Neglect = Success!

Bubba has the world's worst diaper rash. He has always been a little prone to the malady, and we've always been pretty vigilant about his back side. We notice that it flairs up after eating green beans. We notice that it's at its best when there are lots of bananas in his diet, etc. Imagine our surprise when, shortly after starting an allergy/asthma medication, his diaper rash became a constant battle. And one that we were losing. Badly.

For the past few weeks, we've been bathing him daily and using water and soft paper towels rather than wipes, which can irritate. For the past couple of days, we've kept him out of daycare and bathed him with every diaper change with baking soda in the water. Yesterday evening, we decided to just let him roam free after one of his baths. He had just urinated (into the bath water, which Ben then drained and re-filled - good thing we don't pay for water, here), so we thought we were pretty good on timing for a game of free-range chicken.

I'm not sure if anyone out there has noticed, but we're looking for a house. We have started tossing around the idea of looking farther out, which would afford us the same house for about 60% of the cost at the expense of my commute, and the daily ease of walking to the gym(s), grocery, etc. It's a trade off, I guess. Anyway, Ben was on his ipod, searching internet real estate listings. I was on the laptop doing the same. Bubba was running around the apartment naked. Neither of us noticed him go into his bedroom. Nobody noticed anything until he called, "Mama! Poo Poo!" Oh, man! I should have kept a closer eye on him.

I ran back to his bedroom, where I found his towel that he had been using (he's rather modest about walking around fully naked). No Bubba. I walked back into the hall and noticed the bathroom light on. He was inside, sitting on his little frog potty. He NEVER wants to try to sit on the potty when we ask him to. But turn him loose in nothing but a towel, and he knows right where to go. There was much applause and chocolate and smiles and phone calls after that.

In general, I am pretty anti-neglect when it comes to child rearing. Potty training could be one exception. I wonder if learning to drive a car could be another exception...