Yes, I'd have been a lot more likely to train early if I had to wash out every poopy diaper by hand, or worse, wash my own poop-covered clothes because kids in my culture didn't even wear diapers. If you only had two or three outfits (as some cultures did/do), that could be a serious problem for you.

Disposables allow us a lot of freedom, and mean that we don't have to live and die by our kids' "signals." With the exception of my concern that diapers are filling the landfills and never decaying, I'm perfectly okay with the arrangement! smile

P.S. acs: I call my theory of parenting "benign neglect," so I'm totally with you there! laugh No one would ever call me a helicopter parent, in spite of the homeschooling. Sooooo not my style!

Kriston