Chinese Parenting Tip?

My sister-in-law Anna is currently teaching English in Yinchuan, China. While she was back in the states for the summer, she related to us several stories, anecdotes and cultural differences. One of the things I found the most interesting (and disgusting) is that babies in China wear split pants-not diapers. They therefore relieve themselves wherever and whenever they please, whether it be in a building, in public, on the streets, on a bus, etc. This is completely socially acceptable. What is even worse, the parents are not expected to clean up after their child when this happens. The defecation is just left in its place until a worker cleans it up.

Fast forward to today when I was at playgroup with a group of moms. One of the moms, Jess, shared that she was also in China (in Yinchuan, too) a few years ago and related the fact to the rest of the moms about the split pants and babies going to the bathroom everywhere. I knew all of this since Anna had told us this summer, but then Jess continued and told us this: starting when babies are born, the mother whistles every time the baby goes to the bathroom (assuming they catch the baby in the act). After a few months, the baby associates whistling with going to the bathroom. Then, whenever the mom is somewhere where it is more convenient for the baby to go to the bathroom, the mom holds the baby out in front of her and whistles, and the baby goes to the bathroom! They train their kids like Pavlov's dog! I don't know whether to be shocked or impressed. I guess if I was too poor to buy diapers, I'd think of a way to control where and when my baby went to the bathroom, too if I could. I still can't believe that it is not expected for the mom's to clean up after their babies though. It's one thing to be too poor to buy diapers. It's another thing to walk into a building and have poop on the floor.

What I learned: Chinese mothers train their babies at a very young age to go to the bathroom on cue.