Getting Mooned by Babies in China -- little known facts from the Internet!

[Radio_Lady]

Come to China, Get Mooned by a Baby...

You may find this interesting, and many visitors to China are a bit shocked and bewildered the first time they see it. My job is to explain what's going on.

If you haven't been to China, imagine seeing a fully-dressed toddler, with a split in the butt of the outfit that allows a draft of epic proportions, by exposing some of the baby's most precious parts to the elements.

Maybe you're confused because all you see is a "baby butt crack", but Chinese parents see a way to have less mess, save money, and help the environment, while making their baby smarter - If I have your attention now, just read on to find out more...

I took this picture on a very cold morning near the end of a harsh Beijing Winter. Still, this baby has his little butt hanging out in the breeze. Read the whole story to decide whether you are for or against this "crack draft" policy in China.

No Mess No Bother

These traditional split-crotch-jumpers have been around for generations. Within months after birth, these special toddler togs eliminate the need for diapers, and the associated mess, clean up and laundering or disposal. Instead of changing diapers all day, parents simply find a toilet or out house, hold their child over the appropriate receptacle, and "let fly". The secret is to make regular bathroom breaks for your toddler (every couple of hours) and have a signal (such as light whistling) to let your toddler know it's "time to go".

Also, there's no need to spend time dressing and undressing your child each time that nature calls.

Baby "Crack Draft": Saving the Environment and Your Wallet

China can not afford disposable diapers. I'm not talking only of the high price of disposable diapers, but rather the environmental impact of such diapers.

There are around 1.2 billion people in China, and about 18 million babies are born every year.

At a conservative three diaper changes per baby per day, imagine the results of 54 million diapers being dumped in landfills every day!

Due to limited resources and landfill space, China already recycles just about everything that you can think of. They simply can not handle mega-tons of diapers filling up their small trash dumps.

Therefore, it's very hard to find disposable diapers in China, and they are seen by many Chinese people as a wasteful and expensive "western luxury" that only foreigners (mostly just Americans) would dare to purchase and use.

Found at: http://www.orientaloutpost.com/blogs.php

[Haole Girl]

1. The things I learn on DU

[wildhorses]

12. DU--Democratic University

I am getting quite the education, too.:hi:

thanks for posting Radio_Lady:hi:

[LibertyLover]

2. My daughter is adopted from China

As a matter of fact 3 years ago today my husband and I boarded a plane at BWI to fly to Wuhan, China to bring her home. Anyway, November 3rd is our 3 year anniversary of holding our daughter in our arms. The day we got her, she was 16 months old. When I eventually got around to taking her clothes off to bath her, she was wearing a little thermal suit with the open crotch. I'd been to China before and knew about the open crotch pants on toddlers so I wasn't terribly surprised. What I was surprised by was the fact that the orphanage had inserted what amounted to a diaper pad in the pants. It wasn't a full fledged diaper - more like a sanitary napkin. Well, no matter - we had brought Pampers from home for her and were able to buy more in the Chinese department stores we were taken to. I kept the outfit she was wearing when we got her as part of her memories. It brings back happy memories.

[Radio_Lady]

3. I hope your dreams come true with your little daughter.

We were on a flight from Hong Kong to Seattle a few years ago. There were about six couples who had just adopted. What a beautiful thing to do! I admire you -- and that comes from a mother of two, stepmother of three, and grandmother to ten children. You are a caring and loving parent.



Thanks for posting!

In peace,

Radio_Lady

[LibertyLover]

6. Thank you

There are times when I still can't believe I'm a mom - then the kidlet pops in with a hug, a demand for more juice or crying because she can't find her favorite stuffed manatee - and the reality hits me. It's an adventure - in so many ways. :evilgrin:

[wickerwoman]

4. There's also a Chinese version of Dr. Spock

that claims you can toilet train your kids quicker if you don't use diapers.

Of course, on the subway on the way to work today, a three year old pissed all over the middle of the car so I'm not sure how that's working out.

[JVS]

10. That's what I was wondering. Sure there are no diapers, but isn't there...

shit everywhere?

[wickerwoman]

13. Yes...

and it's not just from the three year olds.

That's the other reason not to wear sandals in China.

My friend is married to a Chinese woman and they have two kids under four. He told me the other day the older one took a dump in the middle of the living room and his mother didn't look fazed in the slightest. This kid was four- I was toilet trained well before two- so I'm not sure that it really trains them faster.

Plus most Chinese babies are raised almost entirely by their grandparents while their parents work. I'm pretty sure grandma is doing 95% of the training involved in this. Another reason why I don't see it happening in the U.S.

[Rabrrrrrr]

5. Good for China!! Americans need to learn to give up their lazy addiction

to disposables and the keep-the-kids-in-diapers-for-two-to-three-years bullshit that's polluting our earth making the goddamned lazy things, and filling our landfills.

Stop being so fucking lazy, America.

[Pithlet]

8. Oh, I can just imagine

what would happen if we suddenly started trying crotchless baby clothes over here. Puddles and piles of shit everywhere. People don't even clean up after their damn dogs over here. :shudder: Can you imagine the threads on DU, then? They'd make the kids in restaurant threads look pretty warm and fuzzy.

[pitohui]

9. oh be serious

the first 10,000 or so parents to try this would be arrested and put in prison for years as child sex predators

we simply don't have the mental maturity to have babies wandering around with their private parts out in public

[Pithlet]

11. We also don't have the time

In all seriousness, we don't get the time off to have babies that many other countries get. Most women who go back to work in the US do so about 6 to 8 weeks after the baby is born. This type of training would have to be more time intensive. It's true we rely on disposables, but it isn't solely due to laziness. I could be wrong, because I stayed at home with mine, but I don't think most day care providers will do cloth diapers, so you'd at least have to use disposables during the workday. And it's not as if cloth diapers aren't using up other resources besides landfills, particularly if you use a service. Day care centers are certainly not going to handle this type of toilet training. And China has been doing this bare butt thing for generations. It would be such a huge cultural shift for us to suddenly adopt this. We aren't exactly family friendly in the US, despite what some claim. I'm not sure too many people in our culture would be willing to accommodate babies and toddlers doing their business in public. I got a nasty look for changing my baby's diaper in a restroom at the airport once, for God's sake.

[fortyfeetunder]

7. Darned good idea!

I don't think it's only China that does it. Disposable diapers are a luxury outside of the Western world.