11 Months Old Doesn't Mind Sitting on Dirty Diapers!

Updated on July 31, 2010
M.Y. asks from Pasadena, CA
23 answers

I have a lovely 11 months old son who never cried for having a wet or soiled diaper. Most of the time I would be able to smell his dirty diaper and he would still be crawling around playing and wouldn't even fuss about it. I know he is too early for potty training but I am wondering if my son will be a hard candidate for potty training later since he has no problem with sitting on wet/soiled diapers.

What I am trying to do now is to change his diapers regularly around every 3 hours or so during the day so he will get used to having a dry diaper. I wonder if that will help but that is what my MIL suggested.

Do any mamas out there have the same problem? Most of my friends' babies cry and fuss when they have wet/soiled diapers.

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B.C.

answers from Dallas on

Don't know about the potty training aspect because my daughter is only 1/2 trained (not poop trained yet), but she never cared about being dirty either. I felt horrible the times that she sat in it for too long without me knowing "phantom unscenters" were in her diaper. She would get a horrible rash sometimes and I hated it!
A lot of kids are like this, don't worry. They all potty train eventually.

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E.E.

answers from Los Angeles on

A friend had success with switching to cloth diapers before potty training. Babies don't like having the soiled diapers on and will fuss right away.

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G.M.

answers from Las Vegas on

Welcome to being a mother to a boy! We've all been there. It's not umcommon for boys to care less about their diaper being wet or poopy. They'd rather play that take time out for a diaper change. When my kids were toddler age, I changed diapers when they woke up, once during the morning, because there was always a poop in there somewhere, after lunch/before naps, after naps, after dinner and at bed/bath time.

I never worried about the toilet training thing. Every one of my friends started training their kids between 18 and 22 months. They fought the fight, ran to the bathroom every 30 minutes for months, stressed about whether or not their kids would ever be trained, etc. The kids were trained completely by the time they were 3.

I took a different approach. I just waited until they were a little over 3 years old, took them to buy underware of their choice and started the process at the beginning of the week. We of course had discussed the potty, read books, etc. for some time prior to this. My oldest son put on his underware, was encouraged to pee in the potty and reminded on a regular basis. If he had an accident, it was no big deal, but he had to get himself undressed, cleaned up, changed and then take all of his wet clothes to the washing machine. He was trained in 48 hours. Done, night and day.

My younger son was a bit younger, but was ready. Same set up, only he needed a bit more to encourage going on the potty. We bought a big bag of M&M's and put them in a bowl on the counter. We did the same thing, but with the added issue of "every time you go potty on the toilet you get a handful of M&M's. Every time you pee in your pants, your brother gets a handful of M7M's. The younger son was trained night and day in 3 days.

No stress, no fighting, no worries. I don't do stress very well, and had no desire to fight with my boys about the toilet training issue. Boys take longer than girls, but when they are really ready, if you will let them wait until then, it will be a super fast process.

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C.B.

answers from Kansas City on

ditto bethany - my son did the same thing. it is early yet. you have to teach them that having a soiled diaper is dirty, i don't think it's something most kids instinctively know. my son couldn't care less if he had a wet or poopy diaper on. he would wake up with a poopy diaper that it looked like was from right before he fell asleep, and it would be dried on his little bum from 8 or 10 hours of being there :( it was awful. just keep an eye on him, that's all you can do. if he gets the diaper rash from you-know-where then come here and we'll give you some advice about that too :)

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C.M.

answers from Austin on

Um. You should be changing his diaper every three hours. When he goes, then you change him. I'm really confused about this. My concern is that he is walking (crawling) around with a poopy diaper for three hours.
You have a couple of years, yet, to worry about potty training. For now, just change that baby when he "goes".

Edit: If your child is only "day trained", they aren't trained.

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J.G.

answers from Springfield on

My son never cared at that age but cared later on. He would tell us right away and want us to drop everything to change him. Kids go through so many changes in the first two years. I think we can drive ourselves crazy worrying about things that are still a year or two away. He'll be fine.

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D.W.

answers from Philadelphia on

My son did not fuss when he had a dirty diaper either. Sometimes his pants would be soaked before we knew he needed to be changed. My son is now three and he was trained about a month before his third birthday. I would try what your MIL suggested but make sure you do not go through too many diapers,it could get expensive. I would not worry about it. He sounds like a laid back child which is always a blessing. Good luck

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S.H.

answers from Detroit on

My daughter could care less about a dirty diaper at that age... she was too busy to care. I did not do much to encourage potty training. When she around 2, we got a potty for her to use and would put her on it when she was interested. We had a couple of books we would read from time to time, but other than that, we just waited for her to be ready. It was the easiest thing ever, with no stress or power struggles. One day she said she didn't want a diaper anymore and from that day forward, she used the potty, even at night. No accidents or night time accidents. She was 2 1/2 at the time. I will take the same laid back approach for my next one :-) I have seen more kids struggle with potty training when their parents get really stressed and anxious about it. It is one of the few things kids have full control over! haha

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T.C.

answers from Los Angeles on

M., it sounds like you have a kid that rolls with the punches. Is that a bad thing? He will develop in his own time.

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C.R.

answers from Dallas on

Well both of my sons didn't care at all at this age, I think that's the norm. I always just changed their diaper when they needed changing. As for potty training some are easy than others only because they are ready at different ages. Don't rush it and follow his lead and you will be fine. They all "get it" maybe just not always at the time YOU want them to.
C.

