Zara is 2 months old, and she used the potty twice today, and it wasn't her first time. I've put her on the toilet successfully before, but never twice in one day. For those that are wondering what I'm talking about, its called Elimination Communication (EC), or Natural Infant Hygiene. To the right is a picture of a 3-month old getting his EC on. You go, boy!
It all started when I read Ingrid Bauer's Diaper Free. In the book, she talked about how she traveled overseas and noticed that many mother had small undiapered babies and no "accident" stains on their clothes. She would ask them, "What do you do when they have to use the bathroom?" They would would look at her like she was stupid and reply. "Take him to the potty, stupid." Ok, I added that "stupid" on there, but I'm pretty sure that's how it felt.
Anyway, I read the book and learned a lot about how to recognize the signals of a baby that has to use the problem. We assume that a baby can let us know when he wants to eat, when he's sleepy, when he's hurt, and when he wants to be held, but we never consider that he might be able to tell us when he has to use the bathroom, too. If you're interested I suggest you read the book , but here are the 4 basic steps:
Timing- Most babies use the bathroom around similar times every day. Pay attention to these times.
Signals- You have to pay attention, but babies do give signals when they need to go. They vary from baby to baby, but can include, fidgeting, whining, crying, making a "concentrating face," etc.
Intuition- Once you start paying more attention to your babies elimination schedule, you'll develop intuition, where you can sense or "feel" that the baby has to go. I know, sounds wierd, but its true.
Cueing- This is the final step. You make a cueing noise when you have the baby in position and ready to go. Of course the baby has to learn this cueing sound, so it won't work at first, but keep it up and after a while, the baby will associate the sound with knowing that its now ok to release. Your cueing sound can be whatever you like, but a lot of people like to use the "psssssss" sounds because it sounds like someone is peeing.
PS This is not easy. It takes a lot of time and patience. It probably won't work at first, but keep it up and you'll have success for sure!
Resources- Interested? Learn more!
Holy moly!! How awesome is that?! Already using the potty?! You are great!! I'm so glad you were above me on the sharefest today, you and your baby are BEAUTIFUL and I think I can learn a lot from you! :)
ReplyDeleteHas anyone else had success at this? I'm expecting my first child in December and would love to give it a try! Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteI'm updating this post now with resources for people interested in this method. Thanks for reading!
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