Posted on 10/17/2005 7:01:29 AM PDT by grundle
http://www.diaperfreebaby.org/FAQ.htm
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Elimination Communication (EC)?
Just as parents learn to read their baby's signs for sleep and hunger, they can also learn to read their baby's signs for needing to eliminate. In fact, most parents already know what some of these signs are, such as the straining facial expression or the telltale grunting and bearing down that precede a soiled diaper. Practicing Elimination Communication (EC) is just a matter of responding a little differently to these signals from your baby. Taking your baby to the potty can be easy and rewarding!
Why EC?
A few common reasons that parents choose to practice EC are: to recognize and respond to baby's self-awareness; to promote close communication between child and parent; to prevent diaper rash; to avoid struggles often associated with diaper changing and toilet training; and, as side benefits, to save money and use fewer environmental resources.
Don't the experts warn against potty training babies before they are ready?
It's important to note that this is Elimination Communication, not training. This is a gentle process that follows the infant's cues and needs, and is never coercive or punitive. As such, this practice is consistent with the baby's development and maturity.
How do I know when to offer the potty?
As a culture we have been taught to ignore the signals babies give when they need to eliminate. You can learn when it is time to offer the potty much the way you learn when to offer the baby a chance to eat or sleep - by picking up on signals such as fussiness, distractibility, and vocalizations. By choosing to consider these signals in a new way, you will gradually be able to recognize your baby's signals and patterns.
Does this mean that you never use diapers?
EC can be done with or without diapers. Many parents practicing EC do use diapers or training pants for backup or during certain times of the day. Whether a baby wears diapers or underwear, parents change them quickly whenever wet or soiled so that the child stays accustomed to the feeling of clean underclothes.
If a baby doesnt wear a diaper, isnt it very messy?
Often when people first hear of the idea of a baby using the potty (and not using diapers) they wrongly assume it will be a messy process. In fact, parents who diaper their baby spend a lot more time in contact with their baby's bowel movements than ECers do. EC'd babies will have the occasional BM that doesn't go in the potty, but diapered babies have their BMs in their pants every time and parents spend a lot of time wiping those BMs off their babies bottoms. A bowel movement in the toilet or potty is flushed or washed down, and wiping a bottom after a BM in the toilet takes all of one second and one small wipe. Also, EC homes have no stinky diaper pail.
How can I find out more?
Come join us for a local meeting! We can answer questions about: how to get started, specific positions for holding the baby, starting with older babies, recognizing and responding to our intuitive sense, and how to help keep baby interested in using the potty throughout various stages of development. There are also many good resources online and in print. For a full list, please see our Articles and Links sections and get in touch with your local DiaperFreeBaby contact.
I thought you might get a kick out of this thread.
I threw my back out this weekend, and I'm off diaper duty for the foreseeable future. Haha!
I had to smile, as I read this, as you've perfectly also illustrated the "quagmire in Iraq" Libbies -- who would far rather see more attacks on America and American citizens as in their pursuit of GETTING at President Bush.
The uber liberals, the uber of the uber-est, however, wish America to become as a 3rd world country.
At a meeting in Berkeley, in the past, a guy kept passing wind while sitting next to me. I suggested he take a walk. He suggested I not get "uptight" as he was a total tofu-organie-freak, therefore, his flatulence was holy.
I made a conscious decision pre-children to invest in types of work which would permit me to be at home to raise my children. The sacrifice was most often my sleep. When the babies napped, I worked or napped. Hard schedule? Yes. I was using a modem as early as 1978. And definitely a frontrunner in the "telecommuting" edge. Was it hard? Yes.
The American Way, as I see it, is what YOU CHOOSE to pursue -- what others think is best for me, what the MSM, NOW, and any others' "expertise" is read, considered -- then tossed or modified to suit the realities of my world.
That, to me, is the American Way.
Ohjeez...I can't believe you pinged me to this...My middle grandson is now old enough to father a child, and I can't even remeber the last time I actually changed a diaper!
LOL!
No WAY!!!
*snort*
China is also the world's largest petri dish and the chief exporter of wonderful products like SARS, influenza, and dozens of diseases that emerge from unsanitary conditions.
Gee, is "uptight" the Berkley term for "prefer not to smell feces?"
Sounds like a little creative belligerence was called for...
This guy was coming onto me. Hitting on me. I guess, its equivalent might be called "flirting" (for more information: consult "symbolic language dictionaries" of the liberals).
Can you imagine his excitement in "language response choice" had I suggested "we go take a walk"?
lol. In "feminese", he certainly couldn't have gotten legally nailed for "sexually harassing" me.
The expectation was that I would get "turned on by his food choices" and his "pure" bod.
Enjoying this primer, yet? ;>
Let me get this straight... you're arguing encouraging a child to wallow in their own excrement is MORE sanitary?
Nope. UhUh. Sorry.
I just can't conceive of any geographic location where a guy thinks farting and flirting are not mutually exclusive activities.
Of course, it's been twenty years since I've flirted with girls... could things have changed THAT much?
I'm in a new location where the men flirt upfront and very well. :)
I am the mother of three, grandmother of eight, great-grandmother of four, and foster mother of many others. I have yet to see a child pack his diaper bag to kindergarten.
Parents (and non-parents) get way too hung up over this issue.
When a child is ready, it will happen.
There is a reason third world countries are called that.
She looks like my little Cindy Lou Who again (and not Bowser from Sha Na Na!)
I wasn't recommending it -- just reporting. :)
I kid you not...
When my youngest son was about 6 months old, I would bathe him in the tub with his 3 year old brother. Every night before they got in the tub, I would tell my 3 year old to go to the bathroom. My younger son was always right there when I told him.
On a fluke, just to see what would happen, I started holding my youngest son up over the toilet just like his brother stood and telling him “Go to the bathroom”. I’d stand there for a few seconds and then proceed on with putting him in the tub. No bid deal...no high pressure.
A couple of months later after consistently doing this, he peed in the toilet! I am telling the truth! And he literally peed in the toilet like that every single night before his bath till he could stand on his own and do it!
I was thrilled but for only one reason. He went to bed right after his bath and I felt like he slept comfortably for the majority of the night because of emptying his bladder before going to bed.
He learned to walk at 10 months and was completely potty trained by 16 months.
Re: the Desitin -- that post was from 2005! Brought back a bunch of fun memories, ;-).
We actually did use Dawn to clean out her hair -- but what a fun couple of days that was, I tell you. I'm still kicking myself for not having my camera ready that night: I came into her room and she's in a one-piece pajama suit, and she's COVERED with Desitin except for a little crest of hair (like a mohawk) I laughed and then went a little ballistic.
Thankfully, the diaper (and Desitin) days are over ... for a while. Hopefully by next year we'll have another ankle biter.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.