Customer Reviews
Inspiring and Compassionate Perspective on Parenting 
2007-07-27
This is my favorite book on the topic of diaper-free babies. Bauer describes (and lives) the loving, respectful, relationship fostered by responding to a babies needs in the present moment. She makes well researched and well reasoned points, while never being dull. There are plenty of helpful suggestions and multiple examples of families in diverse situations practicing diaper-freedom. I have bought several copies of this book and have given them to my expectant friends.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in natural parenting or attachment parenting and parents who believe in a cleaner, healthier, world environment.
Additionally, this book is ideal for anyone who recognizes the innate wisdom of babies and believes that babies deserve our full attention and constant compassion.
I am the mother of two children; both diaper free from birth. Both were wearing underware at 8-9 months of age. Our daughter is now 5 years old our little son is just 10 months. Bauers book continues to be very useful and inspiring to me. Truthfully, ANYONE can do this, and most of the world all ready does. Try it, you will instantly understand why.
Practical and inspiring 2007-06-20
As a family physician, writer on pregnancy, birth and parenting; and mother of four (my last baby raised 'diaper-free'), I found this book practical as well as inspiring.
I know it can be hard to believe that babies can be raised without diapers (and it is certainly not what I was taught at medical school), but after seeing it with my own eyes, I know that babies really do have the innate ability to communicate their elimination needs.
I also know that it is a gentle and baby-centered approach that enhances and deepens the relationship between mother and baby, and does not involved training, coercion, or distraction from normal activities such as play and learning.
As a mother and MD, I believe that this method (which is also how most babies around the world are raised) is healthier and more hygienic than putting babies in what has been called a `walking toilet', not to mention the financial benefits for the family and environmental benefits for the Earth.
I would highly recommend this book and this method, with the proviso that it requires a lot of physical closeness and also dedication from at least one carer. (In traditional cultures, the grandmother may be the main person to do this) I think this is especially true in our culture because we are usually parenting in isolation and don't have this method as part of our parenting lore.
For these reasons, it is probably easier for those who use (or plan to use) attachment parenting approaches which emphasize closeness and parental responsiveness such as baby wearing, co-sleeping and breastfeeding.
If you are interested in this style of parenting, you will particularly enjoy the gentle philosophy in this book, and Ingrid's sharing of her own experiences.
However, I also know several families who have adapted this method part time and/or just to catch the baby's poops (and many moms can already tell when their baby needs to go!), which is still a great benefit.
If you are serious about this, you might also enjoy Infant Potty Training, which has a great section on what mothers and babies are doing in other cultures. If you just want some potty training tips, try Early Start Potty Training, which has some good ideas, plus a fascinating (and rather damning) history of the diaper industry.
interesting read 2007-05-26
This was a very interesting book to read. Wish I had this info with my first child, it might have made it easier to attempt rather than starting new with a 2 year old in tow. This is a great book for new mothers who are looking into diapering alternatives. Over all the book was in great condition so I gave it 5 stars.
Whither babyhood? 
2007-04-11
All well and good, but a few questions are in order:
Do infants want to be trained?
The ones I've not-trained are grateful for their childhood unhampered by adult dictates to eliminate on cue when their intent was to play and explore and bond. Their time was, instead, taken up by such old-fashioned things as exploring their environment, playing, being read to, carried, basically being infants while mom and dad took care of their needs and cleaned up after them.
I recommend--heartily--A.S. Neill's Summerhill instead, for seeing things with the point of view of a baby not an adult. Children do not share adult concerns. They are not supposed to at day one or even year one. That is how they develop and become compassionate, creative people.
Are today's parents really all that busy that they cannot find time to change their babies' diapers anymore?
Addition to Attachment Parenting 
2007-03-16
I found this book to be a great way to add-on to the Attachment Parenting lifestyle. Having your baby in a sling most of the day helps you learn to read your baby's elimination signals, and it helps with mom-baby bonding. I also liked how she had pictures of how to hold a baby to potty as well as how to do EC with special needs babies. I highly recommend it.
Great Read 2008-04-08
This is a fast, easy read about Natural Infant Hygiene. The information is very eye-opening, especially if the concept of not diapering a baby is new to you. Well-written and inspiring.
Look before you decide 
2008-01-28
My wife and I bought this book, which was recommended to us by a friend who has successfully used Natural Infant Hygiene with their child. I finished reading it the other day, and my wife and I are talking about trying it.
Perhaps others have had different impressions after reading the book, but I think that only about 10-20% of the total text was actually helpful. The rest seemed more like marketing material. Over half the book is more focused on why you should practice Natural Infant Hygiene rather than how to actually do so.
I'm not sure I would buy it again.
Intuitive and liberating even for a working mom! 2007-10-24
I only found out about this topic and this book a short time ago. Without even finishing the book I started practicing NIH with my 5 month old son. Since he is in child care during the day, I can only practice when he's home with us, but after he started peeing in the little potty and in the home toilet my husband and I are both excited to continue this journey. The book is helpful and inspiring. I gave it 4 stars because Part 1 of the book is a bit redundant. Bauer could have shortened the book considerably if she didn't keep reiterating the benefits of this practice. But I guess maybe we need to hear them over and over since it's such a foreign topic to most people.
I don't think you need to be hovering over your baby 24/7 to catch their elimination. I rely heavily on the signs my son gives and also just on timing (after sleep, after nursing, every 1/2 hour to hour). I don't catch them all in the potty yet, but cloth diapers draped over him get the rest without a mess. I'm not doing this to necessarily potty train my infant, but I think this will offer a very smooth transition to being fully potty trained if he's already aware of using a potty without coercion or bribery. We just make a noise and he goes if he needs to. And even cutting down on the number of diapers we use is a blessing on the pocketbook and the environment. I hope I never need to use a pull up diaper! So for all those people who say they can't even consider doing this, I'm proof that it can be done. You don't necessarily need to go diaperless all the time. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. I think babies still benefit whether it's 2 hours a day or 24. My son is doing great and he doesn't at all mind sitting on a potty. He loves going diaperless and it isn't forcing him to grow up too fast as one reviewer said. He gets to explore and play as much as before. Just without a bulky, dirty, landfill littering diaper on his bottom.
can't do without it 2007-09-12
i read this book while pregnant and was a little blown away, wondering if i could do it. the day i got a tiny potty in the mail, i set my 6 week old daughter on it and she peed! as if it was nothing new! she is nearly 5 months old now and we never buy diapers. our friends and family are amazed. it is an essential to share with new parents.
we are so proud of our daughter, and i am so grateful to this author -Gentle Wisdom is very appropriate.
Not for everyone -- but for us! 2007-09-11
We've found this book, and the one by Laurie Boucke, to be very helpful -- although its worth noting that the basic techniques are so simple and so ancient that you hardly need a book to learn how to do this. Be warned, though: Not everyone will applaud your choice to potty train your baby. Be prepared to accept a fair bit of ridicule, criticism and plenty of skeptical -- and sometimes rude -- questions from people who went the more traditional Western route and perhaps are having a hard time dealing with the idea that they may not have had to swim in diapers for three years, after all.
On the other hand, also be prepared to answer lots of honest questions (especially from people who are expecting and worried about the ecological and financial cost of nappies.) More on this at dearspike.com (Sept. 5, 2007)
