Elimination Communication Informative Thread

[HeatherSanders]

I've been scanning threads for some 'favorites,' and thought why not just MAKE one of our own. So that is the INTENT behind this thread . . . for good general information that can be added as a FAVORITE INFORMATIVE thread in the sticky at the top of this forum.

So, if you will - answer these questions:

1. What brought you to decide EC was for you?

2. What was your first catch and was it purposeful or by accident?

3. What has been hardest about practicing EC? What has been easiest?

4. At what point (if you've reached it) did you feel truly ABLE to communicate effectively nearly 100% of the time.

5. Do you practice Elimination Communication full or part time? If not full-time, why?

6. For WOHMs, does your day care provider 'get' your baby's cues and if so, are they welling to continue EC'ing with your child while you are away?

Okay, there's a start!

[Almamiel]

1. What brought you to decide EC was for you?
I found this discussion board when Mieke was about six weeks old, and heard about e.c. here. We did it part time until about a month ago - Mieke was a little under five months old. She started maturing alot and I wanted to give e.c. a real try before she become too "conditioned." We were immediately successful (probably because of the e.c. we'd done on and off) and we decided to stick with it. It just makes SENSE.

2. What was your first catch and was it purposeful or by accident?
First catch (purposeful) after I read about e.c. here - Mieke was about six weeks old.

3. What has been hardest about practicing EC? What has been easiest?

I think the hardest thing for me is doing it outside the house - we really need some pull-on dipes! The easiest thing is how amazingly effective it is - what makes a somewhat time consuming thing "easy" is how purposeful Mieke is on her part.

4. At what point (if you've reached it) did you feel truly ABLE to communicate effectively nearly 100% of the time.
Not quite there yet....can one truly communicate 100% with another human being On the other hand, our nonverbal communication is far more effective than most conversations I have!

5. Do you practice Elimination Communication full or part time? If not full-time, why?
Pretty much full-time - though when we are out and about we have more misses.

[mrzmeg]

1. What brought you to decide EC was for you?
From birth, Tristan hated being in a wet diaper. He would fuss before peeing, and scream afterwards, until I changed him. Often, he wouldn't "finish" in his diaper--he'd wait until the diaper was off, lol. I started holding him over a bowl after taking off his diaper, and pretty soon we were communicating really well.

2. What was your first catch and was it purposeful or by accident?
Tristan was a week old and we were laying down together while he napped. I was thinking about him and remembered EC. I decided it would be a great time to try, so when he woke up, I held him over the sink (with my hands under his thighs and his back against my chest) and made a "sss" sound. He pooped! I was so surprised that it actually worked.

3. What has been hardest about practicing EC? What has been easiest?
The hardest thing is feeling like I can't go back to diapers. I have PPD and on some days, I just want to tune out. Sounds bad, but it's true. Knowing how well he is in touch with his body, I can't do that in good conscience.
The easiest thing is catching poops. I love not changing poopy diapers!

4. At what point (if you've reached it) did you feel truly ABLE to communicate effectively nearly 100% of the time.
Not there yet, but getting there. I mostly only miss right after we wake up in the morning, and when we're trying to get to bed. Times I'm sleepy

5. Do you practice Elimination Communication full or part time? If not full-time, why?
I consider us full-time EC'ers, though we do rely on diapers at night. We use diapers as back up about half the time during the day, but he usually doesn't use them. We definately diaper at night and he really uses that! But if he wakes up, I put him on the potty. Now, he usually only wakes at night if he has to poop. I just don't think it'd be right to wake up a sleeping baby to poop, and I think him suddenly waking to a potty would not really help our EC'ing relationship.

[AmyB]

Re: Elimination Communication Informative Thread

1. What brought you to decide EC was for you?

I thought of it myself because it didn't make sense to me that babies need to be in diapers since obviously there were human babies before diapers. Then I realized that if anyone was raising diaper-free babies there was probably something about it on the Internet.

2. What was your first catch and was it purposeful or by accident?

On purpose. I started at 3 months, took dd's diaper off and put a dish tub at my feet to catch pee. We sat there one afternoon and practiced and it was obvious from the start that it would work.

3. What has been hardest about practicing EC? What has been easiest?

Hardest is I feel bad when I miss dd's signals and she poos in her pants. She looks so betrayed! Easiest is that I thought diapers would be an enormous hassle and with EC they are really not.

4. At what point (if you've reached it) did you feel truly ABLE to communicate effectively nearly 100% of the time.

We are not 100%, but by 8 months I felt like we were good enough with somewhere between zero to two wet diapers/day and no poopy ones.

5. Do you practice Elimination Communication full or part time? If not full-time, why?

Full-time with me or dh, but when we leave dd with a sitter we don't expect the sitter to recognize her signals. Instead we just say she hates a wet diaper and please change her immediately.

For WOHMs, does your day care provider 'get' your baby's cues and if so, are they welling to continue EC'ing with your child while you are away?

See above, but both grandmas are enthusiastic about EC and love to put her on the potty.

