Elimination Communication / Diaper Free Baby - Anyone with experience or feedback?

[LunaWilliams]

Hi everyone, i'm currently reading about EC'ing techniques and i'm fascinated. Does anyone have any experience good or bad?

Thanks

I gave it a go. It worked well until dd become mobile and started daycare. The day nursery were not prepared to put her on the potty and dd just stopped using the potty for a while. I think there is an advantage in putting your baby on the potty on waking and after feeds. It helps to prevent nappy rash, but just because a poo or wee lands in the potty doesn't mean your baby understands.

Certainly you can learn to recongise your baby's reflexes, but its really more of a way of keeping your lo clean rather than potty training in the true sense. You have to be very dedicated to make it work.

Hi thanks, yes I did wonder about that. I think I will give it a go - all the mums I know laugh out loud when I talk about it but I still think that in theory it makes sense.... Lets see.

Thanks again

Good luck. I think that ec works well if you can stay at home with your lo for the first two years. Certainly I found it promoted closeness. Don't think of it as potty training. Natural infant hygiene is better description.

It is keeping the baby clean rather than potty training in the true sense. My dd never had nappy rash, and I feel that is worth something.

Thanks yes I agree.

I've used EC with 2 DCs now, and its been a good experience, they both gradually took over as their language skills developed. DS's nursery were very good, and suggested I send him in nappy free when I said he mostly was at home, and that was him sorted. DD is just getting there now, need to take the plunge and ditch the nappies!
They both understood what they were doing from an early age, but with both they really took off once they could say the word 'wee wee' !
Have a go!

I have tried it and found that I just couldn't do the wee as I couldn't devote all my time to that. However, it's totally worth putting a baby on a potty for a poo, even if it's just once a day. They get used to it, it becomes a habit and that makes potty training happen a lot easier and earlier, because they already know what the potty is for. At least that's how it worked with DD1.

maygirl, how old where your dcs when they went nappy free (without accidents)? I am doing EC with 9 month old, mainly catching all the poos but lots of wees obviously as I am not doing it all the time, just for poos really. wondering how long it will take. she is in nursery too so that interferes somewhat.

Hi Sanam, Ds was 19 mths when went nappy free, couple of accidents at nursery first week or so then fine. He may have been ready earlier, it didn't cross my mind to move on until his nursery carer suggested he sounded ready DD - well after posting last week I did ditch the nappies and she's doing really well, we're on holiday now, and did the travelling without nappies too. She's had one accident this week when squatted and wee'd in some grass, saying wee wee, but had her pants on! She's 17mths. She's also dry at night more than half the time, with no lifting. Surprisingly doing it on hols has been really relaxed, been at the beach loads so wouldn't matter if had an accident! Like you, we were just catching all poos with both DCs, but saying the word wee wee when they did one. Around 12mths they began to repeat back wee wee as learnt new words, and went from saying it during a wee to saying it before about to do one. We're only in week 2 with DD so can't say we're there yet, but hoping for no more accidents!

Sounds fantastic, Maygirl! glad to hear about the experience down the line.

DD is now 10 months and I am happy to report that already since over a week, she has 100% poos in the potty, it is so nice not to have to clean dirty nappies, she just goes first thing in the morning and before going to bed. The amazing thing is sometimes she doesn't go in the mornings and then we're out and about all day and she won't poo at all until we come home and put her on the potty.

So now that the poos are sorted, I have started tackling wee wee, mainly by having her nappy free at home and trying to learn what cues she gives ahead of wee wee, often she sort of wails and whines or kicks her legs before, sometimes I even just put her every 20-30min to check, and this way it seems She can also have about 80% in the potty, as others have said we're probably too lazy to put her on the potty for wee wee often enough, but now I am motivated. Can't wait for her to start saying wee wee!

We're also going on a beach holiday soon and I hope having her nappy free on the beach all day will help further. It's so amazing to see how smart little babies and their bodies are once you let them!