Key Points
- You can still use diapers, full or part time while practicing Elimination Communication. Cloth diapers are much better because your baby / child can feel it when they are wet / soiled, which reinforces their self awareness and control over elimination.
- This method is a very gentle, laid back method. This is not about getting your child potty trained by any certain age, or in a certain amount of time.
- This method should never be punitive
- Accidents will happen, you just clean up and go on with your day.
- Using this method increases the parent / baby bonding and communication. Babies really do communicate a lot regarding their elimination needs. Unfortunately most babies in our culture just get a diaper change and never have the opportunity to use these muscles and therefore lose the natural instinct not to soil themselves.
- Your baby does not (usually) eliminate while in a deep sleep. A baby will stir and then eliminate, or will eliminate shortly after waking up. This is the best time to try and use EC. Right after a nap or getting up in the morning have always been successful with my son.
- Elimination Communication can be practiced full or part time. Of course, the more consistent you are, the better the results will be.
- This is a more natural lifestyle choice. It is better for our environment, and for our children.
- This is a cost effective choice. Disposable diapers are expensive. Cloth diapers are too, but you can use them over and over again. Using EC can save you hundreds of dollars per year spent on disposable diapers.
- Waiting until a child is two (or older) to begin to potty train them results in many struggles including:
- Battle of wills between parent / child.
- Child is more mobile and does not want to stop playing to use the potty.
- The child has learned to eliminate in the diaper, and is less capable of controlling the muscles used to "hold it".
- The child may not know that he / she is wet, due to the super absorbant disposables
- The diaper industry is now making diapers for up to age five. A generation ago, they only made diapers up to two years of age.
- The diaper industry is now selling diapers so that children can "Feel and Learn". Basically, they are putting in a liner that stays wet! I'm not sure what they are charging for such a diaper, but I personally would use underpants with a cover or training pants. Addendum: I checked today, and it was almost $16.00 for 40 of these diapers!
- If child is wet after elimination, they will not like it (usually). This is key to potty training. Get rid of the disposable diapers when you are serious about potty training.
When to try EC
- When the baby is whining, fussing, or just staring off into space like he or she is concentrating.
- When the baby signals that he or she has to go.
- Immediately after waking up.
- Your own natural instinct that your baby has to go. I didn't think this would work for me, but when you are in tune with your baby this really works! I would feel a warmth somewhere on my body, like my leg. It almost felt like warm water. Every time I felt that, I put my son on the potty and he peed immediately. Like I said, this really increases the parent / baby communication. It is truly amazing!
