Starting out with EC

Elimination Communication is an idea that I've taken to a lot lately. I just finished Christine Gross-Loh's Diaper Free Baby and feel like I have a basic understanding of the technique and will try to EC my newborn from the beginning.

Just to explain a little about what EC is, it is basically tuning in to your child's elimination needs just as you have a basic awareness of when baby is sleepy or hungry. You keep a mental note of when baby needs to go to the bathroom and enable your baby to go to the bathroom in a place other than a diaper stuck on her butt (no one wants to marinate in a seepage of irritating bacterial waste).

One of the main thoughts behind EC is that babies have to concentrate and are aware of when they are going to the bathroom. This awareness generally disappears after years of wearing diapers and being trained to ignore their bodies. Potty training toddlers is all about getting them to reconnect with the muscles and feelings involved with going to the bathroom. The idea with Elimination Communication is that you try to keep your baby aware of his/her muscles by using a cue when he (let's go with the literary "he") is going or about to go. You aren't training your baby do anything. You aren't forcing or trying to bribe your baby into holding it to go at "the right time." In a nutshell, all you are really doing is communicating with your baby - and that can be the full extent of what you do. Full stop. Most parents who practice EC go a step farther and take their babies to the bathroom where they go in the toilet, sink, shower - whatever works, or in potty chairs, bowls or whatever else they have handy and works for them.

EC-ing Your Newborn

1. The first step is to get to know your baby's habits. Most babies go more often during the morning and less during the afternoon. A common time is also after a nap and during/after a feeding. At this young, it takes your baby a lot of concentration to activate the right muscles and they may cry, go quiet, go on and off the breast if feeding... because they need to go and are trying to figure it out "again."

2. The second part is cuing. If you notice that your baby is going, give the baby a soft vocal cue. The most common for peeing is a "sssssssss," "shhhhhh" or "psssssssss" sound. You don't actually need two different sounds but a lot of parents have them ("puhpuhpuh," for pooh for example).

3. If you want to give your baby alternatives to going in the diaper, please visit this link for positions with pictures on Earth Babies . You can hold your baby over really anything or have them go outside if you like.

So, that's what I've learned and what I'll be trying with Mini when he/she gets here. :o)

Happy Parenting!

Susan