Success after IF

Possibly stirring the pot...EC

No flames, just a healthy discussion.

I got a picture message from my step-sister the other day of her DH holding their 2 month old daughter over the toilet.  She said they are doing elimination communication.  They aren't using diapers but instead are watching her for signs that she has to go to the bathroom and then put her over the toilet. The reviews are very mixed on this.

I won't say anything to her because to each her own but what are everyone's thoughts?  I think it's ridiculous to try to "potty train" a 2 month old.

ETA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elimination_communication

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Re: Possibly stirring the pot...EC

  • More power to her.

    Not my thing.

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  • smileesmilee member

    Perhaps I have been living under a rock, but  I have honestly never heard of this. 

    I don't know enough about it to have a truly informed opinion, but my gut is saying , "whaaaat?" 

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  • imagesmilee:

    Perhaps I have been living under a rock, but  I have honestly never heard of this. 

    I don't know enough about it to have a truly informed opinion, but my gut is saying , "whaaaat?" 

    I hadn't either and when I got the text I was like WTF???
    I just don't see how you can truly do this when they need to nap etc.  How can you possibly keep that close of an eye on your baby 24 hours/day?

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  • There are occasional posts about EC on the AP board. I have read it is more parent training and luck than it is "potty" training. You learn to read your baby's cues. I have better things to do with my time than hold Eliza's arse over a pot 1800 times a day..
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  • i've heard of this.  there was an article in our paper awhile back how people in Africa do this.  they can just 'tell' when their baby is going to go.  How, I don't know??!?!?!?  there is no way I can tell.

    My friend tried to do this, but not sure where that went.  not far I think.  :)

    to each their own.  it's hard to tell others what to do, everyone has their own parenting styles.  I know my friends look down upon bedsharers, but to each their own.

  • It is more parent training IMHO than potty training. It is about the parent getting  in tune with the child's needs and meeting them. I think it is great but not for me. My plate is full enough.
  • imageemmyloustu:
    I have better things to do with my time than hold Eliza's arse over a pot 1800 times a day..

    This, exactly. 

     

  • Don't they do this in native cultures (ie, those without access to diapers and laundry facilities)?  Its intriguing, but agreed...who really wants to do that in modern society?  not me!
  • WOW! Never heard of this. Sorry I think this is just strange. This is why diapers were invented.

     

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  • I have heard of doing this, but not until a baby is older - like 8 months or later.  Either way - not my thing.  
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  • we sit DD on the potty at certain times--shortly after eating, when we see her straining to poop, right before bath, and right after waking--and she almost always makes a deposit.

    the reasons we do it are:  keeps the pee and poop off her as much as possible (she wears cloth but even with sposies why leave it?), gets the product where it belongs (toilet) as opposed to into diapers that i have to wash, gets her used to the potty so it's not a scary place, and she seems to like it--she even claps when she's done!

    she does go to daycare and we don't have them do it there...my MIL sits her on it sometimes if she thinks of it and she thinks it's awesome when she uses it.

    if it leads to the possibilty of earlier potty training, that's a bonus.  but i swear, she does "hold" it sometimes--and now she's a little bigger, she'll crawl over to it when she needs to go sometimes.

     

  • epphdepphd member
    Hey, whatever works.  I think if it's important to a family to try, that's great for them.  I try (and sometimes succeed) to not judge another family's parenting choices.  That said, it's not my thing but if it works - go for it :)
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  • My SIL successfully did this with her first for quite some time, but then her DS started refusing to go until she put his pants back on.  So, while she changed fewer diapers, it didn't make any long term impact.  He actually potty trained rather late, ultimately.
  • imageemmyloustu:
    There are occasional posts about EC on the AP board. I have read it is more parent training and luck than it is "potty" training. You learn to read your baby's cues. I have better things to do with my time than hold Eliza's arse over a pot 1800 times a day..

    This even if I wanted to EC I'd never be able to commit to it because of work. 

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  • We've kinda sorta done this with Ava since she was a few months old - more of the "sit them on typical times of the day" kinda of thing, go "psssstttt" and whoop it up when they pee. She took very little effort to eventually potty train (not quite 2 yrs) and it this way didn't put a huge spliter in our schedules. But she wore diapers until she was almost potty trained, and still wears a night pullup at nite, b/c I hate doing laundry. lol.

    I had a caregiver that worked for me from Kenya, she was big on teaching me about this, and Howleysell has done it with her boys, too.

    I'm pretty much the opposite of hardcore about it, I just did it b/c I'm cheap, and hate spending money on diapers. het.

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  • We didn't do it exclusively but we did start Jace on the potty around 3 months when we were in the bathroom all the time potty training his older brother.

