Elimination Communication is the practice of using cues, timing and intuition to address an infant’s need to eliminate.
Nancy Kelly is a stay-at-home mom blogging at www.thekellynewlyweds.blogspot.com. She and her husband Christopher subscribe to the “what works” parenting philosophy–a blend of parenting strategies gleaned from books, friends and family, and their own experiences. EC is a part of their of baby-raising techniques. Nancy says, “As a family, we also enjoy teaching our son Luke sign language, introducing him to new and interesting foods, walking with him in our neighborhood and beyond, and traveling to places of interest.”
1. How did you hear about EC? What sources would you recommend?
From your wife! I had never heard of EC when she mentioned you were going to try it with your baby. I googled it, and found great videos of babies using toilets and potties. Initially, I laughed at the idea because it seemed so unorthodox. It wasn’t until I read more that I learned diapers are not the norm in other parts of the world.
I would recommend joining a local EC group. Both in-person and virtual support has been incredibly valuable for us.
2. How old was your baby when you started EC?
He was three weeks old.
3. What positive responses, if any, have you gotten from friends and family about EC? What are some negative responses?
Positive: Lots of people have mentioned that they wish they had known about EC or just thought to introduce the potty earlier to their children. Some think Luke must be some kind of genius child, and though I enjoy hearing praise for my son, I usually explain that all babies can do this.
Negative: Not a whole lot of negative, although someone once said I should be careful not to “damage” my son by putting too much pressure on him to eliminate on command. I don’t worry about this too much, because we are very laid back about EC, as with most things.
4. When practicing EC, what were some of the challenges you experienced?
We rarely caught poops before solid food introduction. There never seemed to be a recognizable pattern to our son’s poops prior to five-and-a-half months. Also, we experienced lots of misses, even when giving a lot of attention to cues from our baby. We have had messy days, as well. EC doesn’t always save washing our diapers (for some families EC is practiced regularly, and diapering is sometime infrequent), but for us, we don’t do it to save a load of wash. We like the exposure Luke has to eliminating in his potty. We do believe early introduction of the potty will help us with the conventional “potty-training” period, although that may be another challenge lurking in our future!
5. What products made EC doable for you?
Water-proof lap pads. I used these often during diaper-free time. I would lay them on the floor or on the baby gym where our son would play, and they would “catch” anything the potty did not. However, our washing machine is the best thing for making EC work for us!
6. Do you feel like you and your child have been successful with EC? How would you define that success?
Absolutely! We do not pressure ourselves to catch everything, so Luke is in diapers whenever he’s not on the potty or enjoying some naked time in our house. Once we realized that our definition of success was a balance of EC, diaper-free time, cloth diapering, and even times with disposables, we felt no stress. It was at that time, that we began to have more catches than misses! Success for us is doing EC in a way that fits our lives.
“Visit our blog and read about our little family at www.thekellynewlyweds.blogspot.com.”
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