Elimination Communication
Another interesting subject.
It seems a very weird term. So to explain for those who don't know - elimination communication is sort of early, infant "potty training", same time it's wrong to say that, because it's not any training. It is very different from the usual potty training.
Here's what's in Wikipedia:
Elimination communication (EC) is a practise in which a caregiver uses timing, signals, cues, and intuition to address an infant's need to eliminate waste. Caregivers try to recognise and respond to babies' bodily needs and enable them to urinate and defecate in an appropriate place (e.g. a toilet).
And from a site diaperfreebaby.org:
Elimination Communication (EC) is NOT potty training. It is a gentle, natural, non-coercive process by which a baby, preferably beginning in early infancy, learns with the loving assistance of parents and caregivers to communicate about and address his or her elimination needs. This practise makes conventional potty training unnecessary
Actually it is a super-ancient method. I hear people having used it in Soviet Latvia, mostly for a very simple reason - they only had very basic cotton diapers that got wet instantly, and they DID NOT have washing machines.. (How terrible..) So they tried to have less dirty diapers that way.
Also this method has been (and still is) used in some of those cultures, where babies are carried in a wrap all day long. And - of course - they do not have Pampers, and peeing and pooping in the wrap would be.. well, tragic. So those mothers, especially as the baby is so close to them, notice the signals that babies are giving, right before they need to eliminate waste, and put them out from the wrap for this moment. It works.
But Elimination Communication isn't so easy.. It takes a lot of time and patience. It takes a really close observing of the child.. all the time.
I must say, I would love to do it. We even did it, a bit, at summer, when it was warm and she was naked anyway most of the time..
But then trips out of the house ruined it, and now it seems impossible to do it, as she has a diaper and many layers of clothes on all the time. (It is not that warm in our house, we have a fireplace, but I don't like heating for no big reason.)
So, pluses for us would be:
The first attempt today - not successful.
It seems a very weird term. So to explain for those who don't know - elimination communication is sort of early, infant "potty training", same time it's wrong to say that, because it's not any training. It is very different from the usual potty training.
Here's what's in Wikipedia:
Elimination communication (EC) is a practise in which a caregiver uses timing, signals, cues, and intuition to address an infant's need to eliminate waste. Caregivers try to recognise and respond to babies' bodily needs and enable them to urinate and defecate in an appropriate place (e.g. a toilet).
And from a site diaperfreebaby.org:
Elimination Communication (EC) is NOT potty training. It is a gentle, natural, non-coercive process by which a baby, preferably beginning in early infancy, learns with the loving assistance of parents and caregivers to communicate about and address his or her elimination needs. This practise makes conventional potty training unnecessary
Actually it is a super-ancient method. I hear people having used it in Soviet Latvia, mostly for a very simple reason - they only had very basic cotton diapers that got wet instantly, and they DID NOT have washing machines.. (How terrible..) So they tried to have less dirty diapers that way.
Also this method has been (and still is) used in some of those cultures, where babies are carried in a wrap all day long. And - of course - they do not have Pampers, and peeing and pooping in the wrap would be.. well, tragic. So those mothers, especially as the baby is so close to them, notice the signals that babies are giving, right before they need to eliminate waste, and put them out from the wrap for this moment. It works.
But Elimination Communication isn't so easy.. It takes a lot of time and patience. It takes a really close observing of the child.. all the time.
I must say, I would love to do it. We even did it, a bit, at summer, when it was warm and she was naked anyway most of the time..
But then trips out of the house ruined it, and now it seems impossible to do it, as she has a diaper and many layers of clothes on all the time. (It is not that warm in our house, we have a fireplace, but I don't like heating for no big reason.)
So, pluses for us would be:
- An even better communication and knowing our child
- Earlier ability for her to use the potty
- Less dirty (cloth) diapers - less diapers to wash
- She would learn to recognise and control her body functions
- Need to observe and respond constantly (which is difficult, because quite often, whenever she is happy, I leave her on her own (I am somewhere near, doing something). If she pees in this time, there is no way, how I can notice it. But I do not want to eliminate this time, as I'm hoping it helps her to be more independent and concentrate on her own tasks and achievements..
- Noticing her signs and cues (seems impossible with this baby! She did make some signs, when she was very little.. But now it really seems she doesn't. She is a very chill and careless baby, does not care at all, if her diaper is soaking wet and can happily smile, while sitting in a giant poop! It makes it difficult..)
- It's not very warm in our house and she has a lot of clothes on (means, we should heat more often, which means more expenses.)
- Our lifestyle. (To do this perfectly, you should be constant. Not take any long trips away from home (suddenly letting to pee in a diaper would be confusing). But we do travel quite often - to visit my and my husband's parents..)
The first attempt today - not successful.
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