Elimination Communication - Potty Training Early

[MrsSharpie]

Hi All,

Just wondering if anyone has done Elimination Communication from a young age?

I hadn't heard of it til my sister mentioned friends of hers used this technique with their daughter. (I had been discussing that I wanted to use washable nappies instead of non-biodegradable ones)

I mentioned this to my mam who said that my nanny used the "EC techniques" on her and her sisters back in the 50s as it was too expensive not to.

I then also said this to my friend who has just had a baby and she said about the pitfalls of babies not learning what they are supposed to at the right times.

Doing my own research and seems that there is pros and cons for both but it seems evidence is a little sketchy.

Would love to hear some first hand stories of whether it works/doesn't work?

Thanks!

Sounds like a lot of effort to me

Have used it it with all of mine and have loved it. All out of nappies by 16-18 months. Andrea Olson has a great blog and you tube channel Go Diaper free really practical and helpful advice. It's so rewarding learning you children's cues for something so simple. Give it a go you have nothing to loose.

Thank you! Yes I know its a little more effort but I feel like it will be worth it in the long run and means that it will be easy to transition out of nappies when the time comes.

Will definitely check out that blog. Thanks!

Nappy Free Baby by Amber Hatch is great too.

Yes, it worked for both my children. Started with a potty at six months. We used reusables so just viewed anything that wasn't in a nappy as a win! A lot of it is just routine and knowing when your child will need to go. We still used washable nappies but we had about a 95% success rate with catching number twos. It is amazing how quickly they can pick it up if given the opportunity. Out of nappies by 18m in the day and at night by two and three respectively. Definitely worth a go in my opinion.

@Syeknom Sorry just realised that I missed your comment. Thank you for coming back to me. After looking into it a bit more, I discovered that this is the method my granny used because it was expensive and time consuming to keep washing nappies and the whole waiting til their older scenario seemed to come into play after some big disposable nappy companies started to get involved (I mean you can't run a multi billion business if they don't need nappies for years an years!) so we're going to give it a go, and use cloth nappies and then biodegradable disposables as a back up if needed. I'm not perfect with eco friendly stuff but realising how much non-biodegradable items comes from having a baby was actually shocking so any other eco tips welcome!

How does this even work? My children are beyond new born so I’m just curious. What happens with your in the car? Both my DDs used to poo when feeding but to they also had allergies so they weren’t normally with baby poo.

I want to start my 6 month old on a potty but I can't find one small enough! Even online, i can only find nes suitable for 18 or 24 months+. My baby is still in size 2 nappies so needs a small potty. Did you find specialist potties for your children?

Yes, I did it with my 2nd and 3rd child, it was fab and no issue at all.x

You don't sit them on it, you hold them, because they're so little.

I think it made sense back when people were washing nappies by hand, but now we have washing machines.. I know from the eco point of view it's not great, but unless your not using other non eco inventions like planes and cars etc I don't really see the point of making your life harder than it needs to be. Just concentrate on enjoying your baby and leave potty training till later on I'd say!