[loon13]

Re: Elimination Communication Informative Thread

Anyhoo, on to your questions:


1. What brought you to decide EC was for you?

I found a link and was intrigued, but thought it was too late for me. DD was already 6 months. But the idea kept nagging me.
It makes so much sense. I changed dd frequently anyway, especially once we changed to cloth. The idea that she was sitting in a wet/dirty diaper just kept nagging me. It had just never occurred to me that we could do pottying so early.
Also, dd is so much *happier* to go to the potty. I also realized that those times when she was fussy and did not want to nurse, sleep, or play, she was trying to tell me that she had to go potty!



2. What was your first catch and was it purposeful or by accident?

By accident. I wanted to try it, but kept thinking it wouldn't work for us or that I didn't know how to start. (Excuses, excuses.)
Finally, one day DD had woken up from a nap and her diaper was still dry. I knew she had to pee, so I was hesitant to put the diaper back on. Dh said "give her to me" and held her over the toilet. She peed! He had remembered me mentioning EC to him and had done some research on it on his own. That did it. I started from there.



3. What has been hardest about practicing EC? What has been easiest?

The hardest: Finding infant underwear/training pants!! Those available are either sold out, or way too big for dd. Also, she is mobile (crawling and pulling herself up), so she hates to lay down for diaper changes. But even if that wasn't the case, I have found it is much easier to have something to pull up and down when out and about. We also no longer use a bunting for dd when we go out, just a regular coat and blanket over her legs in the car. Easier to pull down the pants if we have to make a pitstop.

The easiest: less diapers (i.e. less laundry) to wash.


4. At what point (if you've reached it) did you feel truly ABLE to communicate effectively nearly 100% of the time.

Haven't reached 100% yet, but we are definitely able to communicate in the morning and on car trips. They are her most predictable times to go, and so the easiest to cue/respond to.


5. Do you practice Elimination Communication full or part time? If not full-time, why?

We started part-time, first in the morning and after naps. But then we went to full-time when dd started fighting the diaper changes. I still use diapers as back-up, because I miss the cues when we are distracted (dd is too busy playing, I am cooking dinner, etc.) I consider us full-time in that I am always on the lookout for dd's cues. I hate to have her sit in a dirty diaper now.


Loon

[Raven7]

Re: Elimination Communication Informative Thread

>1. What brought you to decide EC was for you?

I feel like ds brought me to it, even before I was pg with him. When I first read about EC I thought it was nuts and that there'd be pee and poop everywhere. But then as time went on it just made more and more sense. i think also seeing my older ds get out of diapers (self-motivated transition beginning around 2yo and completed by 3yo) helped me to see that having a kid in diapers *is* really more work than having a kid that is elimination aware and not dependent on diapers.

>2. What was your first catch and was it purposeful or by accident?

The first one I remember was when ds was 10 days old. we were downstairs and I thought he seemed like he needed to pee. I took him to the sink, said "ssss" and he peed. We'd been watching him for signals from birth, but this is the first one I remember being ahead of the pee

3. What has been hardest about practicing EC? What has been easiest?

The hardest part has been that sometimes I know he needs to pee when we're out, but my having my 3.5yo with us makes it too hard for us to get to the bathroom on time. Because of this I am not sure when I'd be able to go out w/out a diaper.

The easiest part about ECing for us has been the shift to the new mindset that babies know when they need to go, and that diapers are not a necessity.

4. At what point (if you've reached it) did you feel truly ABLE to communicate effectively nearly 100% of the time.

After we'd been going for about 3 months I noticed a big leap in our connection. Also around this time I started doing no diapers at home, and this helped immensely. These days I feel like we're in the 90-95% range.

5. Do you practice Elimination Communication full or part time? If not full-time, why?

Full time, baby!!!

[NaturalMom]

1. What brought you to decide EC was for you?

I think I first read about it on Darshani's website when I was pregnant and was very intrigued. Did some research and thought it would tie in nicely with AP and staying in touch with our child.

2. What was your first catch and was it purposeful or by accident?

It was when he was about 3-4 days old and was purposeful.

3. What has been hardest about practicing EC? What has been easiest?

Hardest: getting up from wherever you are and whatever you're doing to take him to potty whenever there's a cue.

Easiest: getting him to go!

4. At what point (if you've reached it) did you feel truly ABLE to communicate effectively nearly 100% of the time.

Not there yet!

5. Do you practice Elimination Communication full or part time? If not full-time, why?

Full-time, except at night or out in public where we can't get to a restroom (I'm not too keen on taking him outside in public - we lived in Egypt for awhile and the little kids would just squat and go on the sidewalk. It really grossed me out - so even if it's just a pee, I don't want to turn anyone off to this wonderful thing!)

6. For WOHMs, does your day care provider 'get' your baby's cues and if so, are they welling to continue EC'ing with your child while you are away?

N/A

[Laurie Boucke]

1. What brought you to decide EC was for you?

I used conventional toilet learning with my first two sons and *knew* there had to be a better way. I didn't want to go the diaper route again with my third son!

