Natural Parenting

Natural Parenting And Elimination Communication

Yesterday I wrote an article for Ezine Articles, and Patrick suggested that I use it as a blog post as well. I was happy he recommended it, because I have a migraine, and I don’t much feel like writing brand new material.

Here’s the article:

“Potty Training Your Infant With Elimination Communication“

So, you have decided to learn more about infant potty training, but you do not know quite where to start. You are in the right place! Let me first give a brief description of what elimination communication actually is, and then we will get into why people are choosing to practice it.

Elimination Communication (EC) is a potty training practice in which a person uses timing, signals, cues, and instinct to respond to an infant’s need to eliminate. One of the goals is to partially or completely avoid the use of diapers. EC emphasizes relationship between the caregiver and child, helping them both become more in tune to the child’s natural rhythms and control of his/her bladder and bowels. The term “elimination communication” originated with traditional practices of diaper-less baby care in less industrialized countries. Some people start EC soon after birth, although it can be started with babies of any age.

Now that we have gotten that out of the way, let us move on to the top reasons folks choose to practice infant potty training.

#1 – Parents have an innate desire to connect with their offspring, and when a parent is truly in tune with those feelings, they passionately want to do everything in their power to facilitate the bond between their children and themselves. This strong, natural, parental instinct is the most important reason families choose to practice EC. These parents believe that their children are able to non-verbally communicate their needs to them, including their elimination needs. Because of this belief, they quickly respond to their children if they sense they need to eliminate by taking them to the toilet, sink, or even outside. These “natural parenting” adults also believe that their children should not have to sit in their own waste, for they deserve the same respect as any other human being.

#2 – People are always interested in saving money, and it is not any different for parents. Actually, frugality seems to be amplified once a person becomes a parent. All of the sudden you have to account for the expenses of caring for another human being. That can cost a pretty penny, too. Parents are always trying to come up with ways to pinch a dime or two out of their childcare spending, and elimination communication is one great way to do it. You do not have to worry about diapers, and even if you do choose to use diapers, most EC parents choose inexpensive cloth prefolds. The reason for this is that the baby and parent are able to immediately realize that the child has used the bathroom, because they can see and/or feel the wetness. This allows the child to remain aware of his bodies eliminating function. If disposables are used, most babies quickly lose this natural awareness, because the diapers absorb all the dampness of their urine.

If you practice full time elimination communication, and do not purchase diapers, you can expect to save thousands of dollars over the course of your child’s “diapering” years. Not to mention the fact that most of these EC‘d babies will be fully toilet trained far before most other non-practicing children, usually around 12-18 months old. This is quite a miracle considering the average potty training age is now 3-4 years of age.

However, if you do decide to buy some prefold diapers of good quality, you still are only likely to spend a couple hundred dollars, sometimes less. It all depends on how frugal you really want to be. The point is that EC can be a HUGE money saver if you decide to try it. (Elimination Communication Money Savings)

#3 – Many babies are plagued with diaper rash. The causes of this are too many to count, but frequently they are related to sitting too long in a dirty diaper. It isn’t uncommon to find parents who allow there infants to go diaper free for short periods of time, while in the comfort of their homes. This is because the air allows the babies’ rashed skin the breathe, which aids in healing the problem. I am sure these same people occasionally deal with a little pee on the carpet from time to time.

What these parents do not usually realize is that what they are doing could actually be termed elimination communication, since most EC families allow their children at least some diaper free time. Many do it early on in the process as a way to observe and learn about their child’s elimination routines. Others allow diaper free time once they feel confident enough in their ability to read their child’s potty cues. Then, there are the few who believe in allowing the child do as they please at all times, and therefore just do not make them wear clothes. (Although, I am finding this to be on the more rare side.)

I am sure many parents of babies with sore bums would actually be willing to at least attempt elimination communication, if they just allowed themselves to have an open mind. They would see that the benefits FAR outweigh any hassle they might have to go through with the process.

In conclusion, elimination communication is a wonderful bonding experience for you and your child. It has the potential to save you some mucho bucks, and it is plain better for your child’s bottom. Go ahead, be weird for once, and give this infant potty training stuff a whirl. I promise you will not regret it!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_South

Elimination Communication Does Work (Continued)

Yesterday, after posting the video of my son using the bathroom (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHQf7Ph-soc), I received many negative comments. I’d like to address some of those.

