free to ec, you and me

i need a cup of coffee, says dylan.

here's dylan (pictured here at three months old) upon first waking up in the morning. we usually say hello and good morning to daddy, who makes him laugh and smile. we then play bicycle, and 'grab your toes.' but before the games and singing, we get dylan on the potty. yup, dylan, baby boy of four months has been trained to pee and poo in the potty since he was three months old. since he's a cloth-diapered, eco-friendly, non-waste, non-impact baby, dylan had been pooing and peeing in his diaper since birth, so why not take this to the next step? and eliminate diapers altogether? i first heard about ec or 'elimination communication' through my friend ceci, who 'ec's' her baby carolina.

'ec' i asked, what is that?

when i was pregnant, i read about ecers online, and got the book 'diaper free baby' by christine gross loh, which convinced us to start dylan ecing right away, after he was born. well, that didn't happen. the first introduction to being parents, sleep deprived, tired, frustrated, and totally newbie, made trying to infant potty train the baby pretty difficult. this is way too hard, i thought. forget it! especially in the first month. we were too tired to try anything new.

but what is ec, you ask?

it's the art of listening and feeling and seeing baby's cues when they need to potty. it's nothing new, really, millions of asian women have been potty training babies before their first birthday for centuries. for millenia, you might say. when dylan hit three months, and after three months of tirelessly laundering, washing, cleaning up after dylan and his poopie diapers, i knew this was now or never. in the beginning of april, i took a deep breath and dove right into full time ec. with cloth diaper back up, of course.

and voila, what do you know? dylan took to it, just like he took to breastfeeding, to crawling, to laughing and smiling, all things he's mastered in his three months, especially the crawling part. more on that later. as the book and ec sites suggested, i got the baby bjorn little potty, a plastic potty chair, and put it next to the bed, and as soon as he woke, i put him on the potty and make a 'psssst' sound. not to be confused with the 'shhhhshhhhhh' sound, which we sometimes use to hush him to sleep. we wouldn't want him to start pissing at the wrong time. other cues:

• when he starts rubbing his nose
• gets hot and sweaty
• right after a feeding (anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour)
• right after waking up, he usually always potties
• after he gets out of the car seat or baby carrier
  

so after a solid month of ec, we're on our way to becoming completely potty trained! can you believe that? the only times that dylan goes in the diaper are when i can't get to him fast enough, or when i miss a cue, or when he's playing in his chair or exersaucer. he gets pretty active and just pees when he's excited. and he pees often during deep sleeps, and that's fine. for the most part, he almost exclusively poos in the potty when offered (especially during morning feedings and naps) and goes pee half the time in the potty. it's tricky because he pees a lot. a lot!

so the next stage is to get him or myself, used to ecing him when we're out, in public bathrooms. and to get him to wear training pants and learn the sign language for potty and toilet. when we're out and about, i've bravely been doing a lot of holding and hovering dylan over toilets and he's been peeing and pooing. pretty successful so far. all of this translates into, not just less diapers, laundry, and mess, but:

• less crying! almost 75 percent less crying in his first month of ec, i've noticed which is worth the work put into this practice.
• less work! less diapers to clean, less changing table pads, sheets, blankets, clothes to put in the wash.
• no more feeling helpless. we used to feel pretty helpless when dylan would 'go' in his diaper, especially during morning poos. we just used to stand there with rags and towels and diapers in our hands while dylan would poo uncontrollably in his diaper or changing table, and we'd just wait for poo bombs to go off. and off they would! everywhere.
  
• no more surprises. when we offer the potty to dylan, he knows he doesn't have to fuss and fight not to go in his pants.
  
• more pleasant outings. by taking him to potty when we visit the restroom, we don't have to worry about baby poo getting all over everything in public bathrooms, or at people's homes. enough said.
  
• more peace of mind.
• a happier baby. a peed and pooed baby, especially with no mess, is a much happier baby, let me tell you.
• saves the environment. no paper, diapers, wipes, wipe lotion, water to waste. potty training does not contribute to any global warming. it is the ultimate energy conserving act for babies.
  
• and on and on.

we're still working on the ec thing, as we've got plenty of time and plenty of diapers. dylan, after all, is still a four month old newborn! let's not get him started on his college entrance exams just yet. ec is not an all or nothing philosophy. sometimes i'm glad he's in diapers then i can just finish whatever i'm doing instead of rushing to him and dropping whatever it was that i was doing: dishes, phone call, door, laundry, or when i'm in the shower or getting dressed.

if you've got a baby, and noticed that they let out a full stream of pee whenever you de-diaper or pants them, or whenever they get nekkid, it's time to pull over a potty chair, and sit him or her down on the throne. they'll thank you for it, and you'll be glad you did. i have yet to join the diaper-free group that i subscribe to on yahoo groups, as they do play dates around town, but i look forward to going and taking dylan to meet other potty trained friends.

some sites to consult and read:

http://www.thediaperfreebaby.com/
http://www.freewebs.com/freetoec/
http://www.theecstore.com/

yahoo groups for ec moms and dads:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalInfantHygiene/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eliminationcommunication/