    By 5/6 months he was pooping almost exclusively in the potty.  We kept using diapers and didn't make it an all consuming thing but my take is if someone somewhere is using less diapers..... is it really something we should scoff at?

    I'll grant full well that I NEVER would have considered this were it not for a book I read while trying to learn to potty train my older child.  I'm not crunchy at ALL (unless you consider eating organic).

    Like PP said, this is 100% the norm in cultures who don't have diapers or running water.  

    And... the US has the latest average age of potty training of any country in the world.

    In an era of being a throw away society I won't scoff at someone putting less diapers in land fills.

    It's not for everyone but it's a far cry from child abuse.

     

    And for those who are curious - you don't have to go all or nothing.  We only put Jace on when he needed to poop and before and after sleep and bath.  

    Honestly..... it takes no more time than changing a poopy diaper and you're gonna have to do that anyway.  We just moved all the diapers into the bathroom so we could put him on the potty during the changing process.

    The book:  "Early Start Potty Training" is a good resource for those who are curious.

    Different isn't always bad. 

     

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  • Not for me, but our pedi told us to put LO over the toilet after eating his morning milk b/c he always went at the same time every day.  We never did it but I just wanted to say our pedi rec it to us
  • good grief! 2 months old?

    if someone wants to take on that task at such a young age, more power to them. I'd rather spend that time enjoying and snuggling with my newborn (I'm kooky like that  Wink )

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  • I know at least a couple of girls from my local board who did EC with their babies from birth. I think it's pretty cool, but I don't think I have what it takes to try it myself.
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  • honestly, it bothers me. I am not a fan. I consider myself to be primarily an APer, with some personal modification thrown in, but this is pushing it too far. It just feels like you are forcing something on an infant that need not be forced. It also feels more like training the parent, not the child.

    If someone wants to do it, have at it, but for me, I feel like we wait until the child tells us they are ready for PT, in signs. 

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  • Haaa I thought it was a post about emergency contraception.
  • imageemmyloustu:
    There are occasional posts about EC on the AP board. I have read it is more parent training and luck than it is "potty" training. You learn to read your baby's cues. I have better things to do with my time than hold Eliza's arse over a pot 1800 times a day..

    This.  

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  • Eh to each their own, potty training is not that important to me but we all have our 'things' I think, I spend a ton of time making all my kids' food and I'm sure a lot of ppl think that isa crazy waste of time when jarred food exists... DD wakes up w/ poop in her diaper every single morning so I'd already be out of luck with that not to mention I'd likely forget to do it (and how you'd do it w/ twins anyway is beyond me). Kinda reminds me of the potty boot camp article that was in some parenting magazine this month where the kids ran around naked in the backyard & were supposed to go to the potty every time they started to pee & then the woman did it in her house & ran around iwth carpet & couch cleaning supplies for weeks... ugh, no thanks but if it is important to you, go for it. 

     

  • i think it's fascinating, and i love reading the replies from mamas who've had success with it, super cool.  i wanted to do it but never found that i had the energy to take it on with two babes.  i could totally see trying it (sort of partway like shel and allison talked about) with another LO, esp if i'm PTing M&D at the time.
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  • Hey to each his own.  We never ever forced "potty training" on Kate and she pretty much potty trained herself at a little over 2 years old.  I have NO desire to sit my baby on a potty just NMS.  I always feel like if we should be following the child's lead then why are we forcing them to go in the potty before they are ready?  It only leads to upset moms and kids.  They will do it when they are ready...if they are ready at 2 months, awesome haha.  Mine wasn't until 2 years old.  

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  • One of my good friends has a 9 month old that "goes" in the potty about 30% of the time.  She's been doing EC with her (when they are at home) since the baby was only a few months old.
     
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  • I'm just curious- how is this an AP method? Like someone else said, I thought APing was more about following childrens' leads and stuff like that (I'm not an AP style parent so I apologize for being a bit clueless), and I don't understand how sitting a 3 month old on a toilet is following a lead...
  • imagegroovygrl:
    I'm just curious- how is this an AP method? Like someone else said, I thought APing was more about following childrens' leads and stuff like that (I'm not an AP style parent so I apologize for being a bit clueless), and I don't understand how sitting a 3 month old on a toilet is following a lead...

    Not sure but maybe because you DO follow the child's cues to know when to put them on.

    For super hard core EC'ers they learn the baby's subtle cues that they give off before they go.

    For example.... with us we could tell before Jace would poop when he was little and as he got older he would sign or make a psssst noise if he needed to pee or poop.

     To do the full on diaper-less EC it really does involve watching them like a hawk and learning to read when they need to go.  WAyyyyyy too labor intensive for me personally.

     

     

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