although it sounds better to have diapers than split pants (which my mother wore as a child and which she swears i should have worn...as well as should have had my feet bound), imagine almost a billion people dumping these things everywhere. unfortunately, one of the oldest cultures in the world hasn't evolved much over the last 2000 years. take chinatown nyc, imagine the filth multiplied by a huge country, add poo filled diapers...mmmmmm not my idea of paradise.
My mom IM'd me, "I wore split pants, I guess." Then I asked for a quote, like, "Split pants were comfy, if disturbing" but she didn't reply back. Hypothesis: My mom went regress hypnotically to give her daughter some choice thoughts about split pants.
alana said: "one of the oldest cultures in the world hasn't evolved much over the last 2000 years"
Yes, let's bash a bunch of poor immigrants who until recently were completely rejected by mainstream society. The wealthy and middle class Chinese don't live in Chinatown, so you're not really getting a very broad view of the products of this 5000 year old culture.
alana said: "one of the oldest cultures in the world hasn't evolved much over the last 2000 years"
Yes, let's bash a bunch of poor immigrants who until recently were completely rejected by mainstream society. The wealthy and middle class Chinese don't live in Chinatown, so you're not really getting a very broad view of the products of this 5000 year old culture.
If I had less carpet, I'd do it! Poop is easier cleaned off the floor than out of a cloth diaper and less stinky than a basket full of poopy plastic pampers! And, it's coming... http://babyparenting.about.com/cs/pottytraining/f/infantpt.htm
Babies don't just "pee anywhere" in split pants. Parents use a cueing sound when the child pees or poos so the child associates the sound with the action. Split pants make it easier for a child to go when they don't have the control to "hold it" long enough to get their pants down/off. My son (6 mos) uses the toilet this way. We just purchased split pants for this very reason.
Training your child to sit in their own excrement is not an sign of advancement in my opinion. Humans are the only animals that allow their young to sit in their own waste.
Disposable diapers
*are bad for the environment
*teach the child (and parent) to ignore the messages from their own body
*encourage a repressed mind-set about the body and it's natural functions
*promote diaper rash
*create later problems when you try to potty train
*encourage all kinds of bladder and bowel disfunctions in older kids
*show a great disrespect for our children and their bodies - you wouldn't like to sit in your own waste, would you?
*are just disgusting, imho
This article makes me sad that the "use and throw away" attitude that is currently prevalent in America is being exported under yet another guise.
As with so many other things, in the name of progress, China is actually going backwards. There is a growing number of North American and European parents who are practicing something called Natural Infant Hygiene - split pants are a Chinese traditional version of this. Basically it means not using or limiting your use of diapers in favor of getting your baby to be aware of her elimination (something they can do from birth) and to pee and poo in a bowl, potty or toilet. See www.diaperfreebaby.org for more.
Why force your child to sit in her own filth and fill landfills or have tons of cloth diapers to wash if you don't need to?