Elimination communication?

tangerine1126 · January 2012

I came across this method while looking at baby books. I'm thinking of buying a book and trying it. Does anyone here have any input/advice/experience?

Thanks mamas!

pixieprincss · January 2012

We liked the book Diaper-Free Baby. What can I say about EC? We love it. We reallt got into at 4-6 months when DS started sitting and was thrilled to sit on his potty, It is a great fit for our guy who hates being wet. We had the most pee catches from him cuing at 9-10 months--it was amazing. Now LO rarely cues pee, but we still hit the timing right some of the time. (That regression path is normal). As for poop, DS has been pooping in the potty 90% of the time since 6-7 months when it turned solid. It is wonderful to not have to clean up poo CDs or dirty bum.

I've heard that the Little Potty by Bjorn is discontinued, so I would snatch one of those up from CL, consignment, or if you find one new (last I heard Amazon did still have some). There was a clear potty for EC, but it has long-since been discontinued and is very expensive when one can be located. LO is now big enough that he "over-shoots" in the little Bjorn potty, so we now use an Ikea potty that has a higher front and is a bit taller.

Mamasaurus · January 2012

I am planning to try it! I am about to start the baby signs book because that way, we can sign for other things in addition to pee and poo.

tangerine1126 · January 2012

Oh thanks for the advice! I went ahead and bought both that book and potty from amazon (they still have them). While I don't intend to go completely diaper-free, my goal here would be to make potty training easier (for him) and hopefully earlier (for me, haha). Does that sound about right, and reasonable?

SandiaPinaMama · January 2012

I learned about EC from several of my coworkers. I followed that up by reading Diaper-Free Baby. I also got some great info from google searches. The most valuable information I got through the book and websites was extensive lists of signals that the babies will demonstrate when they need to go.

We started EC at 7 weeks. At first, we caught a lot of pee, but no poop. We EBF, though, and LO was only going once a week at that time. Around 3 months, when we were really consistent for a while, LO started pooping first thing in the morning every morning. We even did EC in the hospital when LO had surgery. It's been AWESOME! It was much easier in the summer, though, because LO peed outside a lot.

I second the part about the Bjorn Little Potty. I also own a potty seat ($10 at Target) that we used until LO started trying to bang the toilet lid on the toilet. LOL. At 10 months, we are catching most poops, and a lot of pee. He doesn't do EC at DC or either Gramma's house. I do think that he will be out of diapers earlier than if we hadn't done this.

tangerine1126 · January 2012

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I'm so excited to get started! haha

karinothing · January 2012

I have a question. How the heck do you know when your kid has to pee? I haven't tried EC or read about it but I am just curious. I can 90% off the time when DS has to poop but never pee. I am also pretty sure he pees every 2 minutes since his diaper is always soaked!

tangerine1126 · January 2012

Thanks for sharing, it's nice to hear from someone that didn't start off super early since I won't be be starting with my LO until about 4.5 months (waiting until I get the stuff in the mail and do some reading/research).

And yea, I've already seen some people hating on it but people will always criticize what they done understand and/or something that is opposite from how they're raising their children. But it's everyone's right to raise their children how they think is best. And like you said, as long as there isn't a lot of pressure being applied then it sounds wonderful for baby and parents! Besides, I totally think this is a far better alternative to having a 4 year old in diapers lol

tangerine1126 · January 2012

karinothing:
I have a question. How the heck do you know when your kid has to pee? I haven't tried EC or read about it but I am just curious. I can 90% off the time when DS has to poop but never pee. I am also pretty sure he pees every 2 minutes since his diaper is always soaked!

I saw this video that got me interested, it gives a good idea how it works (it's just watching baby for cues): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxte4Ez0FcM

jazzyag · January 2012

We EC part time and K is much happier when she is bare bum. We did the same with DD#1. With K I'm lucky because 90% of the time she poops first thing in the morning, so we catch that one on the toilet. I love having fewer poopy diapers to change.

pixieprincss · January 2012

karinothing:
I have a question. How the heck do you know when your kid has to pee? I haven't tried EC or read about it but I am just curious. I can 90% off the time when DS has to poop but never pee. I am also pretty sure he pees every 2 minutes since his diaper is always soaked!

There are many tiny cues babies innately do--a pause in play, a vacant look in the eye, a noise they make, etc. If you read up on EC you will read about more things that are just human nature for babies to do. To start, you make a noise when you "catch" them going. We would go pssss to LO and make the potty sign. After that phase, you can make the noise and it stimulates the child to go. So, we'd put LO on the potty when our intuition (based previous observation) would tell us to and then make the noise and he'd go. The next step is that LO makes the noise or sign and you potty the child then. DS has never picked up on pssss but he would scream before peeing as his chosen sign, LOL! So, if was playing and suddenly screamed, we'd potty him. Voila, a catch! He has since stopped doing that. Sometimes now he starts signing for things that make no sense (milk when he's just nursed, etc.) and we guess that he's telling us. He has yet to pick up the sign for potty.

OP--We only do EC part-time. There is no "right" way. Diaper-Free Baby makes an eye-catching book title, but the book is very supportive of the fact that families will pick different paths.

lovekissedmama · January 2012

I love this philosophy on pottying. Sounds corny but after I began watching DD for cues I felt more connected with her. And more respectful of her as a person. We've gone through two major potty pauses and we just go with the flow. They happened at times in her life when she was learning to crawl and walk. It's like she was communicating "I've got lots going on now, mom, letting you know when I need to pee or poop and then sitting still on the potty is too much for me right now." There is no praise or punishment, we go about it very matter-of-fact. also, I've noticed that when she is in diapers, she has small and frequent pees. When she uses the toilet she empties her bladder completely and needs to go every couple of hours.

tangerine1126 · January 2012

Thanks for sharing all! I'm so excited to get the book and potty now! I'm ready lol

Want a personalized experience?

Elimination communication?

Re: Elimination communication?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards