Warning Potty Talk below…
I love EC (Elimination Communication) in concept. I love the idea of using less diapers, never having her get used to sitting in waste, and not having to battle with a 3+ year old over toilet training. I did wonder how women who have their babies tied to their backs w/out diapers never end up all wet! I’ve found it is very normal in many parts of the world.
That said, we are in the back of the class when it comes to EC. It could be that I’m just not in tune or it could be that she’s very subtle. It could be that due to a whole bunch of other issues I spend ALOT of time pumping. But when I hold her over the toilet and signal, she just squirms and looks at me funny. The highlight of the morning we went diaper free was a lap of baby poop. (Aside, breastfed baby poop isn’t as gross as adult or animal poop.)
I have met A LOT of interesting folks on the EC path. It seems that EC is very common in Russia or at least a bunch of the women I have met are first generation Russian. There are several first generation Guatemalans. A large section of the folks in the uptown EC group are the attachment parenting, home birthing, cloth diapers set. I find it interesting that both mothers and fathers attend the groups and are extremely participatory. I’ve attended mostly out of curiosity.
Overall I’m amazed that it works! I cheer on anyone trying!! But, Baby and I are really a little more along the Montessori Toilet learning lines. I am very careful to keep her dry except overnight. As we use gdiapers, I’ve started exploring part-time cloth to keep her from getting used to being comfortable wet. I plan to start offering her the toilet once she’s able to sit. I’m happy to explore one more way of communicating.