2. What was your first catch and was it purposeful or by accident?

A lady from India got the official first catch when she was showing me how to get my son to pee. When I tried about half an hour later, I got my first pee.

3. What has been hardest about practicing EC? What has been easiest?

The hardest thing was fighting my desire for perfection and learning to relax about misses. The easiest thing for me was his signals for poos.

4. At what point (if you've reached it) did you feel truly ABLE to communicate effectively nearly 100% of the time.

Can't remember (he's grown and in college now, lol), but he was 100% finished, day and night, at 25 months.

5. Do you practice Elimination Communication full or part time? If not full-time, why?

Both, depending on time, but mainly full time.

6. For WOHMs, does your day care provider 'get' your baby's cues and if so, are they welling to continue EC'ing with your child while you are away?

Yes, this was the case.

Laurie

[Freddy]

1. What brought you to decide EC was for you?

Stories about 3 year olds who ask for a diaper to poop. I thought it was terrible, that they were so dependend on diapers at that age. Then I started to think if dependency on diapers was really necessary at ANY age.


2. What was your first catch and was it purposeful or by accident?

DS: I read about it when he was 2 months old, held him over a bucket, said "pee-pee-break!" (Pinkelpause) and he peed and pood

DD: Pood into the sink at the hospital when 3 days old: I held her, she could feel me "push", because she was leaning with her back against my tummy and she pushed as well!


3. What has been hardest about practicing EC?

Doing it when I thought I was the only crazy person who did it. I was afraid of hurting Wolfgang although it felt right and he seemed to thouroughly enjoy it. I was so happy to find more resources on the internet after half a year of "winging it".

What has been easiest?

Doing it again with a second child! Is there any other way to deal with a baby's elimination?


4. At what point (if you've reached it) did you feel truly ABLE to communicate effectively nearly 100% of the time.

We are reaching this point regularly - and then again have days where either the baby or me are just "off" and communication goes down to 50 % or less. I think that's normal!

5. Do you practice Elimination Communication full or part time? If not full-time, why?

Full time, only with Wolfgang did I not practise it when out and about and at night during the first 6 months. I thought those times would not work anyway: When I finally found others doing this, I found out, that outings where easiest for us and that Wolfgang usually had to pee at night when he wanted to nurse and nighttime EC was possible even without cosleeping.


6. For WOHMs, does your day care provider 'get' your baby's cues and if so, are they welling to continue EC'ing with your child while you are away?

I'm a SAHM, but the few times I left Jutta in dh's charge in the first months for a few hours I would put her in disposables and just leave it at that. He was freaked out already with having to deal with both children alone (I do it every day, but men...) and not being able to nurse Jutta, and would she take expressed breastmilk, and would she cry and what if he doesn't get her to sleep... Now he feels more secure than he ever had in the first months with Wolfgang. Actually Jutta goes to sleep in Daddy's arms every evening right now while I'm with Wolfgang, reading him a bedtime story. So if I had to stay away for the evening again, I would probably just leave her diaperless and give dh instructions when to try for a pee, even when he didn't see any signals (every hour or so)

Heather, interesting questions, but where are your answers?ag

[PuppyFluffer]

1. What brought you to decide EC was for you? I found out about this here and went to Darshani's website and just went WOW! I discovered it when dd was 3 months old and was glad I learned of it that early. I wish I had known sooner, I would have started from birth.

2. What was your first catch and was it purposeful or by accident? The first catch was purposeful. I tried after she woke up from a nap and sure enough! we caught a pee. I was hooked after that and pretty much tried full time to catch them. We co-sleep and I wake when she stirs and I put my finger in her diaper and realized she was dry, so I'd take her potty before nursing her back to sleep. I always thought that being hungry was what woke her but I was wrong. She was stirring because she had a full bladder! Once I realized that, I just switched our night routine. Instead of nursing her then changing a wet diaper,I would take her potty, she'd pee, I'd nurse her and we'd both fall asleep. The whole thing takes about 3-5 min and alot of the time she never opens her eyes. If I wait for her to fully wake, she would have peed. That is still the case with her.

3. What has been hardest about practicing EC? What has been easiest? Hardest: It is labor intensive. Easiest: The wonderful feeling that I get knowing that I am connecting with my child and able to understand and respond to what she trying to tell me.

4. At what point (if you've reached it) did you feel truly ABLE to communicate effectively nearly 100% of the time. We are not quite there yet. When she started rolling over, it got hard to catch because she sort of stopped signaling. Now that she is so mobile, it can be hard to notice as she plays alot and does not stop to clearly signal. I hope to be diaper free at 12 months. She is 9 mo now.

5. Do you practice Elimination Communication full or part time? If not full-time, why? Full time and Dad is great too. He does not really know her signals as well as I do but when we got snowed in over a weekend and he had 4 solid days with her, he got tons better at reading her. It is so neat that he connects with her too.

6. For WOHMs, does your day care provider 'get' your baby's cues and if so, are they welling to continue EC'ing with your child while you are away? I'm a SAHM except three Sat a month when DH has her and he is pretty good! I don't think it is quite as important to him but he is very helpful.