I'd been reading about EC from very early in my pregnancy. It's so in line with my thought process that I knew I wouldn't be waiting until was my son was 2 or 3 to potty train him. I got him
his first potty at about 8 weeks and planned to sit him on it at 12 weeks.
Anyway, life took over and I missed my 12 week opportunity. However, this week I decided to give it a try.
EC or NI is allowing your baby, with queues provided by you and by communicating with them and watching for signs, to go to the toilet without a nappy but with a free bum (lol) as we adults do.
I learnt that it is a common misconception that babies cannot control their elimination systems when reading about it. I came across parents who had put their new borns on a potty/over the toilet/sink and never bothered with a nappy from birth! I wish that I could have done that as I'm not keen on nappies and the chemicals that go into making them but again life took over.
From spending all my time with my son I have got to know certain patterns around his toilet habits. For example less that 20 mins after a feed he will usually go. I'm not sure about the wee yet. I will have to do a few nappy free days to check. He's also a strainer so it's easy to know when its coming. It's almost like he's telling me, hence the communication.
Two days ago my son and I returned from an outing and I had just changed a soiled nappy. I decided to go for the potty for the first time. I introduced my son to the potty and told him what it was for, then sat him on it. He smiled and was ok with it. I had to hold him a bit as he's not sitting up alone for long.
My next step was to let him know what to do, I did this by making the relevant sounds. Sssssssssss for peeing and the same sound he makes for a number two. He smiled at me again then I waited. Within 5 mins he did it! He did his first poo in a potty and I was the happiest mum alive. That was the highlight of my week. I put him on it again after a feed and with 5 mins he did it again. I put him in it again yesterday and within 10 mins, he went.
I have been telling everyone I know that my 15 week old son has used his potty as I'm just so proud and feel empowered that we have started to break convention. I have been asked a few questions and will do an EC Q & A post as we get more experienced. Do remember we're just trying it out, there's no pressure for him. He still wears his nappy, I'm just introducing a new way for him to go toilet. Do you think babies are born wanting a nappy in between their legs? I don't think so I have said that I hope my son is potty trained by the time I return to work, he will be a year old. If he isn't then he'll still have a head start to a nappy free life. I only want a happy and healthy child, but if he was the confidence and ability to do things that aid his development as a person as his mother it's my responsibility to help him do so.
EC isn't easy to do so I just want to pay my respects to all the people of this generation that are trying and succeeding and trying and still trying. I also want to remind people that this isn't a new thing, what do you think humans were doing before the invention of nappies? Go figure.
Onelove
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