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A.H.

answers from New York on

i started my son and daughter both at 16 months.. just putting them on.. they both took right to it... both were trained during the day at 2!~!!! my daughter never minded a dirty diaper.. my son hated it... but they both were trained at 2... my sister in law has a little girl who is 2 1/2 and she was trained by 2 also... it works if you start young... so many people wait until they are over 3.. and it gets harder I think... good luck.. A.

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A.W.

answers from Las Vegas on

I always had the same question about my son (who is now 28 months). He was never bothered by wet or soiled diapers...to the point where sometimes they would weigh so much I don't know how he wanted to carry that around! But, recently, he will tell us as soon as he pees or poops, which actually makes it so we are going through WAY more diapers...but I can see the potty training potential! Your son is still way to young to potty train, and obviously not ready. Give him a year or 2, it will change!

Hope that helps,
A.

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B.B.

answers from New York on

Both of my boys could care less if they are in a dirty diaper. My oldest is 2, so I can't really talk much about potty training, but I can tell you that now that he is starting to talk more he tells me when he pooped. He doesn't tell me before, but that is OK. As your son gets older and starts to communicate more, I think he will start to tell you.

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T.C.

answers from San Diego on

My first two were also that way- my 10 month old son hates having dirty diapers! Wet doesn't/didn't bother any of them unless it leaked through. My first potty trained herself at about 2 1/2- we had tried a little when she was a little younger, but it wasn't taking and I didn't want to push or add stress, so I waited until she wanted to (I'd still ask her occasionally if she wanted to try but didn't really mess with the underwear much cause she always peed in them) and then she just started going on the potty. My second was cloth diapered starting around a year old (because of very sensitive skin) and even though she never minded being wet, I think she could feel it more and was aware of going because she started going on the potty with almost no accidents about 2 weeks before her 2nd birthday. This was without me "trying" to get her to potty train- she wanted to wear underwear and I told her she could as soon as she went on the potty. We had plenty of accidents, but neither one was a struggle. And a lot of the accidents were just when they were busy and didn't notice that they needed to go. At that age though, they would both happily sit in a dirty diaper and I would never have known unless I could smell it! We'll see what happens with this one- I am considering the cloth diapers again though! It really is no big deal once you get used to it, and it's nice not to have to run to the store cause I'm out of diapers :)

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S.S.

answers from Cincinnati on

my son doesnt care about a wet diaper. lately he has been even soaking through alot before I notice how wet he is (he has been drinking alot because of the heat and can sometimes soak through a diaper quicker than I would expect.) and when he was younger he never complained about messy diapers, but now he goes into his room when he has to poop, and when he is done he comes and shouting so I will change him (hillarious but he likes his privacy!)

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J.V.

answers from Chicago on

Change to cloth if you are worried. Also, change the diaper every 1.5 hours. It will be dirty. Wasteful? Not if you use cloth.

You could also start potty training. Just put him on it and start teaching him about "Wet" and "Dry." Tell him that pee and poop go in the potty.

I started teaching my daughter around 15 months. She was day and night trained by 22 months.

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S.B.

answers from Redding on

Don't take this the wrong way, but if kids get used to being in wet or dirty diapers...they'll just get used to it.
I think you should change everytime there is a wet or dirty diaper. Whether the kid minds it or not.
Obviously, if you're driving down the road and they go, you have to get where you're going or pull over, but you should change as soon as possible.
I think I'm actually fortunate because neither one of my kids could stand being wet or dirty. And, my daughter was allergic to disposables so I used cloth on her. She got the worst rash from disposables that I was afraid to have a diaper on her long and she was so easy to potty train. It wasn't a matter of pushing her too early, but her little butt burned easily and I had her in training pants or nothing very early. My son wasn't allergic, but I did the same thing with him. I had no trouble getting rid of diapers because they were never "attached" to them and like I said, they wanted anything wet or dirty OFF!
If your son doesn't mind dirty diapers, then make sure you begin letting him know that YOU don't like it. Not in a way that he's doing anything wrong, but get them off of him and get him cleaned up right away so he puts going and getting cleaned ASAP together.

Best wishes.

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K.S.

answers from Kansas City on

My son was the same way yours is and he potty trained in a weekend!! I think you are looking too much into this and adding some stress that is not needed here. Just relax and start training when he seems good and ready and it will be a breeze!! Don't try too soon or it will just be stressful and hard.

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M.K.

answers from San Diego on

Neither of my daughters payed any attention to their diapers at that age and potty-trained just fine around age 2. I think his lack of concern is normal and just indicative of his personality. Can't imagine that it will have anything to do with potty-training later.

My biggest mom-lesson learned? Don't worry too much about babies/toddlers current behavior and what it means for the future. They change so fast that in just a few weeks (or even days!) they may be doing something totally different.

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R.Z.

answers from San Diego on

Count your blessings! It's likely to be unrelated to the toilet training process to come. As they say ... if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

http://mamasoncall.com

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S.Z.

answers from Reno on

I have 4 kids, and none of them ever cried about wet or dirty diapers. I always kind of thought that was a myth.

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M.N.

answers from Los Angeles on

My son is exactly the same way. I just have to remember to change his diaper every three hours or so because he could care less whether it's wet or not. I actually don't see this as a problem. Flip it around - I think it's a blessing. One less thing that my little one fusses about. My guess is that whether a kid fusses over a wet diaper has nothing to do with toilet training.

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A.F.

answers from Columbus on

Three hours should be the max you let him go w/out a diaper change. It's hard to tell how he will be in a couple years when it's time for potty training but in the mean time, I would check him hourly for poop.

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