Baby Bums

Before we left for China, Curtis warned me about the babies and their bathroom habits; A warning did not prepare me to actually seeing it with my own eyes!

My school had a marketing event at the local mall in the children's department. Halfway through the event I saw a little girl sitting in a shopping cart when I realized, she had a huge slit in the crotch-region of her pants!!! There was this little girls va-j-j hanging out like it was nothin'! I was shocked. I then realized almost every child that was squatting or sitting had a slit in their pants which would open up and expose their private areas. I had no idea why they wore these pants until I saw a man holding his daughter over a trash can; He opened her pants and she started peeing!

I asked my head teacher why they do that?! She said, "I don't know why because I think its unsanitary but a lot of children raised by their grandparents, or if their parents are more old school, they let their children pee/poop this way. It is a way of saving money on diapers and teaches the child to squat properly, like a potty training technique". Not only does the concept of peeing/pooping everywhere boggle my mind, but it seems very unsanitary to me, not only for the baby, but the environment and others. I think about all of the dirt/germs on surfaces of seats, shopping carts, and the street. When the child sits or squats their genitals are exposed, cant this cause an infection or something?? Not only does it seem dirty, their bums are probably SO COLD! It is only the beginning of winter here and everyone is already bundling up, what about those babies bums?!

I do respect cultural differences and understand that they have been doing it for years with no problem. This is a huge cultural difference that I have witnessed so far. I have had the experience of seeing many children poop/pee on the streets of China, but I still cannot get used to it. Because I will not take a picture of this experience for your viewing pleasure, I have provided a link that has a picture as well as their explanation of the crotch-less pants for children. Enjoy the link posted below!

If you ever travel to China and decide to go shopping at the market, think twice before putting your food items in the front of the cart, you may get an unwanted addition to your purchase!

http://www.travelbugjuice.com/06/world-travel/baby-butts-chinese-split-pants-phenomenon/