Elimination communication

[Brandi]

So anyone know anything about this?

[Christy]

I was going to suggest Mothering.com but I think I just saw you over there :lol:

I've never tried it, I'm too afraid and I know I would end up with poop everywhere.

Good luck though!

[Shanna]

I read an article about it in... I think it was some kind of "real simple" kinda magazine.... I was REALLY skeptical, though... :dunno: I just .... I dunno... something about it just kinda bugs me...

[Cortney]

It's VERY common in other countries. :) It makes sense to me, but I'm just too lazy to follow through with it. :blush: But I do use something similar with my dog. :blush:

Yeah, I'd definitely check out mothering.com

[Jennie]

Yep - sounds good but with 3 kids in the house, I'm not going there! :D From what I've read, this is what my mom did when I was younger (they used to make high chairs with potty seats built in and you ate while you sat on the pot or somethign!).

[Brandi]

Hey ladies - I did go over to Mothering.com. That's where I got a lot of info.

It does seem kind of crazy to me, but at the same time, it seems to make a whole lot of sense. I've been telling dh about it and he's like "uh, you aren't thinking of trying that are you?" I told him no, but it is interesting. If this was our first child, than maybe, but not with the second. If I can take something away from all of this though, it would be good to start to recognize when my baby is going to pee or poop. Then, I could change her diaper and not let her sit in pee and poop all the time.

Hopefully, though, with the diapers that I've been using, she will stay dry feeling instead of sitting in her pee and poop.

I like to try new and different things so this just really intrigued me. Is there anyone on OUAL that does this?

[Pigglystix]

I don't mean to offend anyone but from what I've read I think it's a bunch of crap (no pun intended).

At MDC I got the feeling that if I can't tell when my INFANT is going to pee or poop then somehow I'm not bonded enough and I think that's hogwash. My kids make sure I know when they ALREADY pooped but heck if they give away any sign that they are going to poop or even are pooping. I'd say only about 10% of the time can you tell when my kids are pooping. They don't do the grunting thing a lot of babies do. And a lot of times they'll be gassy and people will tell me they are pooping - nope, just gassy!

I think there's a push to expect a lot out of children as it is and *to me* EC is just one more thing we are expecting out of our children way too early. Not to mention expecting out of ourselves as mothers...just the implication that being able to tell means we are more bonded is enough to leave a mother in tears if she misses a cue some time!

Just my opinion though - I know I'm probably against the grain for a lot of people that even know what EC is.

[Karri]

Ok - I know NOTHING about it, but when I was looking at a carrier, I came across some info (firsthand experience) on it by one of the people who makes the carrier I am looking at:

http://www.geocities.com/entergently/eliminationcommunication.html
She's got some links on her page, as well.

[AahRee]

I think it's potty training the parent instead of the child. I'm sure it works great for some people in some situations, but we have a new house with nice, new carpet, so it's definitely not something I would be willing to try.

[magoo]

I think it's an interesting concept. I think I'm probably too lazy to ever do it, though. :blush1: I also doubt if I could get DH on board with it. Maybe if I had learned about it before my first. She was born in the winter, so we just hung around the house a lot. It would have been a perfect time to establish EC.

[mama2jackson]

I don't mean to offend anyone but from what I've read I think it's a bunch of crap (no pun intended).

At MDC I got the feeling that if I can't tell when my INFANT is going to pee or poop then somehow I'm not bonded enough and I think that's hogwash. My kids make sure I know when they ALREADY pooped but heck if they give away any sign that they are going to poop or even are pooping. I'd say only about 10% of the time can you tell when my kids are pooping. They don't do the grunting thing a lot of babies do. And a lot of times they'll be gassy and people will tell me they are pooping - nope, just gassy!

I think there's a push to expect a lot out of children as it is and *to me* EC is just one more thing we are expecting out of our children way too early. Not to mention expecting out of ourselves as mothers...just the implication that being able to tell means we are more bonded is enough to leave a mother in tears if she misses a cue some time!

Just my opinion though - I know I'm probably against the grain for a lot of people that even know what EC is.
Michelle~ I completely agree with you. While Jackson is older than Logan and Madelyn, I can't tell when he is peeing...pooping yes, it's obvious now, but not back when he was younger.

I'm also not sure how EC works if you are a working mother. I can't see Jackson's teachers thinking that would be okay.

[magoo]

Michelle~ I completely agree with you. While Jackson is older than Logan and Madelyn, I can't tell when he is peeing...pooping yes, it's obvious now, but not back when he was younger.
I think that it's probably because you haven't tried to recognize them (then again, mabye you have... I really don't know.) Most moms learn the different cues/cries to let them know when their child is hungry, overstimulated, wanting to be held, etc.) I think there are probably signals that each child gives when they need to pee (or poop) but most people don't try to figure those out the way we do other cues (hungry, cold, overstimulated, need to be changed) because if they're in a diaper, we don't really need to know the exact moment that they're peeing. Perhaps as you progress with potty training Jackson, you'll be able to tell when he needs to go potty before he even tells you. :dunno:

As far as being a working mom and doing it... I don't think that you could do it unless your childcare provider was on board... and I doubt that many would be.

[magoo]

One of my questions about EC is how they poop when they eat when they're newborns. Anna would always poop while she was nursing at the beginning. I wonder how they deal with that...

[mama2jackson]

Perhaps as you progress with potty training Jackson, you'll be able to tell when he needs to go potty before he even tells you. :dunno:

I'm hoping so because that is probably the one thing I need to figure out so I can guide him.

[Brandi]

One of my questions about EC is how they poop when they eat when they're newborns. Anna would always poop while she was nursing at the beginning. I wonder how they deal with that...

I was wondering this too. I'm assuming that you would put a diaper on them while they are nursing and then just take it off as soon as they are done. But I don't really know.