Before Alayna and I had M, we used to live in the Bay and work for two different non-profits. One day, she emailed me a link to this group called elimination communication (EC), which claimed that babies could use the potty. Well, A emailed it to me as a joke - like look at how crazy some people are. And that is what I thought. Wow, only in the Bay.
Fast forward three more years, and a bit before M was born. I remembered the whole EC thing, and thought, well it does sound totally crazy, but also interesting. I found a book at the library called "Diaper Free Baby," and read it. The premise is that babies can communicate when they need to eliminate and that if we listen to them, they will continue to communicate.
I could see that it made some sense. Back in prehistoric times, it seems like it could be a threat to survival if you were constantly wet, and therefore cold. And I had heard that babies like to pee on whoever is changing their diaper. The book claimed that peeing when the diaper came off is normal and it is like we are saying, ok it is time to pee now, by taking off the diaper.
The book also claimed that it is confusing for kids to teach them for the first three years of their life that you should go in your diaper, and then, suddenly, three years later say that no, you should go in the potty.
After M was born, like the book said, he tended to go pee as he was getting his diaper changed. We starting making a "ssss" sound when he would pee, and started giving him "pottytunities." We gave him the opportunity to potty, and if he took it great, if not, that was fine too!
After M was born we had him in disposables, using EC when we changed his diaper, and after he woke up from naps. But then with all of the diaper rashes, around 2-3 months, we changed to cloth diapering and found that worked better for him. With the EC, he would frequently go right before we put him in a new diaper, keeping him dry for longer. This honestly made cloth diapering soooo much easier.
Around 11 months, though, he started walking and became less interested in sitting on his little infant potty. He would go pee now and then, but overall was less interested in the whole process.
Recently, though, M has been showing some renewed interest in the potty, so we got him his own "big boy" potty to sit on. For awhile now, he's liked sitting on it but not really gotten the concept of using it for its intended purpose. Then, suddenly, in the last couple of days, he's started to get it. When he wakes up from his nap or if his diaper's been dry for awhile, we'll sit him on it and sometimes he goes right away.
So, yesterday was quite the successful day! He only used one diaper all day. Every other time he needed to go, he used his potty! And then, to top it off, he slept till 4:30 am last night before waking up and had a dry diaper when he woke up. Alayna took him to the potty when he woke up and he used the bathroom in the middle of the night! Go M.
He is also really into flushing from his potty! He goes around saying, "flush it, flush it." It's very cute.
I would not say that we are potty training our son, just that we are giving him chances to use the potty and gradually he's wanting to use it more and more. Yesterday was quite the breakthrough day, although other days he mostly uses his diapers. It is amazing, though, to see him become more and more aware of himself. And, just having to wash one diaper yesterday was fabulous!
1 comment:
Hey guys! Great news about Mateo! He's already ahead of the game.
I'm writing this from a cyber cafe in Guinea West Africa. I'm a long way from home right now so it feels great to be able to be a part of your blog conversations.
In terms of EC I wanted to add that people here tie fabric around their babys' behinds- this is really non-absorbant fabric and a pain since the baby (and everything the baby touches) gets soiled when they pee or poop. Since everything is hand-washed and there's a ton of chores for women to do (pounding rice, cooking, fetching water, etc. etc.) they try to eliminate the amount of fabric used. So as soon as a baby can sit up, they are put on a little pastic bowl type thing often. When the baby is not on the mother's back, or sleeping on a little bed made out of wood and a rice sack, he/she is on this plastic thing, often for a quite a while in order to poop or peep. They play with toys or older sibling but are all the while on the little potty thing. It's no surprise that kids are potty-trained pretty early here- much earlier than what I see in the states.
So you two are not alone in your desire for a one diaper (or less)- a day life. You have the support of women all over the world!
Keep up the good work.
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