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unschooling potty philosophies

715 views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  moominmamma 
#1 ·
So I'm at the beginning of what I hope will be a long unschooling relationship with my eight month old. I consider my parenting philosophy to be non-forceful, I let DD discover things for herself and try to let things happen as naturally as possible... lately, I've been debating elimination communication vs. late self-led potty learning.

I've done research on both of these methods and both seem to have pros and cons. I just can't figure out which style fits better with the unschooling philosophy and would like your input and opinions. On the one hand, EC seems like a good choice because it is an extension of the mother-child communication theme. I definitely don't agree with the "training" style of learning about the potty. So on the other end of the scale, you have the late potty learning, which also seems to make sense because you are letting them discover it at their own pace. So I'm conflicted.

Input please?
 
#2 ·
just my opinion...


EC: a child never has to forget about his/her body's abilities, then re-learn them. I think that in the EC'ing philosophy, a new-born baby is already aware of his/her elimination needs.

late potty learning : respectful re-learning, regaining of the body's abilities. A re-discovery.

so, I would say, EC'ing is probably the 'unschooling' way, late potty learning is the 'deschooling' way. Funny way to put it, though
 
#4 ·
So what about ECing with an older child? My DD is eight months, and we've done a bit of EC, but not full time. And she's so active now that when I try to start it ends up being a big mess. What do you say about starting EC later... do you consider that re-learning or training? Am I better off starting EC now or waiting until she is old enough to learn herself? I'm caught in between!
 
#5 ·
I've never thought about potty use being at all connected to unschooling--interesting.

I did not use EC, though I have nothing against it. To me, learning to use the potty requires more awareness than an infant has. I understand that a baby may recognize that elimination is about to occur, but I didn't see the benefit to my bringing the baby to the potty at that point. I prefered to wait until they could get to the potty on their own and remove their clothing, etc. with more independence.

So, I waited until they showed an interest in using the potty and then helped them as needed. For two of my children, this meant around age 4, for my third, it was at 2 y/o.
 
#6 ·
We did something in between I think. lol! Not EC by any stretch but not the "take them every 30 minutes, nag them to death and give them M&Ms" method either. Both methods seemed like way too much time to devote to potty activities. lol!
For both kids when they started to send signals that they were ready...pulling off the dipe, staying dry longer, etc., we got the little potty, showed them how to use it and for the most part let them have at it. We'd ask occasionally if they had to use it but not the scheduled pottying thing. Worked well for both kids and neither one was "delayed". Both were diaper-free by around 2.5-ish.
 
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