EC... Elimination Communication. Let me give some background -
At a few weeks of age my husband, Frank
decided to take the newborn to the potty with him - just for fun. He did this a few times and we laughed and then one day, wala! Hartly went and we clapped for joy. I thought that was the extent of it. I should have known better. Frank was not going to let this go!
Hartly wore G-Diapers as a newborn. Frank and I try our best to be GREEN and add as little trash to this world as possible. With most GREEN diapers (because there are no chemicals) the baby has to be changed frequently. Hartly, like most babies, hated being wet and dirty. This worked our great until about 14 weeks (for laypeople 3 months). Hartly was starting to sleep huge amounts of time but would wake up when his diaper leaked. We put him in those big name brand diapers and lo and behold, the kid (along with some tools we used from 12 hours by 12 weeks, The Baby Sleep Solution) started sleeping 11-12 hours a night!!
Once this occured Frank started talking A LOT about EC. I crossed my arms, vigorously shook my head and said, 'uh-uh'. "No way"!! But he pushed and pushed. Finally I gave in with the caveat that as long as it wasn't stressful to me or to baby, I would do it.
Not only is it not stressful, it is really fun AND very GREEN. It only took a few weeks for Hart to catch on that we the little potty and us madly pounding at our heads (a made up simple sign we decided to use for him) meant for him to let it loose. Literally, Hartly has probably only messed (bowel movements) in his diaper maybe 10 times in 19 weeks. This is including airplane rides, car rides, and teething! He will hold it. It is amazing. Children are WAY smarter than we give them credit for!! He has NEVER had a diaper rash (which are largely caused by children sitting in their BMs) and he is very healthy and regular.
Pee is a little trickier... I "catch" (EC lingo) maybe 4-5 a day but he pees like 12 xs a day. It's probably more from me being lazy and/or distracted. Plus, I don't even try when we are out and about for the day.
Anyway, the whole point is that Potty training is really un-training. Because kids naturally do not like to be wet or dirty. We train them to get used to it. We 'diaper train'. AND we make these crazy chemical pants (diapers) that wick away the wet so that children become very disassociated with their own bodily functions. Most other countries can't afford these expensive diapers and their children are diaper-free and 'potty trained' WAY before ours. It is so much healthier for the children and for the environment. It sounds VERY strange and even a little nuts in our culture. I thought so too. But I am telling you - it works and is pretty easy if you just pay attention.
As parents we look for signs of hunger and signs of being overly tired. This is just one more thing to be tuned in to. Just something to consider.
Plus - look how cute Hartly Jose looks in underoos at age: 33 weeks and 5 days :)
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