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| Fact | 22% | 74 votes | Total: 343 votes | |
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Add to FavoritesFact or fantasy. I guess that it all depends on how you want to see it. I am a mother of a successful diaper free 9 month old. We began practicing EC or elimination communication with her at about 2 weeks of age. I have not changed a poopy diaper in over 8 months. I can not tell you how wonderful that is!
Of course, I have skeptic friends and family who do not believe me. It is FACT, you can have a diaper free baby within months of birth. EC or elimination communication refers back to third world countries and their training of their infants to eliminate when cued, or for them to alert the parent of their upcoming elimination. I will admit that this is not something for everyone, however it is wonderful for those who prefer a diaper free life and want to honestly try.
This is not potty training of your child. This is not sitting on a potty chair for hours until something comes out. This is not scolding for accidents or "misses". This is learning your child's habits and following their cues. If you think about your daily schedule, you find, with or without thinking you tend to use the restroom around the same times each day. In EC you do this for your baby. You start to learn that they will pee upon waking up, poo after a meal, and the like. Just like adults, they have a schedule. Your baby will grunt, letting you know that you had better get to a potty, poo is coming. You listen to their cue, and because you have become accustomed to their schedule you know that it is about that time. You find a potty, (sink, tree, waste basket) remove your child's bottoms and you cue them that it is time to go. Most parents use a "ssss", for my daughter, as silly as it is, she will go if you say "push, push". When the child is done you wipe, clean, and dry, then replace their bottoms. Then comes the fun part, lots of hugs, clapping, smiles and love for your child.
If your child has an accident or "miss" it is not a time to scold them. Praise them, go through the motions, and love them no matter what. EC is not a way of making your child potty trained at 2 months old, but rather a loving communication between infant and parent. EC builds the child's awareness of their own body, builds a wonderful relationship with parents or caretakers that practice with them, and gives them an early sense of accomplishment. It lets your child see your pride, get love daily, and save his or her own little piece of the world.
So yes, FACT, there are diaper-free babies. You have to want to try to believe it. There are going to be skeptics. There are going to be doubts, and even those that look at you crazy when you rush your 4 month old into a stall and hear you saying "push push". But there is also a lot of information and support out there for all parents interested in the subject. You can Google elimination communication to come up with numerous sites, or visit a site like cafemom where there are debates, mothers who have succeeded with the process, those that doubt, and honest information and tips from those mothers out there that are making this fantasy a FACT.
Learn more about this author, Lisa Web.
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Fantasy
The idea that an infant can be potty trained at two months, four months is pure fiction. Its not the infant that is being trained, its the parent.
Lets look at this from a purely developmental stand point. A two month old infant is just nicely starting to pick their heads up when laying on their belly, differentiating voices and looking to see where sound is coming from. Fingers are finding mouth. And that infant, that's not even rolling over yet is capable of communicating its elimination needs, and becoming toilet trained? No. There's training happening, absolutely, but its not the infant being trained.
One of the things that bothers me about elimination training, as 'diaper free' is often referred to, is the visual of a 2 month old being suspended out in mid air. It would seem to me that that would be a frightening, if not completely terrifying position for such a young infant to be in. As parents, we instinctively cuddle our infants close, giving them the comfort and security and physical support that such a young baby needs. How is being suspended in mid air over a sink or toilet meeting those needs?
One thing that isn't mentioned is glossed over or ignored is about infants being suspended over sinks in public. Perhaps my perception is a little self centred, but I find it completely disgusting that myself or my children would be washing our hands in the same place that was used for a bowel movement or urination. I don't allow my toddlers to wash their hands in the toilet or urinal, and by the same token find the idea of body waste in a sink to be utterly repugnant, not to mention a potential health risk to others.
It seems that more and more parenting issues are about what is best for the parents, not the child. A two month old infant isn't garnering any benefits at all from elimination training. The benefit is completely to the parents. Less money spent on diapers. Honestly, that's about the only benefit I can see. To be rushing an infant to an appropriate place on time for their cues seems to be an incredibly time consuming task, and the cost of laundry that results from accidents would also be an issue. Unless the bragging and shock value of announcing that a three month old is out of diapers is a high value commodity...and in today's super competitive world, that wouldn't be a surprise at all.
A child that has yet sit on their own cannot be toilet trained. They simply don't have the ability to regulate their bowels and bladders in the way that potty training demands. Just as parents are trained to respond to different cries for tired, hungry, hurt, angry, bored, parents can be trained to cue in on their infants signs of elimination, but this doesn't make the child trained. It makes the parent trained.
Learn more about this author, Melissa Charles.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
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