There were two comments that were particularly frustrating to me, the first one being that I was “holding him like an animal.” (Referring to my son) I must say, that is simply absurd. I hold Axel in a manner that makes him the most comfortable, and that just happens to be in a squatting position, which is believed by many to help facilitate the eliminating process, especially bowel movements. No, this is not a theory, it is something that works for my child. I have seen the proof. I have also experienced this myself. What can I say- we like camping, but there’s not always a bathroom facility available. ;)

Secondly, people seemed perturbed by the fact that I “woke” Axel up from his nap, in order to bring him to the potty. That is just not so. I never wake up my child for a bathroom visit, he always does so on his own. The reason he was being woken up was because his nap was over. I am trying to get him into somewhat of a routine, because his schedule, or lack thereof, is starting to wear on everyone in the household. He is cranky, we are cranky, and we all need sleep. If he takes too long of a nap, he won’t be tired when bedtime rolls around, and therefore, we don’t get the sleep we need.

I do, however, bring him to the bathroom as soon as he wakes up, regardless of whether or not he woke up on his own, as such was the occasion recorded on the video. I suppose that the next time we decide to make a video, we will record him going potty during his “awake” hours.

For future reference, all those who have disagreements with my site, or what I post, I’d ask that you please make a substantial argument in favor of your opinion without making mean statements about my lifestyle choices. You are not forced to read my posts, but if you truly feel that I could do something better, present your side of the story. Who knows, if you make a good enough point, maybe I’ll change my ways. I’m not closed minded on these issues, and I realize I don’t know everything.

I’d also like to thank the few that have encouraged me. I deeply appreciate it, especially when all the feedback I seem to be getting is rude and unhelpful. I hope that more people can accept that I am doing what I feel is best for my family, without criticizing me.

I am not judging anyone for doing things differently, at all. I think it’s perfectly okay for you to live the way you want to live, and it’s also fine for you to dislike the way I live. Opposition will always be present in our society, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but I do think there are healthy ways in which people can disagree.

Thank you all for reading.

(Later today: Our budgeting struggles, and successes!)

Axel Needs More Underwear!

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love cloth diapers. We’ve had an amazing experience with prefolds, and we are a lot less broke because of them. Now, though, we’ve become spoiled.

A while back we decided that Axel was doing well enough with EC (elimination communication) to start wearing underwear. Or, at least, something similar to training pants, with a little padding. Sad thing was that the cheapest “baby” training underpants I could find were $4 a pair! There was no way I was paying that. My really nice prefolds were only about $2.50 each, so it didn’t make sense to spend that kind of money on tiny underwear.

Patrick had the great idea to buy some regular undies, and sew cut up cloth dipes into them. We went to Walmart to buy the whitey tighties, but the smallest size we could find was 4t. We bought them anyway, figuring we could probably shrink them pretty good in the dryer. After successfully shrinking them, we cut up some prefolds into thirds, and went to a friend’s house to use her sewing machine. That’s when the problems started.

The thing is, I had never used a sewing machine, and had to be taught how to use it in roughly 15 minutes. Needless to say, I must not have been the best student, because that stupid little wheel thingy at the bottom kept falling off, and my needle kept losing it’s thread. I spent so much time and energy trying to sew those darn things, but after 3 hours of frustration, I gave up. I wasn’t a complete failure, as I did end up with 9 pairs completely finished. Granted, they look terrible, but they serve their purpose well enough.

The sewing episode took place about 6-8 weeks ago, and we haven’t touched the subject since. My husband is starting to get really annoyed with the the bulky prefolds. The underwear are so much easier because you don’t have to worry about snappis, or finding a place to lay Axel down to put on his diaper. You can just pull the things on and off in a few seconds. Plus, Patrick loves walking Axel, and the prefolds make it harder for him to do so comfortably. (By “walking”, I mean holding Axel’s hands while he walks.)

Anyway, point being is that I need to get to another sewing machine and finish these things! Having the remaining 10 pair finished would make a world of difference, especially since Patrick does whatever he can to avoid using the prefolds, even if that means washing the underwear twice as much. (Which is ridiculous!)

So, my official New Year’s resolution is to have the underwear done before the new year. That’s ironic.

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Also, just FYI, these homemade training pants are really inexpensive. We bought a pack of 6 undies at Walmart for about $5, and then we cut up our newborn prefolds into 3 pieces, and seamed the edges closed. Those prefolds were about $2 each, so, divide that by 3 and add it to the underwear cost. In the end, they came out to be about $1.35 each. A good deal, if you ask me, and so worth the effort!

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